Need advice on 2 part dosing
 

I'm using BRS to dose Cal / Alk / Mag, and things are going well so far. I'm just manually dosing because I'm the type who still reads paper books and mails out Christmas cards. Anyway, I'm currently dosing 110 ml of Cal/Alk daily, or about a gallon per month. I got a supply from BRS just before the borders closed so I'm good for the time being, but I've been thinking of alternatives for a little while now. It seems there may be better options out there so I can perhaps pare down the cost and not have to run across the border for supplies.


I don't think I'm ready for a calcium reactor yet? What are y'all using for your dosing?


Thanks for any input.

I was thinking of doing BRS too. But with the shipping and exchange rate, it turn out to be the same with Brightwell if not cheaper if you get bulk. I have limited space so bulking up is not an option. But it turn out brightwell is cheaper if u get it in bulk.

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

You have a couple options,

Reefsupplies.ca is a good source for bulk media, calcium and sodium carbonate, it's the canadian BRS.

Or you can go the route of de-icings salts as per Randy Holmes http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

I've gone both directions here but I've gone on the second option for the past 4 years mainly because I was able to get a 20kg bag of sodium carbonate which is more difficult to get (or make) than calcium chloride and magnesium chloride. Ease of acquiring the media dictates the direction I would go.

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

J@L sells bulk CaCl, MgCl and NaCO3. You don't purify your water so the bulk quality from J&L is more than good enough quality.

Do you mean the liquid Brightwell? That was the first kind I tried, andI didn’t like it. I do like BRS in that it is straightforward and easy to dial in. If I recall correctly, Brightwell is also more costly.

i was talking about the dry bulk Brightwell.

Wow ,your there $1000 in 2 part a year!
Not including trace elements and coral food .
I was in the same boat , went to Randy’s method. Baked baking sofa is like $1 for 4l.
Calcium is a little harder to soured because buying chemicals in 20+kg bags they think your making s*#t I’m your bathtub!
I use magnisim from seachem in bulk because it’s still reasonable .
Since going to a cheap jeabo doser $70-120 3or4 head and dyi 2 part, things neve have been better.
Hand dosing that much chemical is rough on certain corals.
Or go calcium reactor and never look back.... some of my friends in Edmonton that have the reactor grow beast in very short times .

Whoa - don't scare me like that :lol: Nowhere near $1000 per year. The 7lb bag is US$23.99 & makes 6 gallons. I use a gallon per month each of Cal/Alk and 1 gallon of Mag at US$18 lasts me about a year. So at 12 gallons per year, it's about CA$160ish for the year total for the 3 part. I hope my math is correct (admittedly my weak area). Hey, now that I work it out, it's not that bad :confused:?

I'm not sure how to compare that to ReefCrest product as I can't see how many gallons each container makes etc.

Maybe I'm just flaking out because of the closed borders, who knows. I remember some of you out there make this stuff with baking soda & peanut butter or whatever, lol, so I thought it would be good to get some input. The BRS product has been super easy to dial in from Day 1, and it was always easy for me to pick up with other US online purchases. Not sure how this crisis situation will play out though.

I'm trying to get automated but I'm not the best with that part of the hobby. I bought an ATO and it's been sitting in a box for almost a year. Also, it can't be that bad if BRS does it, haha


https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ed24f60e_z.jpg

I'm going to look into this further - would certainly make things simpler for me with JL being 5 mins away. Just out of interest, what's your dosage these days (I know your system is larger).


Haha, don't talk to me about simple. Tap water, no ATO, no auto doser. These days, it's even worse as my stupid LED's clock/timer is not working (don't ask) so I have to adjust my lighting manually!

Yup yup! That price not bad if your able to drive across the border and pick it up at a snail box! Or ok with the high shipping costs that I don’t like at all.
The product I used was Seachem powder and it kept going up when I stoped using it it was &35 for 2.2lbs I’d go trough $70 a month then went to the peanut butter lol.
Seems that anything I buy from the USA by time I get it it’s 1.5X the price!
My next step will be calcium reactor for sure!

I have used the BRS bulk product, the reefsupplies.ca bulk product and the J&L bulk product. I would say the Canadian products are about the same price the as each other however the BRS with the low Canadian dollar is probably about 1.5 to 2 times more expensive if you have it shipped to directly Canada, a little cheaper if you go through a mail box in Washington State (not currently an option). Washington State now charges sales tax on all items sent there making it less of a deal. I think it is about 8% on top of your order.

