AF Components with standard 2 part

[drawman]

I've been dosing BRS two part for some time and have had Aquaforest Components Strong sitting on the shelf collecting dust. I figure why not try to use them with my two part. I've done some calculations and I'm wondering if anyone can comment. I think at first I will dose by hand as opposed to adding them to my calcium and alkalinity solutions.

So I'm going to try to relate dosage in terms of calcium consumption.

Per their instructions, you mix a 1000mL Calcium solution (along with two other 1L solutions since the Aquaforest is a balling system) and add 5mL of each component to one of these 1L solutions.

Per their instructions, 100mL of this solution with raise 100L of tank volume by 17.5ppm.

Per the BRS 2 part calculator, it would take 45.9mL to raise this same 100L of tank volume by 17.5ppm

So essentially you would add .5mL of each component for every 100mL of Aquaforest Calcium or 45.9mL of BRS Calcium. If I want it in terms of drops, 1 drop is roughly equal to 0.05mL so for every 4.59mL of BRS Calcium added I would add one drop of each component.

FYI:
Component A: Strontium and Barium
Component B: Heavy Metals
Component C: Iodine and Fluorine
Component K: Potassium

Eventually it may be nice to actually add these to my Calcium and Alkalinity solutions (the only one I don't think I would be able to do is the potassium).

Seems to be pretty straightforward and I'm trying to think of a reason I could get into trouble here. Any thoughts anyone? @Randy Holmes-Farley

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'm not sure any of those are useful additives for all people, and I don't think strontium and barium are ever useful in reef tanks.

That said, adding them may be fine, but without knowing the exact ingredients I cannot say what can be mixed into which part (if any).

For sure, A and B should not be mixed into an alk part. A can probably be mixed into a calcium or magnesium part.
C and K might be OK in either but I can't know for sure.

 

[drawman]

I'm not sure any of those are useful additives for all people, and I don't think strontium and barium are ever useful in reef tanks.

That said, adding them may be fine, but without knowing the exact ingredients I cannot say what can be mixed into which part (if any).

For sure, A and B should not be mixed into an alk part. A can probably be mixed into a calcium or magnesium part.
C and K might be OK in either but I can't know for sure.

Yeah I should've included that they mix A and B into their Calcium and Magnesium Solution and they mix C into their Alkalinity (sodium bicarbonate).

It would be nice to use Sodium Carbonate over Bicarbonate still as I want to get the benefit of a stable/higher pH. To me that would likely be more important than the additives over time. So if I mix C (Iodine and Fluorine) into sodium carbonate (instead of bicarbonate) and don't see any precipitate then I assume I would be good to go? It looks like both BRS and Aquaforest use CaCl2...not sure if all calcium chloride is created equal :confused:

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yeah I should've included that they mix A and B into their Calcium and Magnesium Solution and they mix C into their Alkalinity (sodium bicarbonate).

It would be nice to use Sodium Carbonate over Bicarbonate still as I want to get the benefit of a stable/higher pH. To me that would likely be more important than the additives over time. So if I mix C (Iodine and Fluorine) into sodium carbonate (instead of bicarbonate) and don't see any precipitate then I assume I would be good to go? It looks like both BRS and Aquaforest use CaCl2...not sure if all calcium chloride is created equal :confused:

Yes, all calcium solutions are calcium chloride.

Fluoride and bromide themselves are fine in alk solutions of any type. Whether there are counterions that are a concern (calcium, magnesium, for example) I can't say, but it is unlikely and if there's no precipitate they will be fine unless there are unnamed other elements in it.

 

[drawman]

Yes, all calcium solutions are calcium chloride.

Fluoride and bromide themselves are fine in alk solutions of any type. Whether there are counterions that are a concern (calcium, magnesium, for example) I can't say, but it is unlikely and if there's no precipitate they will be fine unless there are unnamed other elements in it.

Thanks Randy!

 

[sweendog87]

Just wondering if anyone has used AF components with Randy's 2 part I would like to incorporate them into my 3 solutions but not sure which components to add to the calcium alkalinity and magnesium any help would be appreciated

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Just wondering if anyone has used AF components with Randy's 2 part I would like to incorporate them into my 3 solutions but not sure which components to add to the calcium alkalinity and magnesium any help would be appreciated

The comments I made in posts 2 and 4 related to mixing into my DIY, but I've not seen any comments from someone who tried it.

 

[Saltyanimals]

I have an answer: I mixed all of them into one blender. Puree for 3 minutes. Dumped into the tank. Half my fish went blind.. two went carpet surfing, clowns non stop pooping and the yellow tang's nose hasn't moved from the tank corner.

JK. I'm after the same thing too. trying to use the base 3 part and adding enough extra AF snake oil to make a super potion. And really only so I can use less doser heads and less mixing maintenance.

 

[drawman]

I have been adding Component C to my Alk solution for the past couple of months with no perceived issues. The reason I have used component C only is because I wanted to start dosing Iodine to see if there would be any effects.