Switch from Tropic Marin 3 part balling to Randy's/BRS recipe

[HairyGary]

Hello all - I have 150 gallons SPS dominant tank and am switching from Tropic Marin 3 part balling to Randy's/BRS recipe. I've tried to calculate out the difference in mls needed but want to verify if I am calculating correctly. Note I also dose 2000mls of kalk through stirrer to keep up my PH to 8.0 to 8.3 during the day and also run CO2 recirculating scrubber. The tank is in my basement with no access to fresh air and winter in MN can be fun in a closed up house.

It appears switching can be as much as 3x more using Randy's/BRS receipt for CAL as well as ALK for the TM mixes? Anybody done the conversion? Any assistance is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Jason_MrFrags]

Haven't done the calculations. But you could easily use a Reef Calculator to have it tell you how much of the TM it takes to move the concentration for set amount of water. Then change to the 3 part recipe to have it tell you how much It would take to get the same amount of concentration.

Or you could do the actual math
if mixed properly TM balling concentrations
A - Calcium chloride dihydrate (part A): 20.000 mg/l (ppm) Ca
B - Sodium carbonate/sodium bicarbonate (part B): 2800° dKH/l
C - Sodium chloride free sea salt (part C): 3350 mg/l Mg; 980 mg/l K


Volume you are dosing x concentration(above A,B,C) = New Volume to dose X concentration of 3 part


Then go find the concentrations for the 3 part that you are mixing up

 

[HairyGary]

Haven't done the calculations. But you could easily use a Reef Calculator to have it tell you how much of the TM it takes to move the concentration for set amount of water. Then change to the 3 part recipe to have it tell you how much It would take to get the same amount of concentration

Yes, that's what I did. Took arbitrary alk amount for TM and raised by .5. Then did same for BRS recipe. To go from 8.0 to 8.5, 232 mls were needed with TM and 665mls with BRS.

I was just posting to confirm as it seemed like a huge difference.

 

[Jason_MrFrags]

Yes that looks about right

Reef Chemistry Calculator

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'm confused by the answers.

The answer depends on the recipe you use. But my primary Recipe (#1) is about 2x MORE POTENT than normal Tropic Marin Balling, and my bicarbonate recipe is similarly potent.

My DIY #1: 37,000 ppm Ca, 5,300 dKH
My DIY #2: 18,500 ppm Ca, 2660 dKH
Tropic Marin Balling: 20,000 ppm Ca, 2,800 dKH

https://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

Balling Liquid Set | Produktinformationen

www.tropic-marin-smartinfo.com

 

[HairyGary]

I'm confused by the answers.

The answer depends on the recipe you use. But my primary Recipe (#1) is about 2x MORE POTENT than normal Tropic Marin Balling, and my bicarbonate recipe is similarly potent.

My DIY #1: 37,000 ppm Ca, 5,300 dKH
My DIY #2: 18,500 ppm Ca, 2660 dKH
Tropic Marin Balling: 20,000 ppm Ca, 2,800 dKH

https://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

Balling Liquid Set | Produktinformationen

www.tropic-marin-smartinfo.com

ok Thanks so its BRS's Soda Ash and Calcium Chloride so DIY #1. Ok so I'll give 1/2 the dose of what I am dosing now based on those calculations

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

ok Thanks so its BRS's Soda Ash and Calcium Chloride so DIY #1. Ok so I'll give 1/2 the dose of what I am dosing now based on those calculations

That's a fine plan, although the demand may rise as the pH rises a bit. So you might need more than an equivalent amount.

 

[HairyGary]

That's a fine plan, although the demand may rise as the pH rises a bit. So you might need more than an equivalent amount.

Well that would be great if PH rises more as I'd love to get rid of the scrubber and just keep running 2 part and kalk stirrer.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Well that would be great if PH rises more as I'd love to get rid of the scrubber and just keep running 2 part and kalk stirrer.

Thanks for the help.

If you want an even larger pH rise, use sodium hydroxide instead of sodium carbonate. It has about twice the effect.

 

[DogFishMD]

Thank you for this excellent discussion!
I am about to get a new 150 gallon reef tank running and plan to have fish plus mixed SPS/LPS coral. I plan to run to modified Randy/BRS 3 part. I also suspect I will eventually want/need to use NaOH for the alkalinity. It therefore seems like a good idea to start with this from the beginning, understanding that initial demands will not be high while frags are young. Is there any reason I should be thinking differently? Does it make more sense to start with a conventional 3 part and switch only when needed?
Steve

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thank you for this excellent discussion!
I am about to get a new 150 gallon reef tank running and plan to have fish plus mixed SPS/LPS coral. I plan to run to modified Randy/BRS 3 part. I also suspect I will eventually want/need to use NaOH for the alkalinity. It therefore seems like a good idea to start with this from the beginning, understanding that initial demands will not be high while frags are young. Is there any reason I should be thinking differently? Does it make more sense to start with a conventional 3 part and switch only when needed?
Steve

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

No, there's no special reason to not use sodium hydroxide from the start. When alk demand is low, the pH effect will also be low, and won't cause any issue, IMO.

The only caveat is that overdosing with hydroxide can be worse, and learning the ropes with more forgiving carbonate or bicarbonate may be appropriate for some folks.