Mixing 3a and 3b

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mikellini

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So I'm aware and have read that mixing 3a and 3b with 8l of RODI is possible, but not recommended because the 'highly concentrated' solution is hard on tubing. However, why not mix 3a and 3b into 18l of RODI, then just dose double the amount?

For those of us with only 3 dosing pumps...
 

joefishUC

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In theory you could do that but you would be adding quite a bit of RO water to your tank everyday. It could cause salinity issues. We started running the base elementz on our raceways and combined 3A and 3B and after about two weeks of the solution sitting in the large dosing reservoir, it started to precipitate into light solids- kind of like a slurry of ice on the bottom. We are now switching to the four separate dosing chambers since the slurry will quickly clog the tubing lines. I think if we made less solution at one time, or stirred it daily we would avoid this problem but this would add more maintenance in the long run. We encourage people to experiment on their own and let us know what the results are! Good luck.
 

Triggreef

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why not mix 3a and 3b into 18l of RODI, then just dose double the amount?

Genius. I'm doing this tomorrow... But 8 + 8 = 16.

@joefishUC - I would bet on most tanks that extra small bit of extra water would make no difference. It's that much less top off you would need to worry about. I easily use at least a gallon a day (Probably much more) of top off on my system.
 
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mikellini

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Genius. I'm doing this tomorrow... But 8 + 8 = 16.

@joefishUC - I would bet on most tanks that extra small bit of extra water would make no difference. It's that much less top off you would need to worry about. I easily use at least a gallon a day (Probably much more) of top off on my system.

8+1+1=10, so if you're dosing double you'd want to double the total volume, no?
 

kidtango

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I think it's best to dose in four separate channels fellas. I would think that Triton had experiment with this and that's probably why they recommend keeping it all separated. It sucks that we all have to spend more money to get dosing pumps, but I rather be safe than be sorry. But experiment away! Keep us all posted. haha. As for me, I am going with four dosing pumps.
 

gpwdr

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I think it's best to dose in four separate channels fellas. I would think that Triton had experiment with this and that's probably why they recommend keeping it all separated. It sucks that we all have to spend more money to get dosing pumps, but I rather be safe than be sorry. But experiment away! Keep us all posted. haha. As for me, I am going with four dosing pumps.

I'm with you kid tango, I can follow directions too.

Gene
 

Triggreef

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It's interesting on the bottle each part, 3a and 3b say to mix with 9 liters of water if doing individual containers. Yet it says they can be mixed together if you mix them with 8 liters.

Will I made the switch to triton products several hours ago. I went with 3a and 3b together in 16 liters of water. I set it up to dose double the amount of part 3. It will dose 7 minutes every hour for my starting point, so I can't see anything getting clogged.
 

JDP

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I went with 3a and 3b together in 16 liters of water. I set it up to dose double the amount of part 3.

This workaround should reduce your dosers, but I think you will need a total volume of 20 Liters (3a + 9L water + 3b + 9L water) to stay with Tritons dosing volumes?
 

kidtango

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I think u guys are playing with fire here. I think triton would have clear instructions if they really want their clients to mix those parts that way. Be weary however if the end results are bad n some users will attribute this to the productions. I am down for experimenting but only when I have full understanding of the parts in the equation. Unique Corals use four dosing pumps... don't go cheap n regret it later.
 

JDP

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Agreed! I am setting up with four pumps. IMO, They did not separate them for nothing. You have to play by the rules before you can break them! I'm just waiting for someone to post the results of the Base Elementz test, Ha.
 
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mikellini

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I think u guys are playing with fire here. I think triton would have clear instructions if they really want their clients to mix those parts that way. Be weary however if the end results are bad n some users will attribute this to the productions. I am down for experimenting but only when I have full understanding of the parts in the equation. Unique Corals use four dosing pumps... don't go cheap n regret it later.

Actually Triton's original instructions were to mix them together in a 10l total mix, but then they realized it could clog tubing. All I suggested was to dilute the mix by half, which should help to prevent precipitation and clogged tubing. It's not rocket surgery
 

gpwdr

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I think u guys are playing with fire here. I think triton would have clear instructions if they really want their clients to mix those parts that way. Be weary however if the end results are bad n some users will attribute this to the productions. I am down for experimenting but only when I have full understanding of the parts in the equation. Unique Corals use four dosing pumps... don't go cheap n regret it later.

I use 5 dosing pumps, the 5th is for removing the required amount of tank water as you dose (method calculator).

Gene
 

Triggreef

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Actually Triton's original instructions were to mix them together in a 10l total mix, but then they realized it could clog tubing. All I suggested was to dilute the mix by half, which should help to prevent precipitation and clogged tubing. It's not rocket surgery

Or brain science. :heh:
 

kidtango

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I am sure it's not rocket surgery and if you can conduct surgery on a rocket then I guess your a genius. Lol. Experiment away. Keep us posted with your results.
 

Triggreef

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About the removing water bit... Are others doing this? I haven't seen the calculator explaining to remove an amount of water per your dosing amount. But I know I have much more evaporation than what I'm dosing so I would think my ato should keep it in check, same as with my 2 part c-balance did. I suppose I I probably tend to remove a fair amount of water just through using my reef water to thaw frozen food and disperse to other tanks. Maybe thats why my sg doesn't vary much?
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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About the removing water bit... Are others doing this? I haven't seen the calculator explaining to remove an amount of water per your dosing amount. But I know I have much more evaporation than what I'm dosing so I would think my ato should keep it in check, same as with my 2 part c-balance did. I suppose I I probably tend to remove a fair amount of water just through using my reef water to thaw frozen food and disperse to other tanks. Maybe thats why my sg doesn't vary much?

Assuming you have adequate evaporation, the ATO will deal with that issue without your even noticing it. :)
 

Triggreef

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Thats what I figured. I have a 19g tote for a top off (although I think it holds more like 12g). I go through that about 5 days.
 

gpwdr

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About the removing water bit... Are others doing this? I haven't seen the calculator explaining to remove an amount of water per your dosing amount. But I know I have much more evaporation than what I'm dosing so I would think my ato should keep it in check, same as with my 2 part c-balance did. I suppose I I probably tend to remove a fair amount of water just through using my reef water to thaw frozen food and disperse to other tanks. Maybe thats why my sg doesn't vary much?

This is a link to the calculator

| Triton-Method Method calculator | Triton GmbH

Enter the amount of elementz 2 you dose per day in the upper left box.

The bottom box shows the amount to remove.

I believe you do this if the salinity rises, but I set it up as auto water removal.

You may call it daily mini water change so the elementz don't pile up.

Gene
 

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