Need some help with ABCD dosing math please =)

LesPoissons

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Hi guys
My tank is a 220, with sump so Im guessing 250G total water volume.
I dose 34mls of calcium a day (Randys 2 part is aprox 10ppm/ml) so 340ppm for 250g a day
The directions on the ABCD bottles say add 1 ml for every 20ppm of calcium added for 100 L (25gal) of aquarium water

So im adding 34ppm/25g a day which equals 1.7mls
But then do i multiply that by 10 to get to 250 gallons?
So I should be dosing 17mls a day of ABC and D?
Does that seem correct?
 

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I believe it should be 1 ml per 20ppm of calcium regardless of tank size. Looking at the larger bottles, they indicate no where that it is 1ml per 10ml (red sea calcium) per 25 gallons, but rather only the 1 to 10 ml ratio. So 17 would sound right. However that does seem like a lot considering 1ml rasises iodine by 0.03ppm in 25 gal. I would recommend something like salifert's iodine and potassium test if you are going to be dosing these frequently. In my tank, using the salifert test of iodine, iodate, and total I got around 0.02 or 0.03 of iodine and I only dose a few drops of red sea iodine once or twice a week (no water change).
 
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LesPoissons

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Thanks, the goal for me is to get away from water changes since it bottoms out my phos and nitrates doing it every 2 weeks. BRS's video says 1 ml for every 51.1 mls of liquid calcium so according to them it would be less than 1 ml a day for my tank which is drastically different that 17 or even 1.7.
 

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Thanks, the goal for me is to get away from water changes since it bottoms out my phos and nitrates doing it every 2 weeks. BRS's video says 1 ml for every 51.1 mls of liquid calcium so according to them it would be less than 1 ml a day for my tank which is drastically different that 17 or even 1.7.


I am a bit confused though how you could be going through 340ppm of calcium a day as that is insane. I want to double check this with you since that would be nearly 2 and a half gallons of brs calcium and alk a day.
 
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LesPoissons

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Not sure I understand your math = )

I use 34ml of liquid calcium solution per day

Its 37,000 ppm ca per gallon (3785 mls) which equals aprox 10 ppm Ca per 1 ml.
34ml = 340 ppm of calcium per day
This keeps my ca level around 400-430 in my tank.
 

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Not sure I understand your math = )

I use 34ml of liquid calcium solution per day

Its 37,000 ppm ca per gallon (3785 mls) which equals aprox 10 ppm Ca per 1 ml.
34ml = 340 ppm of calcium per day
This keeps my ca level around 400-430 in my tank.


If you are saying that you used 340ppm of calcium a day in a 250 gallon, that equal 8700ml of calcium on bulk reefs calculator. I am not familiar with @Randy Holmes-Farley 's calcium but hopefully he can chime in to double check this because 340ppm of calcium a day is beyond anything I have ever heard of for a tank.
 
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LesPoissons

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Maybe bulk reef supply changed their formula/calcuator since their 2018 video which said 1ml of trace elements per 51 ml of liquid calcium. Not sure. Does it say what the ppm of their liquid is for the calculation? They used to say it was 37,000 ppm per gallon.

In any event I only used that as a reference for what they recommended on their video for trace element dosing. I use Randy's recipe and my calcium solution is 37,000ppm per gallon. 10 ppm per ml. 34ml a day. 340ppm.
 

homer1475

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Wow I never actually did the math that way.....(It's actually 9.775ppm per ML, but 10 is close enough)

I'm actually adding 250ppm(25ml) of calcium in my 80G cube. So your 340ppm for a 250G is actually pretty low.

Can't say what the math would be for the red sea products as I have never used them. I just don't buy into their hype machine, as baking soda and calcium chloride is just way to easy to find, and way cheaper then anything red sea will sell you.
 

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So what you guys are saying is that if your tank is at 400ppm calcium, then in 1 day without dosing you would be at 60 ppm and 150ppm (for homer) if in fact your are using hundreds and hundreds of ppm of calcium per a day in your tank. What am I missing here? I am either missing something so obvious or you two are growing a foot of sps a day lol.
 

homer1475

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I add 26ml of CAL and ALK daily to my tank.

Randy's DIY 2 part makes 37,000ppm of calcium in 1 gallon. There is 3,785ML in 1 US gallon(ok 3,785.41, but were just doing some rough estimating)

37,000 / 3,785 = 9.775(but were rough estimating here so 10ppm per ML).

26ml x 10ppm = 260ppm of calcium added daily.

Easy math there, not some of that new fangled stuff they teach kids these days.
 

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Well I am still utterlly amazed that your tank would be going through 2 gallons of brs calcium (I know you don't use that but I am saying it as a reference) a day but in that case then yes 17ml would be how much of the trace to add. However, I still recommend the salifert tests to know if you are low on these elements in the first place (particularly for A and B of the trace).
 

homer1475

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I was utterly surprised when I just did the math too!

Never imagined I use 260ppm of calcium a day. I know I don't test it that way, but my CAL has been rock stable for several months now and I haven't changed my doser. If I didn't dose for a day, then tested, I know my CAL certainly wouldn't be down to 160.

Maybe @Randy Holmes-Farley could enlighten us on this? Is it really just basic math, or are we missing something here?

Maybe there is other things involved with 2 part that it really isn't that simple with the math?
 
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LesPoissons

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Agreed. I dose 34ml daily now (sometimes need to adjust slightly) but my calcium has been right where i want it for months according to my Hanna checker. I stared by doing a 10 days test, calculating how much ca my tank used a day, averaging it after 10 days, and setting up my doser to adjust to my desired level, and have only needed to make minor adjustments. I dont know if I stopped it for a day if it would deplete by 340ppm but that seems right since thats what I add in daily to keep it stable.
Maybe BRS calcium is a much less concentrated solution so they can sell more product?
If thats accurate and I bought that I would be going though tons of product to maintain my tank. Perhaps thats the idea. Lol
 

homer1475

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BRS 2 part is based on randys DIY 2 part. Their calculator tells you to add as much as of their chem's as any other calculator that has randy's DIY on it.

And I've seen Randy mention it a few times throughout the years.
 
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LesPoissons

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Actually that seems to the case. Im looking back through my notebook from when I tried BRS calcium chloride back in march and 800 ml only increased my tank ca by 50ppm
 
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LesPoissons

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BRS 2 part is based on randys DIY 2 part. Their calculator tells you to add as much as of their chem's as any other calculator that has randy's DIY on it.
I dont see how that could be the case if their calculator indicated I need 8700 mls of their liquid calcium chloride to increase by 340ppm and I use Randys recipie and I need 34 mls to increase by the same amount. Their ca solution must only be 0.04 ppm ca/ml and Randys is 10ppm/ ml.
 

homer1475

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Depends on which recipe your using. BRS chems are based on Randy's recipe 1.

I get the same number for my 85G with 400 and 420 as my numbers. Randys recipe 1 gives me 174ML, and BRS calculator gives me 174ML of their chemicals.
 
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LesPoissons

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That also seems to hold true from my march notes where the BRS ca comes in at about 0.06ppm/ml. (factoring in test kit range of error and maybe not adding exactly 1 gallon of water etc.)

Seems like with BRS the product is much less concentrated = they sell more.
 

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I think there is some confusion on the PPM numbers. It looks like at least some people are looking at the 10ppm/ml and trying to make that into 10ppm for the entire tank.
Adding 34ml of 10ppm solution is much different than raising Calcium by 340ppm.
 

homer1475

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Obviously were confused. lol

I guess you need to factor in the water volume, not just the PPM of the solution? I was never really good at math, reading was always my thing.
 

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