I would say the BRS product comes in better bags and mixes purer than the Canadian products.

Given the choice I would use the BRS product in a heart beat, but then again I am a pure water freak and have never in 30 years added tap water to my tank (5 stage RO plus 2 stage DI only for me). I ended up buying a load of the Reefsupply.ca bulk (supposed to be best quality available) during a big sale about 9 months ago. I will purchase the J&L product in a pinch.

Amazon.com now ships many products to Canada quickly. You can buy bulk additives from them a lot cheaper than anywhere else. I would not under any circumstance use products that are not at least Food grade minimum. I usually look for only 99% pure or better.

I bought a couple pounds of NaSO4 (99%pure) off amazon.com about 6 months ago. NaSO4 is used to create a more ionically balanced true 2 part mixture than using MgCl and MgSO4 mixture. Refer to Randy Holmes Farley's true 2 part mixture for recipe. NaSO4 is not readily available in Canada.

This is what I use as the cost is not to bad and has all the little extras in it. It did just go up 13$ I think because of the dollar. https://www.reefsupplies.ca/online-s...ch-bucket.html

Thanks - I’ll check that out as well

The ESV is not a bad product. I used it for about 10 years, bought it from Reef Supplies every year when they had a sale on Boxing Day every year. The ESV is an ionically balanced 2 part meaning that they use NaSO4 instead of MgSO4 making it a true 2 part rather than a 3 part. Quality of the ingredients is likely not as good as the BRS stuff.

I switched because it was too expensive, I started going through 6 gallons of each part every year. If you make your own 2 part or 3 part it works out to be at least 5 times cheaper than the ESV and you can get it in a pinch.

As for trace elements, they are exactly that trace elements, found in your water at microscopic levels you can replenish your supply by doing regular water changes anyways. I am not sure if the ESV has trace elements in it. After using the bulk chemicals for at least 4 years my multiple lab results from ATI have never shown a low level of trace elements or any too much of any other element or substance.

Thanks for the input Glen.
After reading around, checking prices etc, I think BRS is still a good way to go, for me anyway. It’s a good straightforward product. I just watched a BRS video on “best” dosing products and it looks like BRS stuff came off pretty good. I am interested in trying out Tropic Marin Part C as they suggested, to add trace elements. Brightwell is also a good option and might be the way to go if borders don’t open up soon:sad:
Picking up stuff across the border worked well for me, and even with the dollar exchange, saved me a lot of $$ as well as the fact that you can’t even find some of the stuff in Canada. Hope this shutdown doesn’t go too long...or else I will have to ask for 2-part recipes!

https://www.reefsupplies.ca/online-s...ch-bucket.html
It does say that it does have the major and minor trace elements and for me it has worked well and 6 gals a year for the ease and 180$ cad dollars no driving around , have the proper scale to weight the product and not sure but do the others settle out but I only have 280 gals total. What ever works for you works best. I also have to say though that my top off water come straight out of the lake

2 parts
 

Anyone use the ATI Pro ?
Stable with all the trace element in it for your corals
and not expensive if go for the big gallon for the year

In the past I used the bulk chemicals from BRS. I have been using the ATI Essentials Pro without dilution on my current tank since it was setup. It seems to be working fine for me but to be honest I haven't actually tested my Mg in this tank ever so I have no idea what mine are at!

great advicehttps://babang.xyz/assets/10/o.png

Following...I’ve been thinking about using ATI pro myself. Any feedback on growth and coral health?
I’ve also been looking into the Aquaforest method but more a balling then 2 part.

2 parts
 

The ATI PRO gives you all the trace elements and Mg , been using for a year or so, sure give a stable reading, sps growth is great.. I do use the mineral sat for the ionic balance as well
Not too expensive if you get the big gallon jug

Thanks for all the input. With Covid making the border situation very uncertain, I might very well have to look at something I can source locally

Where are you getting the gallon jugs? I've been getting the smaller ones from Reef Supplies...

Aquarium depot lists the ati pro for quite a bit less then reef supplies

2 parts
 

Brett
In Calgary, you can go check the Concept, they may still have some at the back even though they only making tanks now
The bigger jug comes in 10 Litres , save you money in the long run

2 parts
 

If you happen to come to Red Deer
Phone John at the Marin Life , he has some in the store right now