how has doesing 2 part changed your reefingand is it for me?

[Devaji]

Hey gals and gals,
so I have been playing around with the idea of starting dosing 2 part to my tank.
tank info:
90 gal tank
1.5 years old
started with TBS LR
skimmer, ATS
corals are mostly LPS, gorgs, softies so no real high Ca demanding corals but would love to try my hand at some SPS some day.

I use IO reef crystals for h2o changes. the Ca is a lil lower than most would like to see but not bad. we are talking 10 -20ppm or so.
so my aim would be to rise the ca and mag. and create a more stable balance of the two.

not 100% sure if dosing is "right" for me as my needs are low but as I add more coral and tank keeps plugging on I cant see it hurting, but will it really help? justify the coast?

next should I do BRS 2 part or Randy's recipe?

thinking out loud here so any feedback thoughts and experience would be great!

 

[Mindi]

Well I am often here reporting use of Randy's recipe 1. I just cant be shifted to any other approach as I am lazy and poor. I don't do Kalk because both times I tried it I got excessive precipitant and mess...and had to try and balance make up needs with Alk/Ca consumption needs...undoubtedly my fault. My recipe 1 dosing I make up a 3 litre milk container of each and dose around 40mls per day by dosing pump into a water volume of 520 litres. This maintains my Alk at 3.6 meq/L and Ca at 440 ppm approx. I think that I am consuming just a little more Alk than Ca so might tweak it to 45/40 soon. The cost of this is maybe $2 month, the effort is makeup of the recipe every 2 months.
Got to say that a decent dosing pump is a critical part of this...I bought a Coral Box wifi doser which I find very good and much lower cost than the recognised "good" brands like Kamoer etc etc

 

[Devaji]

^ yeah I was just reading a thread were you chimed in on Randy's recipe #1 i'll have to look in to that one more. for the ppl that are using that here in the US, what brand of goodies are you using and where to get them mail ordered. not much going on here in Wyoming to get stuff.

also I am trying to wrap my head around kalwasser vrs 2 part...I dont think kalwasser would be right for me as i evap. 1.5 -2 gal a day.
my ATO res. is a 29H tank feeling like i am always filtering h2o. haha so might not be the best for my PH to go that way?

 

[Mindi]

well for the Alk recipe all you need is sodium bicarbonate from a supermarket baking section, or maybe cleaning section. Every supermarket will have it. Sometimes called Carb Soda or Baking Soda. ( Do not get Baking Powder...different).
for the Calcium recipe you need Pool Hardener/Spa Hardener from any pool shop. It is Calcium Chloride, also use in food production but more readily found in pool shops as hardener. If you look at Randy's article he mentions USA brands that I am not familiar with, but it is easily found.
He has a note in recipe 1 which is important...if the CaCl2 you buy is anhydrous type then reduce the recipe amount by 20%...think thats it but read his article.

 

[fishbox]

Can a link be posted for Randys article?

 

[Mindi]

Also I found it hard to match my evap needs with Kalk needs... they are not the same in my case

 

[Mindi]

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

 

[Devaji]

Nice! I will have to look in to the us brands. I don't mind getting a dossing pump. If the Ca. And alk.are cheep.

 

[Breadman03]

Nice! I will have to look in to the us brands. I don't mind getting a dossing pump. If the Ca. And alk.are cheep.

A dosing pump is not necessary, especially to get started. You can manually dose and get the ball rolling for next to nothing. Okay, maybe like $10 if you already own the measuring cups and spoons.

 

[divetoday]

I just switched from Kalk+ in my ATO to Neptune DOS because my parameters were getting out of hand as the summer and higher evaporation rates came on.

 

[CindyKz]

I cant see it hurting, but will it really help?

Personally, the first thing I would do is test to determine consumption and if dosing is a good idea right now. Adding alk and Ca that your tank doesn't need and won't use can cause significant problems.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

And yea, keeping a constant alk cal mag helps. Test to see how much.

 

[Bdog4u2]

you could probably save a few dollars switching to regular IO salt. I'm not a big fan of reef crystals due to the high alk levels. I have a low nutrient tank so I keep my alk below 8 if not my acros get a little ticked. since you have mostly soft corals reef crystals are not needed plus i find reg salts easier to match to your parameters

 

[Devaji]

you could probably save a few dollars switching to regular IO salt. I'm not a big fan of reef crystals due to the high alk levels. I have a low nutrient tank so I keep my alk below 8 if not my acros get a little ******. since you have mostly soft corals reef crystals are not needed plus i find reg salts easier to match to your parameters

well I have more LPS than soft corals only 2 soft corals unless gorgs count as soft never now were to classify them I think there in there own category...lol

but yeah I thought about that and even asked BRS investigates to do a study on "lower grade" salt like normal IO then adding Ca, mag, and alk. they loved the idea however they said there more to it than that. I hear yeah tho something I have been wondering for a while.
I believe Randy does just that and he is a noted chemist so if he does it then why not me? ha but I could be mistaken on that but I remember reading a thread a while back...

as far as testing last time I tested my Ca & alk were lower than what suggested for reefs.

 

[Devaji]

I just switched from Kalk+ in my ATO to Neptune DOS because my parameters were getting out of hand as the summer and higher evaporation rates came on.

yup and that is what I am afraid of with ATO kalkwasser...dont feel like that is for me.

 

[Rakie]

I always ran Kalk, and had zero issues with it. It would flux a little of course, especially during summer -- But switching to 2 part on a doser is quite nice. You can dose by hand, sure.. But you want it to be as stable as possible. Apparently Julian Sprung doses Alkalinity every 10 minutes to keep things stable.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I run IO in my system and keep an alk of about 8. I was dosing ESV and now balling. It's pretty easy. The lps took off as well as the stonys.


I have two tanks. A 30 and 55.
I use one box set of balling Salts (it's really just c,a&m and a fancy name) every three months. It's $40.

My jebao doser was $70

A gorg has a stony skeleton btw.

 

[Devaji]

I run IO in my system and keep an alk of about 8. I was dosing ESV and now balling. It's pretty easy. The lps took off as well as the stonys.


I have two tanks. A 30 and 55.
I use one box set of balling Salts (it's really just c,a&m and a fancy name) every three months. It's $40.

My jebao doser was $70

A gorg has a stony skeleton btw.

yeah if I go with a doser pump I was thinking jebao. I have heard of balling is it picking stuff?
do all gorgs have stony skeleton? I would not of thought to call it that? so your saying its a LPS then?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

No it's a gorg or seafan. It just has a stony skeleton.

Kalk is pickling lime.
Balling is salts. Or refined minerals.
Its basicly cal mag and alk still.

For all ca m dosing once you figure out your depletion rate, you figure out how much you need to put back.

Every type of chem has a different strength or concentration to it.
A higher concentration means you use less of it.
Randy's diy two part is 46x more potent than saturated kalkwasser. I.e. You would use a gallon of kalk faster than a gallon of Randy's.

 

[Joe Batt]

The dosing will keep the tank MUCH more stable, especially as your needs for Ca and Kh grow, even Mg. With softies the water change is often enough since their demands are low, but as you say you want to up it to SPS you will find that it isn't enough anymore. It takes a little while to get used to the daily dosages that you require but the tank will reap the benefit.