Let's get a TWO PART discussion going! Question for today!

Are you dosing two part in your reef tank? (more questions in the thread)

  • Yes

    Votes: 538 58.9%
  • No

    Votes: 263 28.8%
  • No, but will in the future.

    Votes: 113 12.4%

  • Total voters
    914

neoGeorge

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1. How much are you dosing daily?
BiCarb: 17 ml/day via auto doser, CACl: 16 ml/day via auto doser, Kalk in the ATO

2. How much water volume do you have?
28 gallons

3. What is your target DKH and Calcium?
DKH: 10, CA: 450

4. How heavily is your tank stocked with SPS coral?
Primarily LPS, with some SPS and Softies

5. What are the biggest pros and cons you have found with two part dosing?
Pros: Alk and CA levels are stable
Cons: Salinity rises over time, but this is easy to correct
 

Rakie

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I'm now using CalRX

Prior to that
- 40 gallons volume
- 140mL / day
- ATI Essentials 3-part
- 50 different SPS, and about 20 LPS in display/10g frag tank.
 

Instigate

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1. How much are you dosing daily? 17ML BRS Soda Ash and 17ML BRS Calcium Chloride

2. How much water volume do you have? 37 Gallon Tank ~29 Gallons Actual Water Volume

DSC03274.jpg


3. What is your target DKH and Calcium? 9.2DKH / 420 ppm

4. How heavily is your tank stocked with SPS coral? Very little SPS, mostly LPS and some zoas.

5. What are the biggest pros and cons you have found with two part dosing? My parameters have been much more stable since switching from kalk in the ATO to hand dosing 2 part. Once I get a dosing pump then it will be a breeze. Only cons I can think of would be the price of a decent dosing pump and even those can malfunction and the hand dosing gets tiresome.
 

sweat90lx

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Currently dosing 80ml of BRS 2 part

Around 100 gallons total water volume

Target is 8 and 420. Right now alkalinity is really low at 5.7. Trying to bring it up slowly.

A few decent sized easy SPS

Pros- easy and cheap to dose throughout the day
Cons- having to refill containers and keep air out of the lines

7b5bc463967b7195ee107d02f5368b0f.jpg
 

Metcho

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I dose 30ml of CA 22ml AlK both ocean blend
16ml bionic Mag daily
Target ALk 7.5 Ca 455 Mag 1400

40gal breeder with 30tal sump

Sps dominant

Pros hook it up to doser and check weekly. Cons no as of right now.
 

BestMomEver

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1. About 60 ml each, part A & B
2. 60 gallons plus small sump minus rock and sand
3. Target.. 10dkh, calcium 440
4. A bunch of sticks, a duncan, hammer and two trees. Sticks are quickly becoming colonies.
5. Pro/Con.... It’s taken a while to get everything dialed in, which is a pain. It’s getting better...
 

shollis2814

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You don't dose to see results. You dose to maintain chemistry. There are many different factors that will determine when your sps will start taking off.
Good point. Thanks for that. That is definitely something I need to keep in mind.
 

jd371

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1.
ESV
45ml - ALK
40ml - CA
2.
75g DT & 20g sump (80g total)
3.
ALK 8.5 - 9 CA 450 - 470
4.
I'd say 1/3 of the tank is SPS
5.
Pro's - stability, less WC's to keep up with the demand
Con's - more testing if any adjustments to dosing
 

ihavecrabs

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  1. How much are you dosing daily? 105 ml ATI Essentials (3-part w/ trace)
  2. How much water volume do you have? 256g ish
  3. What is your target DKH and Calcium? 7.6 dkh and 420-440ppm
  4. How heavily is your tank stocked with SPS coral? 40ish frags with 5 turning into colonies and most others showing growth at the base.
  5. What are the biggest pros and cons you have found with two part dosing?
    1. Pros - Easy to manage and adjust remotely
    2. Cons - Trace elements maintenance (easier with ATI, but testing is a pain with ICP) but this is not required with 2-part I suppose.
 

Fishfinder

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1. Aqua forest. 300ml of each part daily. For 900ml total.

2. About 350gal

3. I shoot for 9.0dlh and 440 cal

4. I’d say light-medium. Lots of stuff starting to hit its stride and growing faster

5. It’s easy for stability. No fluctuation in parameters. I’m tired of refilling jugs and buying more!
47FB8360-57C5-49B3-954D-8CC6CCB7D647.jpeg
586A581F-063F-4CF4-8B7B-864229F2FEBC.jpeg
 

kurtp

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Two Part Calcium and Alkalinity Questions for those of you who dose!

1. How much are you dosing daily? I really don't know the volume. I fine tune the amount dosed by adjusting the timers that control the dosing pumps, so I could give you how long each timer runs per 24 hours, but that wouldn't be very helpful.

2. How much water volume do you have? about 120 g

3. What is your target DKH and Calcium? Alk target was 8.0 but I have decided to try running it at 9.0. Calcium target is 420

4. How heavily is your tank stocked with SPS coral? My corals are 90% SPS but most are still mini-colonies. I am resisting the temptation of packing in frags as I found I didn't like such a crowded tank when the colonies all matured on my previous go.

5. What are the biggest pros and cons you have found with two part dosing? Biggest Pro - its simple and I am familiar with it. Cons - No matter how careful I am measuring and mixing, my new Alk mixture is rarely exactly the same concentration as the previous batch so I need to fiddle with every other day alk checks and timer tweeks for the first week or two after mixing a new batch to get my alk level back on target.
 

coral408

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I have changed to CaRx recently.
Before dosing Ca 50ml/d & Alk 38ml/ d
Target: Alk 8.5-9.0dkh/ Ca 430-450ppm
Volume 160gal
mix: 1/3 sps most frags a few colonies.
 

menglish

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I was dosing 300mls/day of BRS two-part on my 180G mix reef
target Alk was 8.
Just switched to a CaRx. still tuning it in
 

Mrx7899

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I'm dosing 152 ml of bionic alk and calcium a day. Alk is 8.0 total water volume is 225 gallons and the tank is a mix reef but is mainly sps. I have a few large colonies but mostly mini colonies and frags. Pro very easy to setup, stable. Con when you dose alot it get expensive. Switching to a calcium reactor soon.
 
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spsick

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1. How much are you dosing daily?
23ml each
2. How much water volume do you have?
65gal total
3. What is your target DKH and Calcium?
7.3dKH 420ppm
4. How heavily is your tank stocked with SPS coral?
90% SPS
5. What are the biggest pros and cons you have found with two part dosing?
Pros: cheap and easy to set up/run
Cons: takes occasional adjustment?
 

mikes686

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1. How much are you dosing daily?
40 mg of Reefusion 2-part alk, daily, 30 mg of Reefusion 2-part cal every 3 days
2. How much water volume do you have? 250 gal

3. What is your target DKH and Calcium? Alk, between 9 and 10, cal, 440

4. How heavily is your tank stocked with SPS coral? Quite a few

5. What are the biggest pros and cons you have found with two part dosing? Across are finicky, everything else seems to grow and color better with the elevated alk.
 

Reefing threads: Do you wear gear from reef brands?

  • I wear reef gear everywhere.

    Votes: 46 16.8%
  • I wear reef gear primarily at fish events and my LFS.

    Votes: 17 6.2%
  • I wear reef gear primarily for water changes and tank maintenance.

    Votes: 1 0.4%
  • I wear reef gear primarily to relax where I live.

    Votes: 34 12.4%
  • I don’t wear gear from reef brands.

    Votes: 157 57.3%
  • Other.

    Votes: 19 6.9%
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