Thats great as I said before if thats the way you want to go then go for it, but at least add the balancing factor of part C, then you do not have two risks, just one.

But i still do not see the reason of using off the self salts and there are risks involved in them, I have seen many tanks with sudden algal blooms after a year or less, once the person stopped using the salt the issue slowly went away. As a hobbyist you have absolute no control what these salts have in them, you are buying salts not designed for your tank, food grade is great for food, but corals are a little more sensitive, I am not talking about poisons just wrong elements, too much bromide is one possible scenario.

So in "my" view I would rather spend that little extra and get salts from a known pure source where they have been tested and assured for you for the intended use. I also prefer to feed my expensive corals something that I cna trust in as replacing that coral will far outweigh the cost of using a proper salt mix.

But this is where the arguments start so i will end by saying, if you are happy using your DIY salts, go for it, just please at least see the importance of adding Part C.

Yep you are right it is adding all the traces in one powder, but its that one powder with all the traces that enables the ionic balance, it is important to be clear on that point.

I am not so sure about using another salt and copying the recipe, there is a chance you will get a different strength mix as not all salts are made up of equal components, so make sure you at the very least have the correct saturation points as marked, which for the average bobbyist could be difficult to achieve. Which brings me back to the point of why bother when the kit is readily available for you in the first place.

Is there that much need to try and find a way round a product just because it is a commercially supplied product for you, for your ease of use? After you have gone to all these efforts, in effect to beat what many feel as beating the system, or doing it cheaper hoping to get the same results, I am quite sure the saving based on time and effort would be minimal, and in some cases more expensive.

But that's consumer choice, do what you feel fits best with you. Just - yep - PART C at the very least.

And here is your answer in probably more detail than you could ever wish for ;) Hans-Werner does not hold back ;)

• Sodium chloride has a molar weight of 58.44 g/mol.
• In 2 l of R/O water a max. of 2 mol sodium bicarbonate can be dissolved. After addition of 2 mol sodium bicarbonate and 1 mol calcium chloride 2 mol sodium chloride remain in the aquarium. 2 mol sodium chloride can be balanced with exactly 50 g of sodium chloride free sea salt.
• Formula:
 CaCl2 x 2 H2O + 2 NaHCO3 
CaCO3 + 2 NaCl + CO2 + 3 H2O
• Insert weights:
 147 g CaCl2 x 2 H2O + 168 g NaHCO3  100 g CaCO3 + 117 g NaCl + 44 g CO2 + 54 g H2O
 117 g NaCl + 50 g NaCl free sea salt  167 g complete sea salt

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• Adjust tank water to 7° KH and 420 ppm calcium.
• Check alkalinity after two days. Calculate how much alkalinity solution is needed. Add same volume of all three solutions.
• Continue with daily additions of half the volume.
• Adjust added volumes to keep 7° KH alkalinity.

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+1

That's what does it for me. Situations like the bromide issue in Dow Flake from a number of years ago is what concerns me.

You may be able to find less expensive sources of additives, but you have to be a lot more diligent as to keeping up on their composition....IF that information is even available to the public in a timely manner.

Just mixed the part A , And part B solutions .

Had one issue .
With the part B.
I added 18 scoops to my jug added the water and began shaking. Well no matter what it would not all disolve. So I have that solution now that i dont know what to do with.

So take 2.
This time I weighed each scoop. It only took 15 scoops to reach the 318 grams. This would explain why the first solution would not totally disolve.


anyone else weigh each scoop ? would be nice to know .

really wish i had weighed the other parts first before i hooked up to my doser

On the box it tells you either scoop or total weight, it makes a lot more sense to use the total weight than a scoop.

As per the instructions
Part A = 380 grams to 5L of RO
Part B = 420g to 5L of RO
Part C = 120g to 5L of RO

scoops are just a guide for those that dont have scales handy, it will never be as accurate as measured weight.

Glad I read this post before I go ahead and purchase a Calcium reactor, I have a 900G setup, what should I be expecting for a start up?

Hi

do you mean price or level of ease in setting up?

level of ease :)

very easy, for starters you have full control over every element going into your system where as a calcium reactor you have not a lot of control and will require a kalk stirrer also. Plus the co2 bottles.

With the balling system you need 3 x fluid chambers and the GHL doser and thats it.

start by manually adjusting your parameters over 3 days then set your daily dosing to maintain this, check for the first week every other day then after that weekly.