It is a marketing gimmick.
It is an alkalinity supplement, like most others, which contain carbonate, bicarbonate, or both.
It happens to have (or at least should have) the same ratio of bicarbonate to carbonate as exists in seawater at pH 8.4, which is more bicarbonate than carbonate.
If you dose just carbonate, you will get a bigger pH raising effect than any buffer which also contains bicarbonate. It is about 0.3 pH units for each 1.4 dKH of alkalinity added, but the effect is temporary, until teh aquarium re-equilibrates with the CO2 in the room.
If you dose just bicarbonate, you will get a slight pH lowering effect. It is about 0.06 pH units for each 1.4 dKH of alkalinity added, but again, the effect is temporary, until the aquarium re-equilibrates with the CO2 in the room.
Both supplements will attain the same tank pH after sufficient time for re-equilibration.
I discuss my recommendations here (and much more extensively in other articles):
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/re...-coral-reef-aquarium-randy-holmes-farley.html
from it:
Critical Parameters
Calcium
Many corals use calcium to form their skeletons, which are composed primarily of calcium carbonate. The corals get most of the calcium for this process from the surrounding water. Consequently, calcium often becomes depleted in aquaria housing rapidly growing corals, calcareous red algae (coralline algae), Tridacnids (clams) and Halimeda (a macroalgae containing calcium carbonate). As the calcium level drops below 360 ppm, it becomes progressively more difficult for these organisms to collect enough calcium, thus stunting their growth.
Maintaining the calcium level is one of the most important aspects of coral reef aquarium husbandry. Most reef aquarists try to maintain approximately natural levels of calcium in their aquaria (~420 ppm). It does not appear that boosting the calcium concentration above natural levels enhances calcification (i.e., skeletal growth) in most corals.
For these reasons, I suggest that aquarists maintain a calcium level between about 380 and 450 ppm, although higher is generally not a problem until it gets so high that calcium carbonate precipitation becomes problematic. Aquarists with a very light demand may be able to maintain calcium with water changes, especially since some salt mixes have excessive calcium in them. But most established aquaria with growing hard corals and coralline algae will require some calcium supplementation, and in some cases, it might be needed every day.
I usually suggest using a balanced calcium and alkalinity additive system for routine maintenance. The most popular of these balanced methods include limewater (kalkwasser), calcium carbonate/carbon dioxide reactors, and the two-part or three-part additive systems for calcium and alkalinity. If calcium is depleted and needs to be raised significantly, however, such balanced methods are not a good choice since they will raise alkalinity too much. In that case, adding calcium chloride is a good method for raising calcium in a one-time correction.
Alkalinity
Like calcium, many corals also use "alkalinity" to form their skeletons, which are composed primarily of calcium carbonate. It is generally believed that corals take up bicarbonate, convert it into carbonate, and then use that carbonate to form calcium carbonate skeletons. That conversion process is shown as:
HCO3- → CO3-- + H+
Bicarbonate → Carbonate + proton (which is released from the coral)
To ensure that corals have an adequate supply of bicarbonate for calcification, aquarists could just measure bicarbonate directly. Designing a test kit for bicarbonate, however, is somewhat more complicated than for alkalinity. Consequently, the use of alkalinity as a surrogate measure for bicarbonate is deeply entrenched in the reef aquarium hobby.
So, what is alkalinity? Alkalinity in a marine aquarium is simply a measure of the amount of acid (H+) required to reduce the pH to about 4.5, where all bicarbonate is converted into carbonic acid as follows:
HCO3- + H+ → H2CO3
The amount of acid needed is equal to the amount of bicarbonate present, so when performing an alkalinity titration with a test kit, you are “counting†the number of bicarbonate ions present. It is not, however, quite that simple since some other ions also take up acid during the titration. Both borate and carbonate also contribute to the measurement of alkalinity, but the bicarbonate dominates these other ions since they are generally lower in concentration than bicarbonate. So knowing the total alkalinity is akin to, but not exactly the same as, knowing how much bicarbonate is available to corals. In any case, total alkalinity is the standard that aquarists use for this purpose.
Unlike the calcium concentration, it is widely believed that certain organisms calcify more quickly at alkalinity levels higher than those in normal seawater. This result has also been demonstrated in the scientific literature, which has shown that adding bicarbonate to seawater increases the rate of calcification in some corals. Uptake of bicarbonate can consequently become rate limiting in many corals. This may be partly due to the fact that the external bicarbonate concentration is not large to begin with (relative to, for example, the calcium concentration, which is effectively about 5 times higher).
For these reasons, alkalinity maintenance is a critical aspect of coral reef aquarium husbandry. In the absence of supplementation, alkalinity will rapidly drop as corals use up much of what is present in seawater. Water changes are not usually sufficient to maintain alkalinity unless there is very little calcification taking place. Most reef aquarists try to maintain alkalinity at levels at or slightly above those of normal seawater, although exactly what levels different aquarists target depends a bit on the goals of their aquaria.
Interestingly, because some corals may calcify faster at higher alkalinity levels, and because the abiotic (nonbiological) precipitation of calcium carbonate on heaters and pumps also rises as alkalinity rises, the demand for alkalinity (and calcium) rises as the alkalinity rises. So an aquarist generally must dose more calcium and alkalinity EVERY DAY to maintain a higher alkalinity (say, 11 dKH) than to maintain 7 dKH. It is not just a one-time boost that is needed to make up that difference. In fact, calcification gets so slow as the alkalinity drops below 6 dKH that reef aquaria rarely get much below that point, even with no dosing: natural calcification has nearly stopped at that level.
In general, I suggest that aquarists maintain alkalinity between about 7-11 dKH (2.5 and 4 meq/L; 125-200 ppm CaCO3 equivalents). Many aquarists growing SPS corals and using Ultra Low Nutrient Systems (ULNS) have found that the corals suffer from “burnt tips†if the alkalinity is too high or changes too much. It is not at all clear why this is the case, but such aquaria are better served by alkalinity in the 7-8 dKH range.
As mentioned above, alkalinity levels above those in natural seawater increase the abiotic precipitation of calcium carbonate on warm objects such as heaters and pump impellers, or sometimes even in sand beds. This precipitation not only wastes calcium and alkalinity that aquarists are carefully adding, but it also increases equipment maintenance requirements and can “damage†a sand bed, hardening it into a chunk of limestone. When elevated alkalinity is driving this precipitation, it can also depress the calcium level. An excessively high alkalinity level can therefore create undesirable consequences.
I suggest that aquarists use a balanced calcium and alkalinity additive system of some sort for routine maintenance. The most popular of these balanced methods include limewater (kalkwasser), calcium carbonate/carbon dioxide reactors, and the two-part/three part additive systems.
For rapid alkalinity corrections, aquarists can simply use baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) or washing soda (sodium carbonate; baked baking soda) to good effect. The latter raises pH as well as alkalinity while the former has a very small pH lowering effect. Mixtures can also be used, and are what many hobby chemical supply companies sell as “buffersâ€. Most often, sodium carbonate is preferred, however, since most tanks can be helped by a pH boost.
