What 2 part is everyone using

takitaj · Sep 4, 2021

BRS soda ash & calcium chloride. My DT is more of a frag tank right now so I don't use a ton. lol I use the Red Sea for magnesium & bi-weekly 20% water changes for everything else. Love the new Red Sea bottles!

G Santana · Sep 4, 2021

Just started AFR, within 2 weeks my numbers were where they should be dosing the minimum.

Mastiffsrule · Sep 4, 2021

Esv calc, mag, AlK. Aquavitro fuel, and phyto.

@LRT keep us posted, I was interested in the product just because I love TM

John08007 · Sep 4, 2021

G Santana said:
Just started AFR, within 2 weeks my numbers were where they should be dosing the minimum.

Good to hear, how large of a tank and how many corals?

G Santana · Sep 4, 2021

John08007 said:
Good to hear, how large of a tank and how many corals?

130 gallons, about 15 small corals. New tank, under a year

ahuff25 · Sep 4, 2021

ESV B-Ionic. I’ve had nothing but success with it.

Courtney Aldrich · Sep 4, 2021

I make a 2.0 molar solution of sodium carbonate [from BRS, 212 g/L] and 2.0 molar solution of CaCl2·(H2O)2 [from BRS, 294 g/L] and dose equal volumes since they are precisely matched. I make 2 L at a time of each for the 2 L Apex dosing reserviors. This is more concentrated than other two-part mixes, but I have no problems with precipitation.

John08007 · Sep 8, 2021

One thing I've noticed and have read in many posts. Everyone mentions that they dose 2 part. Shouldn't it be at least 3 part? What about the mg? Thought MG was needed for corals to process the ca so it should also be consumed at a specific rate relative to the ca and alk.

I dose all 3, but I don't do too many water changes, maybe the people that don't dose MG are able to replenish with simple water changes.

Gtinnel · Sep 8, 2021

I use BRS Calcium chloride and for alkalinity I bake Arm & Hammer baking soda to make soda ash.

John08007 said:
One thing I've noticed and have read in many posts. Everyone mentions that they dose 2 part. Shouldn't it be at least 3 part? What about the mg? Thought MG was needed for corals to process the ca so it should also be consumed at a specific rate relative to the ca and alk.

I dose all 3, but I don't do too many water changes, maybe the people that don't dose MG are able to replenish with simple water changes.

For me that is exactly how I take care of magnesium. My daily AWC replenishes magnesium. I do have a bag of BRS Magnesium chloride and magnesium sulfate that I bought from Walmart for when/if I do need to start adding magnesium.

Spieg · Sep 8, 2021

John08007 said:
One thing I've noticed and have read in many posts. Everyone mentions that they dose 2 part. Shouldn't it be at least 3 part? What about the mg? Thought MG was needed for corals to process the ca so it should also be consumed at a specific rate relative to the ca and alk.

I dose all 3, but I don't do too many water changes, maybe the people that don't dose MG are able to replenish with simple water changes.

ESV B-Ionic 2-part contains all 3 major, minor and trace elements. Part 1 is pretty much straight alkalinity, part 2 has calcium, magnesium as well as minor and trace elements. I do 20-25% water change twice a year on average.
From ESV's website;
"B-Ionic® Calcium Buffer supplies all major, minor, and trace elements of synthetic seawater. As such, increased calcification rates require increased dosages of B-Ionic® Calcium Buffer, which in turn increases the input of all other elements."

Tamberav · Sep 9, 2021

ESV since that’s all a tank really needs. It’s dosed in equal parts so not much to it. It has the magnesium and trace.

AFR seems a ok choice if you just have one doser head. I would probably try it out on a nano where I want to limit equipment and demands won’t be very high.

REEFLIFE.27 · Sep 9, 2021

rtparty said:
I use it on my 50g LPS tank. It's not all it's cracked up to be. I have a ton of the DIY AFR from BRS still to use. Will likely last me years at this rate. I'll sell it locally after this next bottle though.

