Red Sea alk crusting

[Ryan Rosales]

If I go by this, I would have killed $50,000 dollars worth of the corals I have. The return pump stopped working due to precipitation, luckily It happened before my long weekend vacation to Vegas.

 

[reeferfoxx]

I think you’re going more into your theoretical.

;Bookworm

 

[Ryan Rosales]

That sounds good. Dilution should work if warming it works, but if not, it may not be a chemical you want anyway.

Some two parts (especially DIY) may have traces of precipitates in them. A little dust on the bottom can be ignored. More precipitate than that (assuming you didn't cross contaminate them) will redissolve with more dilution.

For example, the magnesium part of my DIY can have a little bit of precipitate that is probably calcium sulfate. The calcium comes as a contaminant in the magnesium part and the sulfate is there, obviously, from the magnesium sulfate. It is fine or not to dose the calcium sulfate solids, and it won't noticeably impact the tank.

Also, some types of calcium chloride (e.g., Prestone Driveway heat) have a little precipitate in them that is not the calcium chloride. Just ignore it.

This one I’d agree with though[emoji1318][emoji1303]

 

[Ryan Rosales]

Are you serious?

First of all, if you are agitating the solution by bubbling air into it, the solution is evaporating into that new air, changing concentration, and is more likely to cause precipitation in the alk part as it concentrates. VERY BAD PLAN.

Second, many people use two part solutions via dosers without agitating them,. In fact, before your post, I have never heard (that I can recall, anyway, it's hard to remember hundreds of thousands of posts)of anyone who did agitate them.

It just is not necessary.

Where did you ever hear this was desirable?

That was from Carib Sea.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

That was from Carib Sea.

That explains the confusion. The Carib Sea is a different type of product that is a suspension of fine calcium carbonate particles in an otherwise normal two part.

I actually think the fine calcium carbonate is a bad product too, but that’s a different issue. Calcium carbonate will not dissolve in seawater, despite products like this claiming otherwise. I have an article that details why that happens, but it is sad that several companies continue to push this product.

 

[Ryan Rosales]

That explains the confusion. The Carib Sea is a different type of product that is a suspension of fine calcium carbonate particles in an otherwise normal two part.

I actually think the fine calcium carbonate is a bad product too, but that’s a different issue. Calcium carbonate will not dissolve in seawater, despite products like this claiming otherwise. I have an article that details why that happens, but it is sad that several companies continue to push this product.

dang! All that...[emoji1]
Thanks for clarifying, though not the right thread for this discussion.

 

[Walts O]

So I've read all of the posts so maybe once a week shake up dosing container also would changing my dosing solution brand help I'm currently using red sea

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

So I've read all of the posts so maybe once a week shake up dosing container also would changing my dosing solution brand help I'm currently using red sea

There’s no need to routinely shake it. Either warm it or add more fresh water to dissolve the alk part more fully.[emoji3]

 

[don74136]

I have been using the RS program for years. I dose all three foundations via a GHL doser. In fact, I also dose all four colors via a GHL slave doser. I have never stirred or aerated any of them. I shake them well prior to pouring them in the dosing containers, but that's it.

As to the foundation B, yes, I've had some "settlement" or "dust" build up on the bottom of the dosing container, but never anything serious and I simply have not worried about it. I just clean the containers out once a year or so whether they need it or not!

What is a GHL doser? I find some new abbreviations that I can’t figure out. I wish posters would state the full name in the first part of their posts and then use the abbreviations.

 

[dbl]

GHL is the brand of doser I have. There are many.

 

[Oberst Oswald]

I run the Trident Method on a 65 gallon tank. The 2 alk bottles (3A & 3B) have the hard crust on the bottom because I have the dosing containers against the outside wall here in NJ. It is 67 degrees there. To keep the dosing containers warm during the winter months I put a few of my many power supply bricks around the containers which heats them up just enough to keep every thing liquid. Before this I used a small 10 watt freshwater "Betta fish bowl/tank heater" which heated the containers to about 80 degrees. This might be of help if you have your dosing setup in a cellar or garage that is not heated as high as your living area.

 

[dhof]

I have hard precipitate on the bottom of both my calcium and alk containers for dosing (and in my bottles I receive as well).

Warming it up and stirring definitely resolves it for a while but it happens again in a week.

I’m in the midst of a trial to see if a 1:1 dilution of each in my reservoirs with rodi is gonna help or not. I’m hopeful this dilution is the solution to keep them in solution . I just dose twice the volume so the calculations are easy if u do 1:1 dilution w rodi.

Just thought I'd update on the idea of diluting my alk and calcium containers 1:1 with RODI. It has been about a month since I diluted using 1:1 ratio, and I haven't seen even a hint of crusting/precipitation of the Red Sea Alk and Calcium in my dosing containers.

So for me, dilution seems to be the key to keeping it all suspended, and I just had to adjust my DT dosing to correct for the new concentration. My bottles of alk and calcium in the closet still do crust up at the bottom after a week so I have to warm them up for a few hours in a warm bath to get it fully suspended before I dilute it 1:1 for my dosing containers. Just thought this info might help the next newbie that battles crystallization in their alk/calcium.

I did note that my Red Sea liquid calcium forms a very thin brown film on the bottom, which I'm sure is fine, but I did add a magnetic stirrer to whip it up for a few minutes every hour to keep that suspended. Probably totally unnecessary, but still a fun project. Here's a pic.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Glad the dilution worked!

FWIW, it probably wouldn’t work for the calcium and some types of calcium chloride show that fine brown precipitate. It might be iron impurity precipitating as iron oxide.