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2 part question

K

kason42

I bought the 2 part mix from BRS. I'm adding 20 ml of Ca and 20 ml of alk daily. Everywhere I look I see that it should be added slowly and separately, however nowhere does it tell me how slowly or how separately. I pour each one in over the course of maybe 5 minutes, and I do one immediately after the other. I'm just not sure if this is right.
 
N

NJ_ychung1

i'm no expert as i have a similar question out on this as well...
so i think the idea of the separate dosing is the following.

if you let part1 and part2 mix in the same area immediately, much of what you have dosed will react with each other and create milky-cloudy calcium carbonate that settles to the bottom. that would be wasted and wouldn't be available to your corals. i think somewhere (some of the products i bought) recommends part 1 day 1 and part 2 on day 2 and alternate in that manner.

as i said i have a thread asking a similar question but this is what i know.

if you intend to dose on the same day, i would say dose in a separate area of the tank for part1 and part2 at minimum so as to minimize what precipitates as milky substance.
 
P

pgordemer

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
The best way to handle it and not have to keep worrying about how much and when is to use a dosing pump. You can either get a large dosing pump that has 2 lines, or 2 small single doing pumps and let it drip over time.

Example, I have a dual channel pump (It has 2 hoses). I dose about 60ml a day. I use my aquacontroller to drip between 2:00AM and 6:00AM and I know that is 60ML from testing. If I want to increase the amount I want to put in, I can either extend the time, or turn up the rate in the pump.

doing it this way, there are no spikes and no parcipitation, plus you don't forget.
 
K

kason42

I would love to buy dosing pumps, but in the mean time I'm stuck doing it this way. BRS says,

"Calcium and Alkalinity will be dosed daily in equal amounts. Add your doses of Calcium and Alkalinity separately and slowly to high flow areas of the tank. This is especially important when dosing the Alkalinity portion of Recipe 1 as a temporary increase in pH will occur."

I just don't know how slowly or how much time between each.
 
whitebear1020

whitebear1020

I use part AB by Little Fishes. I use 15ml of each. I add it in the tank very early in the morning as soon as lights come up. I add part A, then I wash the cup, two minutes later I add part B. I didn't know I was suppose to do it very slowly. All my corals are doing well. I use part A and B for year and a half this way. The milky part is only milky in my sump. By the time it gets to the tank, everything is dissolved. I hope this helps. :)
 
SirFragalot

SirFragalot

Here is a newb question if you ever saw one...(this is also for others that are afraid to ask)

Why can't you pre-mix the two till they disolve, then add it to the tank?
 
JRWOHLER

JRWOHLER

I spoke to the rep from ESV which I use. They have a pretty simple setup that uses air pumps...my future addition.
In any case he said you want to dose directly to the DT not the sump because you have greater water volume and greater water flow.
Don't dose to the sump.
 
N

NJ_ychung1

right . premix is no good. it will precipiate and be unusable by corals.

JRwholer. i didn't know that bit of info. i'm going to not dose the sump.... from now on. and thanks for your reply to my other thread. i still don't understand why but maybe that's the right way to do it..... hmm.
 
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