For example, on my 50g tank I keep alkalinity around 8.5dkh. With AFR my calcium is creeping up past 500 (started at 440) and the ONLY way to remedy that is water changes to bring calcium down. A major flaw with single solution dosing is the inability to dose individual elements that your tank calls for. Very few, if any, tanks actually consume elements in the ratio found in AFR. I've seen a few ICP tests from tanks that have been on AFR for over a year and they aren't the best. Another downside to AFR is my tank has developed a dark green, almost black cyano of some kind. It doesn't really spread so I leave it alone for the most part. Just odd how it popped up about a month after starting AFR. Since AFR has a carbon dosing component to it, it is plausible the AFR has caused the issue.

My 120g uses 70ml of alk and 70ml of calcium right now. AFR couldn't keep up with consumption even if I wanted to use it.

Yup my calcium started to creep up on me to around 500 to 550 so I stopped using it have two bottles just sitting there..

John08007 · Sep 9, 2021

Spieg said:
ESV B-Ionic 2-part contains all 3 major, minor and trace elements. Part 1 is pretty much straight alkalinity, part 2 has calcium, magnesium as well as minor and trace elements. I do 20-25% water change twice a year on average.
From ESV's website;
"B-Ionic® Calcium Buffer supplies all major, minor, and trace elements of synthetic seawater. As such, increased calcification rates require increased dosages of B-Ionic® Calcium Buffer, which in turn increases the input of all other elements."

Just looked into this on brs, doesn't mention that it also contains MG, they even make a 3rs part for MG

Spieg · Sep 9, 2021

John08007 said:
Just looked into this on brs, doesn't mention that it also contains MG, they even make a 3rs part for MG

BRS being the end all be all of information? ESV makes a wide variety of additives (magnesium being one of them). Believe me when I tell you that part 2 does contain magnesium. I haven't needed to dose magnesium in 15 years since using ESV's 2-part and my levels are always in an acceptable range.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Sep 9, 2021

John08007 said:
One thing I've noticed and have read in many posts. Everyone mentions that they dose 2 part. Shouldn't it be at least 3 part? What about the mg? Thought MG was needed for corals to process the ca so it should also be consumed at a specific rate relative to the ca and alk.

I dose all 3, but I don't do too many water changes, maybe the people that don't dose MG are able to replenish with simple water changes.

While some "2" parts have a third Mag part (like my DIY recipes that BRS uses), magnesium can be put into the calcium part of a two part if you have the right chemicals available. ESV is one of these.

John08007 · Sep 9, 2021

Spieg said:
BRS being the end all be all of information? ESV makes a wide variety of additives (magnesium being one of them). Believe me when I tell you that part 2 does contain magnesium. I haven't needed to dose magnesium in 15 years since using ESV's 2-part and my levels are always in an acceptable range.

Looked on there website also, they don't specifically mention MG but at one point they do say that the calcium includes all the major and minor elements.

Manufacturers should really be more clear about their products

Randy Holmes-Farley · Sep 9, 2021

John08007 said:
Looked on there website also, they don't specifically mention MG but at one point they do say that the calcium includes all the major and minor elements.

Manufacturers should really be more clear about their products

ESV unquestionably includes magnesium in the formulation.

In fact, one can tell exactly what is in it if one works through the meaning of this sentence:

" Formulated to provide all the proper ratios to duplicate the composition of synthetic seawater."

i used a similar rationale in designing my DIY system.

trmiv · Sep 9, 2021

ESV B-Ionic. Been around forever and works.

Waggers · Sep 13, 2021

I use reef zelements two part and there amino plus . Been using it around 3 months now and I’ve noticed a difference for the better from using fauna Marin .

ssster2020 · Nov 4, 2022

Spare time said:
I also have to dose magnesium with all for reef.

So I'm a little late on this, I just started dosing AFR for 2 months and my Mg is a little low for my liking as well, tested at 1280. Also my Ca is low at 380. BTW these are repeated tests. So do I simply dose Ca and Mg to bring the particular levels back? And then does AFR keep them at that level, and my extra dosing will not affect the water chemistry? The corals look good in the tank BTW