I feel like a chemist...

[Airborneguy]

So here's a brief synopsis of the dosing secrets my "guru" has taught me. Now I know this is controversial to some, but his years of experience, and the fact that this is how he doses his tanks at his commercial coral farm in Ct, leads me to take his advice.

Basically, he only reccomends dosing Magnesium and Calcium in a reef tank, and leaving the rest to your salt mix. As for the dosing ingredients, I was a little surprised, but considering the price difference between his reccomendations and the products out there, I looked into it and agree that chemically, they are the same.

For magnesium, epsolm salts get the trick done. They are pure magnesium. to raise the carbonate hardness (DKH), he reccomends a mixture of 4 parts Arm & Hammer Baking Soda and 1 part Borax 20 Mule Team Laundry Booster. One shot glasss for a 100g tank will raise the DKH by 1. For calcium, he orders pure calcium from a chemical supply company for $3 a pound! Enough to keep my tank above 420 for months. Add this all up, and its a HUGE savings, and you are not adding anything to your tank you do not want to add.

Now obviously, I know this is not for everyone. Some people would probably way over dose if they were mixing compounds themselves, but attention to detail and OCD-ism are like my middle name, so that's not a problem for me.

I'd love to hear opinions on this stuff... and let the flaming begin!!

 

[TRe]

i know people that do the same but i dont really have the time for all that so i just use B-ionic however i do plan on going with a calcium reactor on the new tank

 

[Lorna]

Why you think we would flame you is beyond me......

This is what I have been using for years

An Improved Do-it-Yourself Two-Part Calcium and Alkalinity Supplement System by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

There is absolutely no reason why a person needs to buy lfs/fish store marine aquarium products if they have an idea of the basics of the chemical reactions going on and what the depletion rates within your own system are. Personally I buy my additives and mix them and have a dosing schedule that lends stability to my systems. I use Arm & Hammer baking soda for the alk/dkh portion and though I have used Prestone Driveway Heat which is pure calcium chloride I have recently been buying the calcium from the local pool supply store for really cheap.......and the mag I use epsom salts. This isn't rocket science and is an economical way to provide the necessary additives you need. You just need to ensure that what you are adding are pure and do not contain any additives. I had heard that they recently changed the formulation of prestone driveway heat......and I wasn't able to get my hands on any 50lb bags of dow flake. Many aquariusts use this formula. A lot also drip Kalkwasser which is nothing but pickling lime......for the ca part, though it can mess with your ph or as in my case it was clogging up my auto topoff. So if you were looking for a flaming, sorry to disappoint.....just make sure you are testing and that you know what your depletion rate is then use a balanced formula that will add things in the correct proportions, and every jugful you add the magnesium......

 

[Airborneguy]

On the site me and him are members of, he gets it for this sometimes, so I figured I might... glad I didn't though of course!

Lorna, do you mix this all together and do it as one? Right now, for me, it will be three seperate doses, but I see what you are saying in that if I figure out the depletion, I can jsut make one mix to dose on a schedule.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

The only way you might get it is if you were really overdosing or something. I personally say good on you for keeping up with all that dosing!

I need to get me some B-Ionic.

Anyone tried dosing Vitamin C? Something i'm gonna try here in a while once i get some from GNC. Pure vitamin C tabs that you let dissolve slowly. From the results i've seen it makes corals really pop, especially Zoas.

 

[Airborneguy]

I haven't heard that one... you're saying it helps with the colors? I'm interested...

Tomorrow I am going to re-test to see where my Mag and DKH are, I am waiting for the calcium supply, so I haven't done that yet.

I'll also post pics of the Knya tree I bought today, anything I buy tomorrow (the shipment comes in tomorrow...)

 

[Lotus]

As long as you're measuring and dosing, it should be OK. Of course, you need to make sure what you're adding is pure. I've heard a lot of people use Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime for calcium.

I'm using a two-part dosing system, plus some magnesium. To be honest, the cost hasn't been particularly high for me, using the largest bottles available.

I also use the Kent Superbuffer that I put directly into my RO topoff water, as it's a lot easier for me to keep my KH stable that way.

These days, I have a lot going on, and I find it hard to remember to dose my tanks regularly.

 

[Airborneguy]

The thing for me is that I work nights, and when I get home I have nothing to do while I unwind with an hour or so before bed. So since most normal people are leaving for work at that time, I use it to deal with my two tanks.

 

[Lorna]

Okay a few pointers. You do not dose the soda and ca together as the soda if concentrated in the water will make the ca percipitate out and you will get a snowstorm going..... I usually mix up a gallon of ro/di water with 2 cups of baking soda in a one gallon jug....I then mix up 2 cups of calcium chloride in another gallon jug with ro/di water(this gets really hot when you mix it with water). I shake em up and add 100 ml (I have a fairly heavily stocked 75g) of the soda/water mix each morning (this will raise the ph a bit hence why I dose in the a.m. when the ph is at it's lowest) I wait about 15 -20 minutes then dose an equal amount of the ca mix. Once I have dosed both gallons (about a month or 6 weeks) I will mix 20 oz of water with 2 cups of epsom salts and add this all at once.......it is easy as pie.......though like lotus I am sometimes forgetting to dose so I am going to mix my akh/soda and add it to my top off system....that way I just need to dose the ca though I may make a gallon jug to drip into my sump.....thinking thinking thinking......hmmmmm....

 

[Airborneguy]

So I started dosing Calcium today, and tested all my params again, and I think I am pretty close to being on point now. My DKH is a little high, but that should drop now that the cal/mag are closer to the right numbers. I'll test again in two days. I want to keep the Cal high to promote growth of coralline, while at the same time bumping up the DKH to promote the depositing of the Cal by the organisms, so it will be a delicate balance. I'm really reading now, gettign into the minutiae, so hopefully I'll have it nailed soon.

 

[Airborneguy]

Oh yeah, and my 20gal planted tank may soon become a refugium for my reef... I'm getting bored by it. If the guppies don't pop out some babies soon, they are goners!

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Haha! The reef side has totally engulfed you!

 

[Airborneguy]

It ten times better! I've had saltwater in the past, but never had teh time to dedicate to it like I do now. So this time around, I'm seeing much more of the hobby than I did in the past.