Problems Dosing 2 Part

[PeterC99]

Getting a lot of precipitation when dosing B Ionic 2 part. Sometimes it seems like it’s snowing in my aquarium. Dosing 110 ml daily of each to keep Alk around 8.25 and Calc at 440 On a 90 gallon with pH from 8.2 to 8.25. Corals growing very well.

Am I doing something wrong?

 

[stephj03]

Are you dosing all at once or are you using a dosing pump to spread out the volume throughout the day?

Are you dosing into a high flow area?

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Uhg. Dont let any of that falling particle hit any coral tissue. It might alk burn em.
Id start taking some sw out in a cup and dose the cup if sw to kinda deliude the dose.
D

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Of*

 

[schuby]

If your Magnesium is too low then you can't keep Alk and Calcium up and they will precipitate. Mg is recommended to be 1250-1350 ppm.

Also dose part 1 and part 2 at least 5 minutes apart to minimize the chance of precipitation.

 

[WallyB]

Getting a lot of precipitation when dosing B Ionic 2 part. Sometimes it seems like it’s snowing in my aquarium. Dosing 110 ml daily of each to keep Alk around 8.25 and Calc at 440 On a 90 gallon with pH from 8.2 to 8.25. Corals growing very well.

Am I doing something wrong?

ESV if dosed at the same Time (Part A & B) , and in same Area will mix and precipitate. (Like the Snow you describe).

Go ahead and mix two drops of each into a small container. You will get a Creamy, white thick paste. That is probably what's happening in your tank.


You have two choices.

- Dose PART-A & PART-B at different times, so each Part distributes into your Tank, before the 2nd Part is added.
- Dose in very separate-and-distant areas of your system so the two parts never mix before dilution in your Tank Water.

And if you are adding that much (110ml) of each, hopefully you have a doser and are splitting up that Dose into 12, or 24 smaller doses over 24 hours. (Again. Each Part at a different time, or location)

** ONE WARNING / CAUTION **

I am not sure how you arrived at you 110ml a day dose.
If you were causing precipitate, you Part A was to some degree cancelling Part B.

So be careful when you start dosing properly. You may not need as much of both parts.
Start with 1/2 or even 1/4 dose of Part A, and measure your alk to find the new dosing amount. Keep adding till you reach your new dosing value. Once you know how much you need to get ALK stable. Your Part B Dose will be mostly likely Equal-to-Part-A (but not necessarily since Calcium my be under of over your desired target).

I assume you know about this HANDY Calculator. (It has ESV two part in the Product Selector)

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

I use it all the time to figure out how much of EACH ESV to add to bring up ALK, and Calcium, and even Magnesium if it goes off.

HERE IS WHAT I WOULD do to determine your DAILY DOSE (When you dose properly)

1) Stop Dosing both parts for a few days (Whatever you feel comfortable with), let's say 3 days

2A) Measure your ALK and CALC on Day 1 (Record it)
2B) Measure you ALK and CALC on Day (N), N=3 days

3A) Use the Chem Calculator to figure out how much of each part you need to get back to DAY-1
3B) The Amount(ml) / (N) days is your Daily Dose requirement

Hopefully you will find out you don't needs as much ESV if you dose properly. Possibly much less and it will save you Money Making ESV Precipate (SNOW).

All the Best.

 

[PeterC99]

I am using a Neptune DOS for dosing, dose close to a power head, and alternate dosing times.

Noticing small flecks of white coming from Alk tube. Wondering if I would be better using soda ash for the Alk?

 

[PeterC99]

Magnesium this morning was 1268 according to the Neptune Trident.

 

[schuby]

I use DOS for my 2-part, too. My Alk doses from 00:00 to 23:50. My Ca doses from 00:05 to 23:55. This seems to space the automatic doses at least 5 minutes apart. The dosing tubes are very close to each other in the return section of my sump. No precipitate build-up after 2 years.

One other thing I recommend is testing your Alk at the same time-of-day each time you measure it. I check mine around 7pm which is my daily feeding time. Alk consumption is not constant all day long so this will give you more consistent, comparable results.

 

[WallyB]

I am using a Neptune DOS for dosing, dose close to a power head, and alternate dosing times.

Noticing small flecks of white coming from Alk tube. Wondering if I would be better using soda ash for the Alk?

Do you have a sump or any other place you can do other than Display Tank?

Also best not have you dosing line ends in the Water. They should drip from above water.
The clumping or condensation at the dosing line ends is normal.

 

[PeterC99]

I had the dosing tubes in my sump in return area. Unfortunately the 2 part would constantly build up on my UV light as it returned to the tank. Would coat the quartz sleeve in 1 month. This is when I moved dosing tubes to top of the tank. Also have tubes above water line.

My problem seems to be that the Alk keeps precipitating and I get these Alk flakes in my tank.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Getting a lot of precipitation when dosing B Ionic 2 part. Sometimes it seems like it’s snowing in my aquarium. Dosing 110 ml daily of each to keep Alk around 8.25 and Calc at 440 On a 90 gallon with pH from 8.2 to 8.25. Corals growing very well.

Am I doing something wrong?

Does it clear up?

It is normal to see some local precipitation of magnesium hydroxide with any high pH additive, and it will redissolve as it mixes in:

What is that Precipitate in My Reef Aquarium? by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com


Figure 3. The transient cloud of magnesium hydroxide that forms when high pH additives are added. In this case, the alkalinity portion of B-ionic was added to a fairly still portion of one of my reef aquaria.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

My problem seems to be that the Alk keeps precipitating and I get these Alk flakes in my tank.

Which may be normal.

If it is actually calcium carbonate that will not redissolve (not the most likely thing, IMO), then switch to baking soda for alk, dilute it more with more RO/DI, and add it more slowly to a higher flow area.

 

[PeterC99]

Which may be normal.

If it is actually calcium carbonate that will not redissolve (not the most likely thing, IMO), then switch to baking soda for alk, dilute it more with more RO/DI, and add it more slowly to a higher flow area.

Think of switching to BRS Soda Ash, Calcium Chloride, and. Magn mix so I don’t have to deal with this problem. Any thoughts with the switch over?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Think of switching to BRS Soda Ash, Calcium Chloride, and. Magn mix so I don’t have to deal with this problem. Any thoughts with the switch over?

No benefit at all that I can see, and some detriments.

You need to switch to a lower pH supplement if you want to reduce precipitation (still not convinced it is any concern). Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) for the alk is the way to go for low pH alk supplement.

 

[PeterC99]

No benefit at all that I can see, and some detriments.

You need to switch to a lower pH supplement if you want to reduce precipitation (still not convinced it is any concern). Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) for the alk is the way to go for low pH alk supplement.

I have a CO2 Scrubber with air recirculating through skimmer cup. That keeps pH consistent at 8.2 to 8.3.