BRS 2 part dosing ?

[shawna1972]

I just got the BRS 2 part dosing kit (small)
It was in dry form and mixed with ro water.

Heres my ? On the BRS calculator is states:

Calcium product.......

Alkalinty product......

Wouldnt I choose recipe 1 if this is what I got? for both cal,and alk

Or do I go by whats on my bottles of the BRS?

 

[shawna1972]

Ok just checked the BRS site, the one I got was 2 part calcium and alkalinity total package (small) Recipe 1. which raises ph.

any help on which product to put in? recipe 1 for both ? or use the dry BRS Products tab?

 

[tmz]

Sorry, don't know the product . Sounds like it's calcium chloride and carbonate for alkalinity(C03) which is the form that raises ph vs( HCO3)bicaorbante which does not and may lower it a very small amount.. How much you use depends upon what your calcium and alkalinity levels are now and what you wan't them to be . Do not dose them at the same time. Dose the alkalinity part slowly in an area of high flow and try not to raise alkalinity by more than 1 dkh per day .

Ok. I looked it up on their site. It is soda ash(carbonate) for alkalinity and calcium chloride for calcium as I thought.Again , I would see what levels are now and use the reef calculator linked to figure how much you want to raise them if any. Recommended range for calcium is around 380ppm to 450ppm; for alk it's 7 to 11dkh or 2.5 meq/l to 4.0 meq/l; for magnesium it's 1300ppm to 1400ppm or so. The magnesium should be 5parts magnesium chloride and 3 parts magnesium sulfate.The ratio of chloride to sulfate in nsw is 7 to 1 but you are only dosing 5 to 3 because you will already be adding chloride via the calcium chloride.

This calculator can help

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html

It's not as hard as it sounds once you know what your current levels are. It's also worth noting what your salt mix contains in terms of calcium/alkalinity and magnesium.You can find most of them here:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1714505

 

[dreaminmel]

Shawna, Did they include instructions for you on how much to mix in with the RO water/jugs? If you followed any directions they gave you and it's already mixed in the jugs, you'd select Recipe 1 for both in the calculator. If they didn't give you instructions for mixing w/ water in the jugs let us know and we can try to help with that aspect.

The dry BRS product option is more for if you were going to mix it up each time you wanted to add it. This is the option I sometimes use for the Magnesium part unless I've already got some mixed up.

 

[shawna1972]

Shawna, Did they include instructions for you on how much to mix in with the RO water/jugs? If you followed any directions they gave you and it's already mixed in the jugs, you'd select Recipe 1 for both in the calculator. If they didn't give you instructions for mixing w/ water in the jugs let us know and we can try to help with that aspect.

The dry BRS product option is more for if you were going to mix it up each time you wanted to add it. This is the option I sometimes use for the Magnesium part unless I've already got some mixed up.

Thanks,Yes already mixed with RO water and ready just was a little confused when reading calculator because it gives you an option for the dry and recipe 1 which is what I thought until I seen the option for the dry then read my label on the dry and it was the same so Im like hmmm well which is it lol
Thanks for the quick reply! Ill go by recipe 1

 

[shawna1972]

Sorry, don't know the product . Sounds like it's calcium chloride and carbonate for alkalinity(C03) which is the form that raises ph vs( HCO3)bicaorbante which does not and may lower it a very small amount.. How much you use depends upon what your calcium and alkalinity levels are now and what you wan't them to be . Do not dose them at the same time. Dose the alkalinity part slowly in an area of high flow and try not to raise alkalinity by more than 1 dkh per day .

Ok. I looked it up on their site. It is soda ash(carbonate) for alkalinity and calcium chloride for calcium as I thought.Again , I would see what levels are now and use the reef calculator linked to figure how much you want to raise them if any. Recommended range for calcium is around 380ppm to 450ppm; for alk it's 7 to 11dkh or 2.5 meq/l to 4.0 meq/l; for magnesium it's 1300ppm to 1400ppm or so. The magnesium should be 5parts magnesium chloride and 3 parts magnesium sulfate.The ratio of chloride to sulfate in nsw is 7 to 1 but you are only dosing 5 to 3 because you will already be adding chloride via the calcium chloride.

This calculator can help

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html

It's not as hard as it sounds once you know what your current levels are. It's also worth noting what your salt mix contains in terms of calcium/alkalinity and magnesium.You can find most of them here:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1714505

Thanks tom for the reply and the salt link as I just switched back to IO for a few reasons but thats another thread lol anyhow My levels right now

Calcium-360 bit low
Want to raise that to 420


Alkalinity is sitting at 8dkh
want to raise it to 9dkh.

Sound good?

 

[shawna1972]

Dont have a mag test yet so im holding off on the mag dosing.

