Issues with Red Sea Foundation ABC+ powder

[Nibejeebies]

okay so I did all tests and come up with I need to add 60 grams of the powder, however I went to add half a spoon full (10grams) to the highest area of the sump and I added it as slow as i could however it made what looked like watered down milk through out the entire sump and quickly into the display...

So im not sure what do do at this point, I haven't added any more than that 10 maybe 12 grams (started with full spoon, however only put in about half) .

So what do I do? finish adding the mix? Should I mix it with a gallon of water and drip it into the sump over 24 hours? (use of a hard gallon jug with small hole drilled into cap with silicone sealed drip set ( 10 gtts same they use in hospital's and ambulances)? or do i wait till it clears and attempt again? At a loss as this is the first time that i have dosed any real additives to the tank... first time ive needed to.

Prams before dosing -
Mag - 1160
Calcium - 415
10.5 dKH
1.025 sg

 

[jsker]

It will clear up, never dosed the powder, but it will clear up. I think you know, but I will say it. Your Mg is low to your Ca. Mg should be 1316.

 

[Nibejeebies]

It will clear up, never dosed the powder, but it will clear up. I think you know, but I will say it. Your Mg is low to your Ca. Mg should be 1316.

Yea hence the dosing, this had the big three along with some trace. LFS didn't have just mag (they get a truck today) so I'll run by tomarrow after I retest and add it as well if need be. Thank you for your quick reply

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Is it clear now?

 

[Aussie paul]

I use the powder and the water does go cloudy for a couple of hours but it clears up and can't even tell i put it in

 

[biom]

i was always very skeptical about ABC+ dosing, because it is not possible to dose without some precipitation of calcium carbonate to occur. Quite often precipitation is really big. A friend of mine call me for help because he was dosing about 120 grams of ABC+ in his light stocked 25 g tank and was unable to keep alk steady. He experienced the same white precipitate, IMO quite big part of the product is wasted forming calcium carbonate, if calcium chloride and sodium bicarbonate are used separately (two parts) you will need far less grams of products to be dosed.

 

[Nibejeebies]

Yes Im sorry. It was back to crystal clear in about three hours... (at 3 am last night )
I do have a question however, is this stuff pretty much kalkwaser with extra elements added? I dont really see a ingredient list but the warning states it has Calcium Chloride but that is the only thing I can see as far as ingredients.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Yes Im sorry. It was back to crystal clear in about three hours... (at 3 am last night )
I do have a question however, is this stuff pretty much kalkwaser with extra elements added? I dont really see a ingredient list but the warning states it has Calcium Chloride but that is the only thing I can see as far as ingredients.

No, it is pretty much dried out two part mixed together after drying.

 

[Nibejeebies]

Ahhhh, thanks Doc!
So would using this would be follow directions into a high flow area of the sump or could I safely dilute this down with either some tank water or top off water and drip it in to prevent that much cloudiness or would the risks out weigh the benefits?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Ahhhh, thanks Doc!
So would using this would be follow directions into a high flow area of the sump or could I safely dilute this down with either some tank water or top off water and drip it in to prevent that much cloudiness or would the risks out weigh the benefits?

You must dose it and similar products directly to the tank dry. Mixing them in water first would be like mixing the two parts of a two part, resulting in precipitation of calcium carbonate.

 

[Nibejeebies]

Ahh okay, thank you Sir for your wisdom... And keep those articles coming! I love reading them, and while some of it is above my comprehension I always learn more than a few things in each. You inspire me.

After a couple people said the milky look was normal i added the rest of the dose. I just got done checking the Parameters, here they are.

Red Sea Pro for dKH, Ca and Mg
Reefractomitor for salinity
Fluval LED temp display on heater
API for the rest.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Those look good.

Bear in mind that if there is still any cloudiness in the water, it may give a false high reading for alk (and calcium to a lesser extent) because solids of calcium carbonate will dissolve in the low pH of those tests.

 

[Nibejeebies]

Copy that, I'll keep it in mind.

 

[Esquire805]

i just bought this stuff great info

 

[Martin Kuhn]

I can understand very well that "keeping things easy" is preferred by lots of users.
In this case this might be "a bit too easy", although it seems to work at least partially.

As explained already, the components for adding Ca and Alk tend to precipitate if they are not dosed separately (timewise or at different posistions within the tank).
But as this "All-in-One component" does exactly this, it is quite natural what you examine (partial precipitation).

Another point of this AIO is that dosing of Ca <-> Alk <-> Mg is always bound together, which is also sometimes not preferable.
Also you can't automate dosing by mixing a stock solution and dosing this, as this would precipitate by sure.

What about
- using up your ABC+ powder
- buying separate components the next time

 

[mckinney0171]

This stuff really is the easy solution for a smaller tank. Just remember to start off with a smaller dose and work your way up. Test weekly and supplement as you need to. It's a good product.

 

[Raxnar]

I did my first does tonight with this product, I calculated I needed 73.333g of product so will start out light and do 40g (2 scoops) today and retest tomorrow. Taking the cautious route.

I have not experienced any cloudiness at all with 40g of product added 15 minutes ago.

Sounds like lots of folks are happy with it.

 

[christyahumada]

You must dose it and similar products directly to the tank dry. Mixing them in water first would be like mixing the two parts of a two part, resulting in precipitation of calcium carbonate.

What does precipitation of calcium carbonate mean?