DIY Chemistry Archive

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 23, 2023

Salty_Northerner · May 23, 2023

Thanks for sharing Randy. This is going to be a definite good read!

Gumbies R Us · May 23, 2023

Thanks for putting all of this in one place!

EricR · May 23, 2023

Awesome stuff!
No DIY phosphate link, or did I just miss it?

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 23, 2023

EricR said:
Awesome stuff!
No DIY phosphate link, or did I just miss it?

Thanks, Added one. :)

killer2001 · May 26, 2023

Nice, been waiting for this.

ps, you have Zinc Dosing in two different spots, with two different links.

SixlineRyan · Oct 10, 2023

For someone new is there any sort of guide that explains why you would be adding each of these to your tank?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 10, 2023

Many elements are needed and some deplete. Different options exist, but for a new reefer, I’d consider some method of calcium and alkalinity addition, then possible with some trace elements.

LimestoneCowboy · Nov 26, 2023

@Randy Holmes-Farley , if one was going to mix up a blend of traces with DI water to dose hourly, of this list, are there any that are easy green lights on combining? Any that are red lights and you would dose by themselves? I have tried to learn how to read a solubility chart, but I am not sure I have mastered it yet. My goal is to make a couple solutions rather than setting up a dosing pump for each individual element if possible, combining those that will play nice and dosing by themselves, once that might react. Thank you as always!

Bromine (Sodium Bromide)
Strontium Chloride
Boron (Borax)
Sodium Fluoride
Potassium Iodide
Barium Chloride Dihydrate
Molybdenum (Sodium Molybdate)
Nickel Chloride
Manganese (II) Chloride Tetrahydrate
Chromium (Chromium (III) Chloride Hexahydrate
Cobalt (Cobalt Chloride)
Iron (Ferrous Gluconate)
Selenium (Sodium Selenite)
Vanadium Pentoxide
Zinc Chloride
Rubidium Chloride

Randy Holmes-Farley · Nov 26, 2023

LimestoneCowboy said:
@Randy Holmes-Farley , if one was going to mix up a blend of traces with DI water to dose hourly, of this list, are there any that are easy green lights on combining? Any that are red lights and you would dose by themselves? I have tried to learn how to read a solubility chart, but I am not sure I have mastered it yet. My goal is to make a couple solutions rather than setting up a dosing pump for each individual element if possible, combining those that will play nice and dosing by themselves, once that might react. Thank you as always!

Bromine (Sodium Bromide)
Strontium Chloride
Boron (Borax)
Sodium Fluoride
Potassium Iodide
Barium Chloride Dihydrate
Molybdenum (Sodium Molybdate)
Nickel Chloride
Manganese (II) Chloride Tetrahydrate
Chromium (Chromium (III) Chloride Hexahydrate
Cobalt (Cobalt Chloride)
Iron (Ferrous Gluconate)
Selenium (Sodium Selenite)
Vanadium Pentoxide
Zinc Chloride
Rubidium Chloride

I personally think folks dosing rubidium and barium are wasting effort. It has no known need in any known organism.

These can be combined:

Bromine (Sodium Bromide)
Strontium Chloride
Boron (Borax)
Sodium Fluoride
Potassium Iodide
Barium Chloride Dihydrate
Rubidium chloride

The others are more complicated, being redox active. They can react with one another and change form. That may be fine, but it’s beyond a quick analysis.

As an example, combining ferrous iron and selenite gets messy and worthy of a publication all on its own:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169772216300304

escaraba · Dec 27, 2023

hello Randy,

can you give a recipy for dosing copper trace element?

thx,

KStatefan · Dec 27, 2023

Thanks

I missed this when it was first posted

Randy Holmes-Farley · Dec 28, 2023

escaraba said:
hello Randy,

can you give a recipy for dosing copper trace element?

thx,

Welcome to reef2Reef!

Sure. Do you know what material you can buy for dosing? Cupric chloride would be best, IMO.

escaraba · Dec 29, 2023

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Welcome to reef2Reef!

Sure. Do you know what material you can buy for dosing? Cupric chloride would be best, IMO.

Thx,

I can buy here.
https://www.laboratoriumdiscounter.nl/nl/koperiichloride-dihydraat-98-extra-pure-copy.html
Gr

Randy Holmes-Farley · Dec 30, 2023

Ok, copper (II) chloride dihydrate is 37% copper by weight.

Dissolving 0.1 g in 1 L of ro/di gives 37 ppm, or 0.037 mg/mL = 37 ug/mL

Adding 1 mL to 100 L of tank volume boosts copper by 37 ug/100 L = 0.37 ug/L = 0.37 ppb.

Natural levels of copper in seawater are about 0.38 ug/L.

Do not add copper unless you use a high quality icp company, preferably using icp-ms. Not all icp results are suitable for dosing copper, IMO.

LobsterOfJustice · Dec 31, 2023

Hey Randy, can you whip up a ballpark recipe for KCl that will result in a reasonable concentration supplement for a 350g system? I don’t want to overshoot it if I make it too strong or end up adding gallons of the stuff if I make it too weak.

https://a.co/d/93LHiE9

Miami Reef · Dec 31, 2023

LobsterOfJustice said:
Hey Randy, can you whip up a ballpark recipe for KCl that will result in a reasonable concentration supplement for a 350g system? I don’t want to overshoot it if I make it too strong or end up adding gallons of the stuff if I make it too weak.

https://a.co/d/93LHiE9

Use this calculator:

http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/calculator.htm
Select potassium nitrate, but dose 26.2% less than what it recommends to account for the potassium in potassium chloride (there is more potassium in potassium chloride vs potassium nitrate). :)

Miami Reef · Dec 31, 2023

LobsterOfJustice said:
Hey Randy, can you whip up a ballpark recipe for KCl that will result in a reasonable concentration supplement for a 350g system? I don’t want to overshoot it if I make it too strong or end up adding gallons of the stuff if I make it too weak.

https://a.co/d/93LHiE9

Nobody can reasonably estimate how much potassium you need without a test kit. ICP works well for potassium, as well as some home test kits.

Many tanks don’t need additional potassium. You need to test before you can know how much to add.

KStatefan · Jan 1, 2024

LobsterOfJustice said:
Hey Randy, can you whip up a ballpark recipe for KCl that will result in a reasonable concentration supplement for a 350g system? I don’t want to overshoot it if I make it too strong or end up adding gallons of the stuff if I make it too weak.

https://a.co/d/93LHiE9

I mix mine to about the same concentration as Captive8's bottle 100,000 ppm modified to make round amounts using gallons.

LobsterOfJustice · Jan 1, 2024

Miami Reef said:
Nobody can reasonably estimate how much potassium you need without a test kit. ICP works well for potassium, as well as some home test kits.

Many tanks don’t need additional potassium. You need to test before you can know how much to add.

I understand I need to test before knowing how much to add, which is why I’m not asking how much to add. I am asking how to prep a stock solution of reasonable known concentration, which I can then calculate how much to add.