 

[shawna1972]

Oh wow just did the calculations to raise it to where I want it said

Calcium- 1044ml ???????? Does this sound right and Im guessing you do this over a few days/week but seems like a lot and how much would you dose a day of both if these calculations are correct?
Alk-340 ml

 

[dreaminmel]

What is your water volume Shawna? Do you have a guess of what it is after allowing displacement of rock, sand, etc? Example: I have a 125g display and 75g sump but total water volume is only approx 150g.

For my 150g it would take 921.1 ml to raise from 360 to 420. I've never had any issues with adding that all at once in high flow. When adding that much though, I usually wait about 30 minutes for it to mix before adding Alkalinity.

 

[tmz]

Alk at 8 is ok . Nine is ok too. Calcium at 420 sounds good to me. What types of corals are you keeping?

 

[shawna1972]

What is your water volume Shawna? Do you have a guess of what it is after allowing displacement of rock, sand, etc? Example: I have a 125g display and 75g sump but total water volume is only approx 150g.

For my 150g it would take 921.1 ml to raise from 360 to 420. I've never had any issues with adding that all at once in high flow. When adding that much though, I usually wait about 30 minutes for it to mix before adding Alkalinity.

I have the 180 plus the 30 gallon sump so I put the calculation based on 170 gallons (Just a guess)but figured Id be safe than to overshoot.
Mel does it matter when I add the calcium and alk at night or day or one in the day and alk at night?
Also can I add this right to my display? not sure if I have lots of flow in my sump.

Thanks for the help

 

[shawna1972]

Alk at 8 is ok . Nine is ok too. Calcium at 420 sounds good to me. What types of corals are you keeping?

Thanks Tom! Yeah not to many corals but my alk/calcium being so low started effecting my birdsnest.(white spots on tips) Not sure what the name for that is ? Its been a struggle keeping these up. all other corals are doing fine (mostly softies) I have all brand new bulbs,brand new ro filters and run gfo/rox carbon was starting to think it was the gfo that was eating my alk so I stopped using it for a bit. But also I was only doing W/C once a month I was told I need to step up my W/C to weekly and I should see a difference.
But I hope I can keep my parameters in check now and am told it will be cheaper than bionic

Thanks Again

 

[dreaminmel]

I have the 180 plus the 30 gallon sump so I put the calculation based on 170 gallons (Just a guess)but figured Id be safe than to overshoot.
Mel does it matter when I add the calcium and alk at night or day or one in the day and alk at night?
Also can I add this right to my display? not sure if I have lots of flow in my sump.

Thanks for the help

Since you have the recipe that raises pH (same one I use) it usually works best to try and dose it when lights are off. As your lights turn on, the pH in your system increases and then it goes back down during the night when the lights are off. If that does not work best with your schedule, however, you can add it any time as long as you don't let it spike your pH too high. I recently read that someone doses Ca at one point and Alk at another so I'm sure you could do that. I personally prefer to just dose both that way I don't forget one of them.

I also dose into my display so that is not a problem either.

 

[daveml]

I use BRS 2 part and have had good success. I ended up having to raise my Calcium from 380 to 420 and did it over the course of a few days. I now dose my 2 part in the morning when the PH is low as the Alk solution raises the PH pretty substantially. I run the 2 part on Toms dosing pumps - couldn't be happier. I hooked them up to a timer and run it for 30 minutes which is about 45 to 50 ml a day in my 90 gallon with 30 gallon sump. I dose them at the same time with calcium going to my return section and alk to the entrance of the sump - this allows them to become diluted before they mix.

 

[shawna1972]

Since you have the recipe that raises pH (same one I use) it usually works best to try and dose it when lights are off. As your lights turn on, the pH in your system increases and then it goes back down during the night when the lights are off. If that does not work best with your schedule, however, you can add it any time as long as you don't let it spike your pH too high. I recently read that someone doses Ca at one point and Alk at another so I'm sure you could do that. I personally prefer to just dose both that way I don't forget one of them.

I also dose into my display so that is not a problem either.

Thanks Mel Yeah easy to forget when doing it manually.

 

[shawna1972]

I use BRS 2 part and have had good success. I ended up having to raise my Calcium from 380 to 420 and did it over the course of a few days. I now dose my 2 part in the morning when the PH is low as the Alk solution raises the PH pretty substantially. I run the 2 part on Toms dosing pumps - couldn't be happier. I hooked them up to a timer and run it for 30 minutes which is about 45 to 50 ml a day in my 90 gallon with 30 gallon sump. I dose them at the same time with calcium going to my return section and alk to the entrance of the sump - this allows them to become diluted before they mix.

Thanks for the info