Randy Holmes-Farley
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Magnesium sulfate (if that is part of the recipe you are using) cannot be mixed into either alkalinity or calcium supplement, hence the need for a third part.
If you are using one of my recipes (such as from BRS, which provides the baking soda already baked)), then there is a fixed ratio of dosing the magnesium part relative to the other parts (610 mL for each gallon of the alk part):
An Improved Do-it-Yourself Two-Part Calcium and Alkalinity Supplement System by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php
fron it:
Recipe #1, Part 3A
Dissolve Epsom salts (3 cups) and magnesium chloride hexahydrate sold by the Dead Sea Works company (5 cups) in enough purified freshwater to make 1 gallon total volume. There will likely be a precipitate that forms even if you fully dissolve both ingredients separately. That precipitate is calcium sulfate (calcium as an impurity in the magnesium chloride and sulfate from the Epsom salts). It is fine and appropriate to dose the precipitate along with the remainder of the fluid by shaking it up before dosing.
This solution is added much less frequently than the other two parts. Each time you finish adding a gallon of both parts of Recipe #1, add 610 mL (2 ½ cups) of this stock solution. You can add it all at once or over time as you choose, depending on the aquarium's size and set up. Add it to a high flow area, preferably a sump. In a very small aquarium, or one without a sump, I suggest adding it slowly.
The first time it's added, I recommend adding just a small portion and making sure there isn't any problem (such as corals closing up due to stress) before adding the remainder. Make sure corals and other organisms don't get blasted with locally high concentrations of the main ingredients or impurities, or else they may become stressed. This solution contains about 47,000 ppm magnesium, 70,000 ppm sulfate and 86,000 ppm chloride.
If you are using one of my recipes (such as from BRS, which provides the baking soda already baked)), then there is a fixed ratio of dosing the magnesium part relative to the other parts (610 mL for each gallon of the alk part):
An Improved Do-it-Yourself Two-Part Calcium and Alkalinity Supplement System by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php
fron it:
Recipe #1, Part 3A
Dissolve Epsom salts (3 cups) and magnesium chloride hexahydrate sold by the Dead Sea Works company (5 cups) in enough purified freshwater to make 1 gallon total volume. There will likely be a precipitate that forms even if you fully dissolve both ingredients separately. That precipitate is calcium sulfate (calcium as an impurity in the magnesium chloride and sulfate from the Epsom salts). It is fine and appropriate to dose the precipitate along with the remainder of the fluid by shaking it up before dosing.
This solution is added much less frequently than the other two parts. Each time you finish adding a gallon of both parts of Recipe #1, add 610 mL (2 ½ cups) of this stock solution. You can add it all at once or over time as you choose, depending on the aquarium's size and set up. Add it to a high flow area, preferably a sump. In a very small aquarium, or one without a sump, I suggest adding it slowly.
The first time it's added, I recommend adding just a small portion and making sure there isn't any problem (such as corals closing up due to stress) before adding the remainder. Make sure corals and other organisms don't get blasted with locally high concentrations of the main ingredients or impurities, or else they may become stressed. This solution contains about 47,000 ppm magnesium, 70,000 ppm sulfate and 86,000 ppm chloride.
