which chemicals should I use

[tinctorus]

hey guys, I am looking so simplify my dosing regimen and was considering switching the the B-Ionic 2 part so that I am not having to spend a TON of money on the brightwell stuff and also to limit the amoutn of additives I need to put into the tank


I have heard ALOT of good stuff about the 2 part B-Ionic line and was wondering if maybe that was the ideal solution for me...Right now I dose calcium, strontiom, iodine as well as pretty much the full range of brightwell stuff but I would prefer to be adding only 2 POSSIBLY 3 chemicals to my tank


From my understanding the 2 part still would benefit from the occasional dosing of magnesium and iodine, Is this true??


I know the 2 oart is supposed to give GREAT result and if that is the case I have no problems switching over to it


PLease give me yout opinions

 

[reefpeeper]

How big is your tank? U may want to consider redsea abc. It is for tanks up to 75gal. Its a powder you add directly to sump.

 

[tinctorus]

How big is your tank? U may want to consider redsea abc. It is for tanks up to 75gal. Its a powder you add directly to sump.

I just dont trust redsea products aside from the RSM130 that I have, I have had bad experience with there products, AND all of the red sea reps that I have met in my 16 years in the hobby they have ALL been very rude towards me so I refuse to use there products...The ONLY reason I bought a RSM130 was because at teh time I bought it they were the only company that made a nice looking AIO

Now ofcourse that I have the RSM130 there are a TON of AIO's, I think I may sell the RSM130 and buy one of the larger AIO's

I am actually kind of partial to the solana 67 gallon for an AIO

HOWEVER I dont think I am going to go with an AIO for my next tank as I REALLY like the cube style tanks like the deep blue Edge 60 cube which is 24x24x24 with a built in overflow and I can use my current 4x24 T5ho and just add a second 4x24T5HO to it and run an 8 bulb T5 fixture on it which should be enough to house pretty much any coral that I would want

 

[H2O]

I been using b ionic for years would not dose with anything alse great stuff cal.alk.mg. that's the only thing u need rest of the stuff gets replaced with water changes .
Don't dose anything u don't have a good test kit for because you will do more damage then good.

 

[tinctorus]

FWIW I do a 10 gallon water change with reef crystals and R/O water every week without fail, Sometimes if I am lazy I will just buy natural seawater from my local fish store because I know the guy that deliver there water and he runs it through a micron filter, ozone, uv sterilzer,carbon filter and a fluidized sand filter so his water is just about as pure as you can get which is the reason I dont mind buying the water from him because I know its pure

Just for ***** and giggles one day I tested his water and it came up PERFECT

 

[Airborne]

Look up Bulk Reef Supply make the switch and save a ton of money.

 

[IBEW41]

Look up Bulk Reef Supply make the switch and save a ton of money.

you would only need the alk and cal only add what you test

 

[tinctorus]

This is what I have decided to do

Question, Since I am going to be ordering the BRS 2 part/3 part should I use dosing pumps or would I be ok just adding them everyday on my own as long as I get the proper amounts and add them during different times of the day like I am supposed to??


Keep in mind I WILL eventually be ordering a dosing pump, something like the bubble magus dosing pump that does 3 different chemicals at different times "I may just oder the one from aquastyleonline since thats just a bubble magus with a different sticker and considerably less money


I dont have the funds right now to buy the dosing pump which is why I want to know if adding them on my own would be ok for now?


The reason I dont have the money is 2 fold
1) I just started working after a year of having to take off of work to take care of my dad who has lung cancer "IT IS IN REMISSION THOUGH RIGHT NOW THANK GOD!!!!"


2) I am also going to be adding a reefkeeper lite but the higher end lite version and I want to save up my money so that I can purchase the reefkeeper AND the dosing pumps at the same time




FWIW if you havent seen them this is the bubble magus which is priced at 299.99 from BRS


Bubble Magus Dosing Pump BM-T01 - English

And this is the one from aquastyleonline.com which is 219.99
Aquarium dosing pump system reef doser Kamoer triple dosing pump

As you can see they are the EXACT same dosing pumps with a different label, but all of the buttons, size and EVERYTHING is exactly the same

 

[-Logzor]

Dose by hand as long as you like, this worked fine for me for a year or so as I saved up for dosing pump.

Just make sure to have some kind of plan for someone else to dose if you have to leave town for a few days.

Consider Spectrapure as another option, their Litermeter pumps are the best and come with a 5 year warranty. I sent in one of my pumps after 4 years, they fixed it right up no questions asked.

 

[_sludgefactory]

I just switched to kalk in my top off and it keeps my levels dead on. Can't get any simpler. And remember if you can't test for it, prolly shouldn't dose it.

 

[Cubbies]

What about Reef Fusion 2 part dosing?

 

[tinctorus]

I just switched to kalk in my top off and it keeps my levels dead on. Can't get any simpler. And remember if you can't test for it, prolly shouldn't dose it.

I do add kalk with my top off water but I figure since I will be doing the BRS 3 stage with the 3 pump dosing pump, a reefkeeper and an ATO I shouldnt need to dose kalk anymore

Plus I change 10 gallons a week with reef crystals so my calcium stays above 450 even with my corals gorwing