So that covers calcium dosing. What about alkalinity?
As I understand it, Kalk covers both, and if your evap rate is enough and constant, you can just mix it in your top-off water.
So that covers calcium dosing. What about alkalinity?
As I understand it, Kalk covers both, and if your evap rate is enough and constant, you can just mix it in your top-off water.
All the options I listed cover Calcium and Carbonate in ratios used by our critters. Kalk can be used in top off, or dripped, or dosed, depending on it's concentration.
Wait...are you saying the dosing pump or DIY reactor is best?Originally Posted by Aeros
All in all...I think I'm going to be doing a PWC right quick. This might explain a few issues my system has been having. They're not huge, but after well over a year of using BRS 3-part, and the last year of no PWCs...
I have always used Kalkwasser as my primary means of dosing, usually 1/2 strength in a 5G bucket of top off water. 5G lasts about 3-4 days on my tank. Been doing that for over a decade myself and works great for smaller tanks with a sizable consumption load. I never had anything get outside acceptable parameters but when one gets slightly off compared to the other I use BRS 2 part to make minor adjustments. Never felt the need for a CA or Kalk reactor due to my size tanks, but if I had a larger tank a CA reactor would be one of the must haves for me. I do think I will need to start checking Mg more often now since I am trying to do the "no water change" thing myself.. but so far, not really sold on no water changes, but I am still giving it a go. Luckly I have enough Mag suppliments to last me another 10 years from which I have collected over the years of going to reef shows and getting free stuff. I always seem to come home with some type of Mag suppliment that I have never had a use for since water changes always kept my Mag at acceptable levels.
Personally, I think B-Ionic is still the best 2 or 3 part out there, it is more than just the basics, it has the trace elements in it as well. Once I run out of BRS 2 part I will be going back to B-Ionic. It does cost more but I think it may be worth it in the end due to the extras it contains.
I meant a DIY Calcium reactor is the cheapest long term. Then there's the set it and forget it bonus too.Originally Posted by Floyd R Turbo
I didn't mention B-Ionic because of cost. It's almost theft in my book. For a small system you can dose all-in-one Kents liquid cal reactor. The price to performance ratio blows B-Ionic out of the water. And it doesn't get more "extra" then what's in disolved coral skeleton.Personally, I think B-Ionic is still the best 2 or 3 part out there, it is more than just the basics, it has the trace elements in it as well. Once I run out of BRS 2 part I will be going back to B-Ionic. It does cost more but I think it may be worth it in the end due to the extras it contains.
For a magnesium suppliment, I use dolomite mixed in a ~10:1 ratio with coral skeleton in my reactor. It's almost pure magnesium. It's what is comonly used as landscape decor rock.
My reccomendation if your'e going without WCs is to get off the BRS stuff ASAP and find a cheaper and more stable method. So pretty much DIY ca reactor, or kalk stir if you have a big system. For small systems find the cheapest doseable, my vote is Kents stuff. Otherwise, a monthy PWC is a good idea.
How do you figure the Kent Liquid CA reactor stuff is the cheapest? $34.99 for a 64oz container vs $11.99 for a 4.5 POUND jar of BRS Kalkwasser (that will last YEARS! Believe me, I bought one, 5 years later still have 1/2 the jar). Add in a little bottle of Trace Elements and Magnesium, and you have a home made Kent product for a fraction of the cost. Heck, even B-Ionic is cheaper than Kent at Marinedepot. 2 1Gallon jugs of B-Ionic is $35.49, 50cents more and 4x as much product. Or to compare Apples to Apples, $20.99 for 64oz of B-Ionic vs $34.99 for the same amount of Kent.Originally Posted by Aeros
These are products that we know what it contains, it isn't some mystery/proprietary information where 1 company can make one better than another. They are minerals, either they are in the bottle (in correct ratios) or they are not. So I am not sure how one would actually be any better than the other unless your talking about making a comparison between BRS 2 part vs B-Ionic, where BRS is just Calcium and Alkalinity, no other minerals, vs B-Ionic, Kent, etc that have extra minerals added.
So what happens to the extra sodium from the baking soda, if it does not combine with the extra chloride from the calcium chloride?
I meant bang for the buck vs B-Ionic. I've used both products, B-Ionic is a thin solution like BRS mixed Calcium. Kents is much thicker, like chalk water sludge. The price per gal is more, but the dose is less to achieve the same effect. Meaning you could dilute Kents to B-ionic strength getting 10x or more product than B-ionic. I have tested Ca after dosing either, but don't remember the ratio... was a while ago.Originally Posted by Ace25
Feel free to make your own comparison. I bought a 1/2 gal of Kents about 2 years ago and still have a quarter of it left. It's just a pain to dose, so I switched to BRS, which sucks just a little less.
As for Kalk, only a Ca reactor can compare. But Kalk has its own special challenges as we all know.
It either bonds with Chloride, fluoride or some other non metal, or remains a free ion. Ionic bonding not does not change it's mass ratio to other ions. More Sodium is still more.Originally Posted by SantaMonica
It sounds like the Kent stuff is similar to "Purple Up", thick white milk looking liquid vs clear water. I haven't used the Kent stuff, so I have no comment on how well it works (though from reviews online it seems to work great). I was just assuming it was the same thing as B-Ionic, ie. clear liquid. Your comment makes much more sense to me now that I know it is more concentrated than B-ionic. Thanks for clarifying.
But wait a minute... regular salt, when added to water, breaks up into sodium and chloride ions. So how is this different than sodium ions from baking soda, and chloride ions from calcium chloride?
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