Economical alk/calcium dosing

[TJflip44]

I have been using Red Sea calcium and alkalinity on my 150 gallon reef. I haven’t needed to dose magnesium to this point. I am curious what most people are using for their alkalinity and calcium dosing as the Red Sea seems to be quite expensive.

 

[rusty hannon]

I have been using Red Sea calcium and alkalinity on my 150 gallon reef. I haven’t needed to dose magnesium to this point. I am curious what most people are using for their alkalinity and calcium dosing as the Red Sea seems to be quite expensive.

I am using kalkplus2 and I add it to my ato it's really the cheapest way I've found.was told about being able to do this by a guy at bulk reef supply.he gives the method on a brs page but is specific about useing a tunze ato or one like it that doesn't dump a lot of water at once.hope this is of help n good luck.R

 

[watdachuck]

You can achieve great results dosing calcium and alkalinity by using Calcium Hydroxide (kalk). It also comes with the added benefit of boosting PH. Or if you would be ok with an up front investment, my preference is the use of a calcium reactor. This would depend on how much demand you have in the tank, as I would not recommend a CaRx for low demand.

 

[ksed]

I am using kalkplus2 and I add it to my ato it's really the cheapest way I've found.was told about being able to do this by a guy at bulk reef supply.he gives the method on a brs page but is specific about useing a tunze ato or one like it that doesn't dump a lot of water at once.hope this is of help n good luck.R

Is kalkplus2 a brand name of kalkwasser?

 

[X-37B]

If you have high demand in your 150 you may want to invest in a calcium reactor.
I set mine up 3 months ago on my 120 and will never go back to 2 part dosing.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

I believe most of our reef additives can be replaced with other, cheaper identical products markets towards other uses. One example is using pickling lime from Walmart instead of kalk. Same thing but a fraction of the price. I think #Ronreefman is the expert on that (not sure if I typed his name right)

 

[rusty hannon]

Is kalkplus2 a brand name of kalkwasser?

its an aquatics brightwell brand.sorry had to go yesterday grandson was scared of a storm.did you find the article at bulk reef supply ok.R

 

[rusty hannon]

its an aquatics brightwell brand.sorry had to go yesterday grandson was scared of a storm.did you find the article at bulk reef supply ok.R

p.s. i am definately no expert myself this is just what im trying on a small nano to get my numbers rigt.some oof these folks w bigger systems will have more info for sure. happy reefing and glad its of some interest.R

 

[YankeeTankee]

Honestly the BRS kalk is pretty cheap and so it their 2 part, it's of good quality from what I have heard. I would just use that.

 

[TJflip44]

I have seen the BRS two part that you mix yourself. Does anyone here use it? I am curious if you can mix quite a bit and have it stay stable for a decent period of time without it separating.

 

[Reefnoobz90]

For alk, I've been buying the 12lb (I think) bag of baking soda at Walmart for like $5 and baking it in the oven (2.25 cups baking soda spread out on a pyrex pan at 300 degrees for an hour) mix that with a gallon of water and you have the same as brs. It lasts forever.

For calcium I've used prestone driveway heat in the past but never really liked it. My local online fish store (lofs?) sells bulk calcium chloride so I buy that. He buys 50lb bags and will give you a gallons worth for cheap if you ask.

 

[dwest]

I have seen the BRS two part that you mix yourself. Does anyone here use it? I am curious if you can mix quite a bit and have it stay stable for a decent period of time without it separating.

I make BRS 2 part in 5 gallon buckets. Lasts for months. I use kalkwasser too. I use a BRS now but used mrs wages picking lime for many years.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I've been using Dr. Randy's DIY two part forever, and don't believe it cost me more than 5-10 dollars a year. My alk part is baked baking soda purchased in bulk, and the calc part is Preston Driveway Heat....still working on the first bag I purchased about 13 years ago for less than $20.

HERE is the link to making your own.

 

[SyracuseMatt]

I have seen the BRS two part that you mix yourself. Does anyone here use it? I am curious if you can mix quite a bit and have it stay stable for a decent period of time without it separating.

I use it. I've never experienced any separation. I'm not sure why it would. I think it simply dissolves in the water. I use gallon BRS jugs and dosers to dose in one tank and Neptune DOS pumps and their containers (not their best product in my opinion) in a second.

Matt

 

[alain Bouchard]

had been using 2 parts for a few years, but demands is getting too high, and dosing pump keep clogging on the alk line, tired of refilling the jugs....invested in a calcium reactor 2 months ago, it works great, no more adjusting, cleaning, refilling. cost about 1000cad total, but I dont regret the investment.

 

[Bryknicks]

I use the BRS 2 part with mag and I don't experience any seperation. I mix it once in the gallon containers and refill my 1L dosing containers as needed. Once dialed in its the measurements are made very easy on their calculate if needed. For my doser it has been set and forget.

 

[ksed]

had been using 2 parts for a few years, but demands is getting too high, and dosing pump keep clogging on the alk line, tired of refilling the jugs....invested in a calcium reactor 2 months ago, it works great, no more adjusting, cleaning, refilling. cost about 1000cad total, but I dont regret the investment.

What brand did you buy?

 

[TJflip44]

Thanks everyone for the input. I’m going to give the BRS two part a shot.