2 part and vinegar auto dose

[Danh Ngo]

I have this from BRS but I dont know how to mix it since I lost the side label for mixing instruction. How can I mix it?
Also I want to move from No3Po4x to Vinegar, so how much should I dose? Are you use 5% distilled vinegar? Currently dosing 1ml daily.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I would mix and use those according to my Recipe #2 in this article (not #1):

An Improved Do-it-Yourself Two-Part Calcium and Alkalinity Supplement System by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Also I want to move from No3Po4x to Vinegar, so how much should I dose? Are you use 5% distilled vinegar? Currently dosing 1ml daily.

If you are dosing 1 mL of NOPOX per day, and want to switch to vinegar, I'd start using about 2.5-3 mL of vinegar a day.

 

[Danh Ngo]

If you are dosing 1 mL of NOPOX per day, and want to switch to vinegar, I'd start using about 2.5-3 mL of vinegar a day.

@Randy Holmes-Farley do you have a reef chem calculator? The link to comcast is not working thank you

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chem_calc3.html

 

[Danh Ngo]

Do we actually need to dose Calcium? I notice it drop less than Alk

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You probably want to dose it, unless calcium is already too high.

When Do Calcium and Alkalinity Demand Not Exactly Balance? by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-12/rhf/index.htm

Calcium and Alkalinity Demand: Calcium Carbonate Mathematics

Calcium carbonate formation consumes its two components in an exact 1:1 ratio. In the units used by aquarists, this ratio corresponds to one meq/L (2.8 dKH; 50 ppm CaCO3 equivalents) for every 20 ppm of calcium. Not surprisingly, this is also the ratio of alkalinity to calcium that is supplied when calcium carbonate is dissolved, as in a CaCO3/CO2 reactor. Fortuitously for the aquarist, this is also the ratio supplied when calcium hydroxide is dissolved, as with the use of limewater (kalkwasser).

Apparent Excess Demand for Alkalinity

One of the most common complaints of new aquarists is that their aquaria seem to need more alkalinity than their balanced additive system, such as limewater, is supplying. While there are reasons this may actually be the case over the long term (these will be detailed later in this article), frequently these aquarists are seeing a "chemical mirage" rather than a real excess demand for alkalinity.

One of the interesting features of seawater is that it contains a lot more calcium than alkalinity. By this I mean that if all of the calcium in seawater (420 ppm; 10.5 meq/L) were to be precipitated as calcium carbonate, it would consume 21 meq/L of alkalinity (nearly 10 times as much as is present in natural seawater). In a less drastic scenario, let's say that calcium carbonate is formed from aquarium water starting with an alkalinity of 3 meq/L that it is allowed to drop to 2 meq/L (a 33% drop). How much has the calcium declined? It is a surprise to many people to learn that the calcium would drop by only 20 ppm (5%). Consequently, many aquarists observe that their calcium levels are relatively stable (within their ability to reproducibly test it), but alkalinity can vary up and down substantially. This is exactly what would be expected, given that the aquarium already has such a large reservoir of calcium.