Need help with diy 2 part. Also has anyone had success with this?
 

Brightwell 2 part has been hurting the wallet lately. 2 litres of each part a month. $55 plus a long drive and spending another 50-100 just cause im in the store loll.Ive been supplementing with kalk as well but would rather just use only 2 part. No room for calcium reactor.

Heres a thread for a canadian recipe im going to try out next month. Around $50-60 should last a year. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2476803

Has anyone tried this? If your making your own, please share your ingredients and procedure here please.

2L of 2part per month.... Give us some details on your system.
I am currently testing Snow Joe "MELT" from HomeDepot in my 38G cube tank with just a few frags in it.

The no-name 3 parts (Ca, alkalinity and magnesium) that the major fish stores sell is way more economic. Not sure if I would trust the calcium chloride from snow melt.

The biggest difference between the noname and the named 2 part supplements is the minor elements that are in the named variety. In theory your ionic balances could get out of balance using the no-named varieties.

If you are doing regular water changes you should be fine. If you are not the other option is to add a 4th part to the equation in the form of Aquaforest Reef Mineral Salt. This is a NACL free salt. If you are going to use this method you need to be good with a calculator and understand basic chemical equations.

I have had success using all the methods. Actually 20 years ago I made my own ionically balanced 2 part solution using the formula from Randy Holmes-Farley. I purchased my chemicals at a local chemical supply company through my company. In the end it was way too much work. Way more information is available on the web in you just do a search using Randy's name.

Currently I am mostly using B-Ionic 2 part and I buy a bunch of it when it is on sale. Just to avoid the need to manage my ionic balances.

i've never tried Randy's recipe or any diy's but as another option consider aquaforest dosing salts, they're dirt cheap if you opt for the dry elements as opposed to the pre-mixes. i make 5L batches and bet you could get close to 10 batches from each container. even at your consumption rate they'd still last quite a while.

The reef crest brand J&L sells is just over $3 a gallon. Given your current needs that would work out to about $3 a month (you need calcium and alk). I think it's even cheaper if buy the larger brs style containers. Considering my needs I buy the pre portioned ones just because it's easier and isn't costing me more then a couple of bucks a month.

I’m currently using the Reef crest preportioned packs and this has worked well for me. They mix cleanly and are relatively inexpensive. Watch for Boxing Day or Black Friday sales and you can get it even cheaper! Stock up. :mrgreen:

You people are awesome! Wasn't expecting soo many replies so fast. My system is around 115 gallons total water volume including the sump. Running for 2 and half years. Mixed reef large lps and a bunch of sps. I use a 4 channel doser. 2 part Alk and Ca, Mg, and Smirnoff lol. So just to be clear, are we talking about the Reef Crest calcium chloride dry powder and calcium bicarbonate for Alk? I don't do a lot of water changes. 5 gallons every week or two max. But everything seems to be growing well.

So I use calcium chloride (calcium) and sodium bicarbonate (Alk). If you really wanted to get it in bulk (save a bit more on cost) go with the schlobster containers of each. I would consider doing 15-20% of your tank water volume to assist with nutrient export and cal/alk. It wouldn’t be that much more in terms of work. That being said if your system is working, nutrients are in check and everything is growing you could probably stay where you at. Just food for thought, hope this helps!

I didn't want to name any company names in case it is against Canreef's policy.

You would be best to use Reef Crest Part a, b and c. The amounts are already calculated out into the correct ratios.

Manage your alkalinity (keep it stable) and your magnesium levels.

The calcium levels will take care of themselves as long as you add equal parts of each (part A and B).

This is what I use and it has been great.