Switching from Fritz elements to Red Sea foundation

[dalexandert23]

Hi all,

Can someone help out with calculations when switching from Fritz 2-part to Red Sea Foundation for Alkalinity and Calcium. I’m currently dosing Red Sea Mag and am going to switch over from Fritz 2-part to Red Sea Foundation Alk and Calcium. I’m currently dosing 47 ml of alk and 37 ml of calcium with Fritz. I have read the dosing instructions on both, but I’m not coming to an equation that makes sense. I think that I’ll be dosing less of the Red Sea Foundation as I believe it is a more concentrated liquid solution, but I’d really like to know the math/equation so that I have a full understanding of calculating dosages to minimize the chance of an element swing. Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Remember Red Sea is not designed for 1:1 dosing, so do not just follow alk demand (poor design, IMO).

Calcium
Fritz:

Each mL of Pt 2 will increase the calcium in 1 US gallon (3.78 L) of water by 15 ppm.

Red Sea:

Liquid supplement: 1ml will raise the Ca level of 100 liters (25 gal) by 2ppm. [= 50 ppm in 1 gallon]

Thus, the Red Sea is 50/15 = 3.3 times more potent in calcium,. Divide your current dose by 3.3 to match it.


Alk

Fritz:
Each mL of Pt 1 will increase the alkalinity in 1 US gallon (3.78 L) of water by 2.1 dKH (0.75 meq/mL).

Red Sea
1ml will raise the Alk level of 100 liters (25 gal) by 0.036 meq/l (0.1dKH) [= 2.5 dKH in one gallon]

Thus, the Red Sea is 2.5/2.1 = 1.2 times as potent in alk. Divide your current dose of alk by 1.2 to match it.

 

[KStatefan]

Was working on it on a scratch piece of paper prior to posting and Randy posted the same answer I was going to.

 

[dalexandert23]

Remember Red Sea is not designed for 1:1 dosing, so do not just follow alk demand (poor design, IMO).

Calcium
Fritz:

Each mL of Pt 2 will increase the calcium in 1 US gallon (3.78 L) of water by 15 ppm.

Red Sea:

Liquid supplement: 1ml will raise the Ca level of 100 liters (25 gal) by 2ppm. [= 50 ppm in 1 gallon]

Thus, the Red Sea is 50/15 = 3.3 times more potent in calcium,. Divide your current dose by 3.3 to match it.


Alk

Fritz:
Each mL of Pt 1 will increase the alkalinity in 1 US gallon (3.78 L) of water by 2.1 dKH (0.75 meq/mL).

Red Sea
1ml will raise the Alk level of 100 liters (25 gal) by 0.036 meq/l (0.1dKH) [= 2.5 dKH in one gallon]

Thus, the Red Sea is 2.5/2.1 = 1.2 times as potent in alk. Divide your current dose of alk by 1.2 to match it.

Was working on it on a scratch piece of paper prior to posting and Randy posted the same answer I was going to.

Thanks!

 

[dalexandert23]

Remember Red Sea is not designed for 1:1 dosing, so do not just follow alk demand (poor design, IMO).

Calcium
Fritz:

Each mL of Pt 2 will increase the calcium in 1 US gallon (3.78 L) of water by 15 ppm.

Red Sea:

Liquid supplement: 1ml will raise the Ca level of 100 liters (25 gal) by 2ppm. [= 50 ppm in 1 gallon]

Thus, the Red Sea is 50/15 = 3.3 times more potent in calcium,. Divide your current dose by 3.3 to match it.


Alk

Fritz:
Each mL of Pt 1 will increase the alkalinity in 1 US gallon (3.78 L) of water by 2.1 dKH (0.75 meq/mL).

Red Sea
1ml will raise the Alk level of 100 liters (25 gal) by 0.036 meq/l (0.1dKH) [= 2.5 dKH in one gallon]

Thus, the Red Sea is 2.5/2.1 = 1.2 times as potent in alk. Divide your current dose of alk by 1.2 to match it.

Randy,

Yes, I read up on Red Sea on the forums prior to posting my question and I noticed that the ratio is not 1:1 for all and calcium as far as Red Sea is concerned. You mentioned that IYO it’s a bad design— should this concern me? I’ve read good things about Red Sea and I have also read that Fritz’s supplements can be inconsistent, which is why I am choosing to switch supplemental usage. Any input is appreciated and will be considered prior to the switch. Either way, THANKS for the response as this is exactly what I was looking for.