2 Part Dosing

Vamsi

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I purposefully left the title vague. My story -

Right now I am doing Aqua-forest 2 part dry powders mixing them and setting aside for 24 hours and then using a dosing pump.

Tank Populations
Size - 200G (including sump and water displacement with rock and sand)
Corals - SPS/LPS and very few mushrooms and two acans.
Fish - 1 Yellow tang, 1 Cole tang, 1 powder blue, 1 Foxface, Wrasses and clown fish
Clam - 1 number

Params
Ph - 8.28
Salt - 34.7
mg - 1450
Kh - 8.3
ca - 400 (this is in the process of being corrected to 420 as i have increased my dosing as of yesterday)


So the AF Kh dry is mixed as per instructions and right now I dose 130 ml, spread over 24 hours
CA dry is dosed 15 mins after Kh and as of yesterday I have also increased by Ca to 130 ml to reach the 420 PPM target.

Reef mineral salt is also being dosed which is equal to amount of Ca dosing and in my case it is 130 ml.

With all the above information - This is the first time I am able to dose 2 part equally, I am not sure if this is due to the ReefMineral salt, which states that supposed to provide some ionic equilibrium.

I have used BRS 2 part in the past and did not get the chance to dose equally, this is nothing to do with BRS in general but just that my tank is going thru the ups and downs of stabilizing and maturity.

My question is - Can I switch to BRS 2 part and still dose the reefsalt from AF, or go with Tropic Marin Part C. TM Part C says that the dosing is twice the Alk consumption.

I do not use any other Trace elements from AF and also not wanting to use any other Trace from TM.

Sorry for the long post. I did try looking up information on this, I am sure it must have been asked. But all I do find is the Math in terms which product is cheaper.

Happy Reefing!!
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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With all the above information - This is the first time I am able to dose 2 part equally, I am not sure if this is due to the ReefMineral salt, which states that supposed to provide some ionic equilibrium.

No, that has nothing to do with relative alk and calcium demand.

I have used BRS 2 part in the past and did not get the chance to dose equally, this is nothing to do with BRS in general but just that my tank is going thru the ups and downs of stabilizing and maturity.

As total demand increases, the minor things that make a two part deviate from 1:1 become less significant and less apparent. Things like water changes or increasing/decreasing nitrate.
 
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Vamsi

Vamsi

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@Randy Holmes-Farley Thank you for the feedback. So looks like that I can safely switch to BRS 2 Part with out any implications. I do believe that BRS 2 Part is more potent, so I will be dosing it accordingly to meet the 8.3 alk and 420 ppm ca levels i keep in my tank.
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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@Randy Holmes-Farley Thank you for the feedback. So looks like that I can safely switch to BRS 2 Part with out any implications. I do believe that BRS 2 Part is more potent, so I will be dosing it accordingly to meet the 8.3 alk and 420 ppm ca levels i keep in my tank.

The "implications" of the switch relate to the other ions in the mix, such as potassium. Some folks are using the Tropic Marin Part C of the Balling product along with my DIY (which is the BRS two part) instead of may part 3. The Tropic Marin Balling Part C is essentially a better (and more expensive) version of my DIY part 3.
 
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Vamsi

Vamsi

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Randy, thank you once again. I found this article and I went thru all the posts. Thank you for the wealth of information you provide.

Thanks!!

 

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