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Old 01-23-2018, 09:21 PM
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Frogger Frogger is offline
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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.
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