What are you dosing with?

[iratherBfishing]

I dose microbacter7 and NOPOx every day

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I dose microbacter7 and NOPOx every day

Why do you dose the microbacter7 so much?

 

[Tom Davey]

I dose Bionic 2 part, about once a week . I also have Mag. on hand if needed. Water changes weekly keeps most things in check. I had a small PO4 spike I think I am going to try the Vodka method this week .

 

[redfishbluefish]

Would like to ask a favor? Would you PM with all these Recipe details and where to obtain them?

Thanks

I'm going to post your request here because I think others might be interested. All this comes from Chef Randy in THIS article he wrote about DIY two part. I'll also point out that the recipe and ingredients from BRS are based on Randy's recipe as well.

I'll summarize what I do, with appologies to Randy for this simplified recipes. No chemisty will be included in this recipe, because I've found that the "C" word scares too many people. I'll also state, with you living in Florida, you most likely will not be able to find the winter ice melt products (Preston Driveway Heat (Calcium chloride) and MAG Flakes (magnesium chloride)), and suggest you purchase these from BRS.

ALKALINITY PART

I purchase Arm and Hammer baking soda from Sam's for between $5 to $7 for a 13.5 pound bag...it almost seems like it's a commodity with the price varying with every visit. This will make approximately 12 gallons of ALK. I typically make enough for two gallons, using two cookie sheets. On each cookie sheet I put 2 1/4 cups of baking soda.

Randy's recipe originally stated to bake this at 300 F for 60 minutes, but I found better results baking at 350F for an hour. The extra heat is just fine and won't hurt the baking soda. As a matter of fact, the 60 minutes are not an exact thing as well, and if you go longer, no problem. And when it's done baking, you could wait for it to cool or even use it hot if you wish. I like to let it cool to make it easier to handle.

I now use two old one gallon juice jugs to mix the ALK. I fill them about half full with RO/DI water. Using a funnel, I add all the baking soda from one of the cookie sheets to the half filled bottle. Once all the baking soda is in the jug (from one cookie sheet), I top off to one gallon with RO/DI and shake. The powder quickly goes into solution. Now if you don’t mix right away, like I did with the second one, a “cake” will form on the bottom. That’s OK. Just start shaking and break up the cake. It will now take a few hours for this to go into solution, but no damage done.

Here you can see one gallon that was just topped off with RO/DI water, while the other one is ready to receive the last slug of cooked baking soda through the funnel.

And that's it! One last point, if you purchase the stuff from BRS (soda ash), that is baking soda that has already been baked. If this is the case, you only need 2 cups of soda ash per one gallon container.


CALCIUM PART

Randy's recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups of Dow Flakes (another ice melt product). Well this stuff is now darn near impossible to find. An alternative ice melt that Randy mentions is readily available...in colder climates....Prestone Driveway Heat. This is the one I use…..I think its a 40 pound bag, which is a life-time supply, for less than $20/bag. However, without getting too technical, the “bound” water was removed (anhydrous), and therefore you only need two cups of Driveway Heat made up to one gallon RO/DI water. Simply mix until dissolved. Done! For those using BRS calcium chloride, 2 1/2 cups per gallon of RO/DI water.


MAGNESIUM PART

What you’ll need for this is Mag Flakes (an ice melt product that I think is in a 40 pound bag for less than $20) and Epsom Salts (that you’ll find at your local Drug Store). Actually I use so little of this solution, you might want to consider buying the Magnesium Chloride part from BRS. I’m still on my first gallon I made a number of years ago….the two or three other gallons I made, I ended up giving away.

Now I do one little thing that is different than what Randy says in his article. I have found that if I individually dissolve the Mag Flakes and Epsom Salts, and then mix the two solutions together, I get a little less of that precipitate. Either way you will get a precipitate, but with the following method, it appears that I get less.

In a gallon jug filled about a third of the way with RO/DI water, I dissolve three cups of Epsom Salts. In a second jug, also filled with about a third RO/DI water, I dissolve five cups of Mag Flakes. I usually add a little more water to this one to ease dissolving, but note that the combination of the two jugs cannot exceed one gallon. Once all the stuff has totally dissolved, I mix the two together and add RO/DI water up to one gallon. You will get a precipitate that either you may add to your tank without harm or not add it…..it doesn’t matter.

 

[reefbeard]

I use then ESv 2part. No complaints here

+1 ESV 2-part. Was dosing BRS Kalk with my ato.

 

[mattsreefadise]

I started using Reef Grow, and I've had il incredible results

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Just my personal observation when I switched from BRS to ESV was coloration and growth. But I know that there's other factors to that also. Like what else did I do different with my system at the same time as switching over to ESV. Just sharing my experience.

OK, thanks.

 

[3Twinklets]

ESV B Ionic

 

[Tapio]

Nothing unless a calcium reactor is considered dosing and kalkwasser in top off container. Have dosed with vinegar and vodka in times of algae problems.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Right now I'm still dosing BRS Alkalinity and Calcium.

 

[Best Fish-Jake]

I use Coralife salt and the only additive needed is Alk.. I personally use Aquavitro 8.4

As of last week I started using 'Coral Vitalizer' and have already seen good results by looking at my sps

 

[jd371]

I have been using BRS for the past year since I started dosing but will be switching over to ESV this weekend. I can get ESV from the lfs, doesn't need to be mixed and heard good things about ESV, that's my reason for switching.

 

[Reefltx]

BRS when first started but now it's ESV B-Ionic 2 part. There is a difference besides the price.

ESV has other trace elements added.
I made the switch back to ESV after 2yrs with BRS. The savings isn't all that, especially when you have to dose 2x the amount.

 

[Jeremy Luke]

BRS as well.