2 part questions

[ZaneTer]

Hi everyone.

I will start with that I know nothing about chemistry, it’s not my skill set, so with that in mind:

I have two chemistry questions regarding two part.
1) What purpose does the Sodium Sulphate Anhydrous serve?
2) Can I split the calcium and magnesium components or do they need to be combined in order to be soluble?

Thanks

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hi everyone.

I will start with that I know nothing about chemistry, it’s not my skill set, so with that in mind:

I have two chemistry questions regarding two part.
1) What purpose does the Sodium Sulphate Anhydrous serve?
2) Can I split the calcium and magnesium components or do they need to be combined in order to be soluble?

Thanks

As a person new to two parts, I'd suggest a different recipe, if you are going the DIY route.

Part 1 Alkalinity sodium bicarbonate or sodium carbonate or sodium hydroxide
Part 2 Calcium chloride
Part 3 Balling Part C or Aquaforest Reef Mineral Salt

I can go into details on the sodium sulfate if you want, but it may be unnecessary beyond saying one wants to maintain the chloride to sulfate balance in the water, and too much chloride from calcium chloride messes that up.

This has more:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/randy-recommended-diy-two-part-recipes.984604/

 

[ZaneTer]

Randy, you are a godsend!

Thank you very much.

I was planning on following your sodium hydroxide 2 part as I will be discontinuing using AFR. The reason for possibly splitting the magnesium and calcium is that since using AFR the values for each have drifted and I would prefer to dose calcium, magnesium and alkalinity separately to bring these back in line.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/new-diy-two-part-recipes-with-higher-ph-boost.344500/