mixing 2-part solutions from different brands

tenurepro · May 26, 2018

Hi All,
I am currently dosing Redsea Foundations buffers A (=Ca) B (=Alk) and C (=Mg) in my 55 gal redsea reefer 250. I am starting to run out of the Redsea foundation buffers - i am all out of Mg buffer, will be out of Calcium buffer in about 2 weeks, and will be out of alkalinity buffer in about a month. i was at a LFS today and picked up ESV B-Ionic buffers (Ca/Alk/Mg) to give them a try.

The question is - can i mix the different components of each system (so that i continue using the red sea foundation buffers till they last) or do i need to make a whole sale switch? For example, i am assuming that it is ok to do [Redsea Ca & Alk] + [ESV Mg] for now. In two weeks, when redsea Ca buffer runs out, i would go [Redsea Alk] + [ESV CA & Mg]
then make the full switch to ESV once Redsea alk buffer is done

Thoughts ? thanks for your help!

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 26, 2018

You should be able to mix them, but the potency will fall in between the potency of the two and you may need to adjust dosing to compensate.

That said, with ESV (and many commercial two parts), the magnesium is in the calcium part, and you may not/probably won't need another magnesium part unless you use a salt mix with lower magnesium than your tank.

tenurepro · May 26, 2018

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
You should be able to mix them, but the potency will fall in between the potency of the two and you may need to adjust dosing to compensate.

That said, with ESV (and many commercial two parts), the magnesium is in the calcium part, and you may not/probably won't need another magnesium part unless you use a salt mix with lower magnesium than your tank.

awesome, thanks Randy!