Alkilinity
- Thread starter Thetankdoctor
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I’ve had reefs since 2005 and never really knew anyone to dose kent. Same for seachem. ESV B-ionic is an oldschool stand-by that’s still popular today but many people don’t buy branded additives.
Early on, kalkwasser or pickling lime was king. In the early 2000’s most people started following Randy’s recipe sourcing their own CaCl, baking soda and MgCl. Eventually BRS became the leader for pure sources.
I still buy 15lb bags of baking soda from costco. I bake it to make soda ash for certain situations. I also use kalkwasser and started using lye(drain cleaner) in recent months.
blasterman
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Baking soda. Grocery store variety.
I can kinda maybe see the point of buying so called reef grade baking soda even though its silly. Food grade anything > reef grade. Ask a chemist. Not the two carnival barkers at BRS.
Reefers who buy alk in bottles of liquid though likely have the recipe for ice cubes in their wallet. Not only are you paying for water and getting ripped off but its more complicated calculating alk requirements.
Grow up and use good old baking soda and a set of measuring spoons.
Love kalk, but my calcium consumption us too high to bother with it.
I can kinda maybe see the point of buying so called reef grade baking soda even though its silly. Food grade anything > reef grade. Ask a chemist. Not the two carnival barkers at BRS.
Reefers who buy alk in bottles of liquid though likely have the recipe for ice cubes in their wallet. Not only are you paying for water and getting ripped off but its more complicated calculating alk requirements.
Grow up and use good old baking soda and a set of measuring spoons.
Love kalk, but my calcium consumption us too high to bother with it.
OP
OP
Baking soda...huh been doing this a long time and never really used baking soda as a regular addition. I have used it to raise in a pinch bit never really dosed with it. Man I should have thought of that. How do you calculate usage? I'm intrigued by that. So many people with great ideas it's amazing. Like I said I'm a old school pickling lime guy.
Just google Randy's DIY 2 part.
Plain old arm and hammer baking soda for ALK supplement. Or bake the baking soda for soda ash. Or the new 2 part uses lye(sodium hydroxide) to increase PH. Very similar to soda ash in dosing, but increases PH even more(more like using soda ash and kalkwasser together).
Everyone these days(all the cool kids) seem to be using TM's all for reef. I could never understand buying supplements when regular old food grade stuff is easily 1/3 of the price, and works just as good if not better. I'll keep the extra money I'm not spending on a commercial 2 part for more fish or frags.
FWIW BRS's ALK CAL and MAG are based off @Randy Holmes-Farley DIY recipe.
Plain old arm and hammer baking soda for ALK supplement. Or bake the baking soda for soda ash. Or the new 2 part uses lye(sodium hydroxide) to increase PH. Very similar to soda ash in dosing, but increases PH even more(more like using soda ash and kalkwasser together).
Everyone these days(all the cool kids) seem to be using TM's all for reef. I could never understand buying supplements when regular old food grade stuff is easily 1/3 of the price, and works just as good if not better. I'll keep the extra money I'm not spending on a commercial 2 part for more fish or frags.
FWIW BRS's ALK CAL and MAG are based off @Randy Holmes-Farley DIY recipe.
In cases where kalk will work for all or a meaningful part of Ca/Alk demand, I think it’s the superior choice. Other supplements either jack up your ionic balance or are a form of carbon dosing. They may be the right choice where demand outstrips kalk, or where carbon dosing is desired.
I guess a Ca reactor works similarly to kalk, but for those of us with lower demand, they’re overkill. And you might need kalk with a reactor to keep pH up anyway.
I say ride the kalkwasser horse as far as you can!
I guess a Ca reactor works similarly to kalk, but for those of us with lower demand, they’re overkill. And you might need kalk with a reactor to keep pH up anyway.
I say ride the kalkwasser horse as far as you can!
esther
Valuable Member
I use Triton Core 7 (4 part). Have had great success with it so far.
stanlalee
Active Member
I use an all in one (Polyp Lab One). Maintains calcium and alkalinity very well and takes very little product. I did two part forever (Seachem reef plus and carbonate) which worked fine but the one part is simpler, uses less product to achieve the same results and has the secondary effect of passive carbon dosing.
OP
OP
I think I am going back to the old stand by....pickling lime. Easy and effective. So far with the new reactor my oh had not crashed like I thought it would. So really nothing has changed much other than my nitrates and dropping fast...which is good.
BTW, do you use stuff packaged as actual pickling lime? Early in my short reefing career, I looked for it and could t find anywhere. So bought a biggish bag of calcium hydroxide (marketed for reefing) that will last me for a few years. But then just recently ran across honest-to-god pickling lime...at the local hardware store. Either obviously fine. I am skeptical of the supplement rage in the hobby.
OP
OP
Yeah I buy it in a can from a hardware store it's a green can literally called pickling lime. This is really old school reefing! Only now my apex controls my doser...long time ago it was a 2 liter bottle and a drip line with a clamp to control flow. Odd how things have changed yet stayed the same over some 30+ years in this hobby
OP
OP
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