Randy Holmes Three Part Supplies!

[kaptken]

For those that have been using or are interested to try Randy Holmes's DIY 3 part alk/calc and magnesium supplements, the calcium chloride and magnesium chloride seasonal supplies are now in stock at the ROUTE 13 Home Depot across from the wilmington airport. In the outdoor garden center, far back wall. I just picked up my 50 pound bags of C-FORCE (calcium chloride pellets), and MAG FLAKE (magnesium chloride flakes) Ice and snow melts there tonight. these are the only two correct brands to buy there. the others are mixes of other salts and are no good. these are the same two brands i bought there last year. the system is working fine for me!!

To refresh your memory, here is the link to the recipe.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

as winter aproaches, i'm sure other places will have some also.

 

[mbbuna]

thanks for the heads up Ken. im just about out of Mag flake my self so im gona get a few bags this weekend :thumbsup:

 

[kaptken]

Yup, I got an early start this year. After reading about the system last year I waited a while to buy the supplies and just barely got their last two bags in late december. Yes, you have a much larger water capacity in your systems Chris, and after a year on the system we have a better estimate of how much we will need for the year. My collective 240 gallons of tank water used about 30-40 pounds of calcium chloride and about 25-30 pounds of mag flake this year. I bet yours is at least double that.

He who hesitates is up a reef without a calc reactor....
(unknown reefer)

 

[Shnabbles]

Thanks Kaptken iv been looking for the Mag Flake, i just got back from HD here in Dover and they had it, but it was still way up on the shelves...

They did have 50lb bags of the Drive Way Heat also for under $18.00

I love the 3 Part Recipe... My alk and Calcium stay where they should way better then any of the reef additives iv bought in the past 6 months...

 

[kaptken]

that's good. Hmm? I've never seen the Prestone Driveway heat in 50 lb bags. just the 9.5 lb jars at wally world. looks something like this...

http://www.scotwoodindustries.com/pageprodprestonedrivewayheat.htm

be sure its a pure form of anhydrous calcium chloride. white beads, 94-97% pure , with probably a trace , less than 1% each of NaCl(sodium chloride, table salt) and KCl(potasium chloride) as manufacuring impurities. CaCl is a generic chemical product that does get repackaged by lots of suppliers for a wide variety of uses. But I saw at least 3 other brands there that were mixes or blends of other salts that are not good for tanks.

yes, i have the same stable results with the 3 part system too.

 

[mbbuna]

i use about 2-50lbs bags of CaCl2 and about a bag of MgCl2.

i figured it out last year that i saved about $1800 over using fish store bought 2 part:eek2:

 

[Shnabbles]

Thats the stuff Kaptken, it was either at the HD in dover or the Lowes in Dover... But i think it was the HD 50lb bags of the Prestone Drive Way heat... I also bought the 9lb jug but wish I had seen this bag first lol.. Ill probally still pick up a 50lb bag to last the year.

 

[kaptken]

Ah! thats good. I saw on the company website they also sell 50 lb bags. It seems each store in a chain has some lattitude in which brands and sizes they stock. I am just suggesting , for those about to try the 3 part for the first time, to spend some time reading the labels and choosing the correct products. after that, its a piece of cake. Yes, i have a couple jugs of the prestone too as a backup supply. works great. I tried 3 types the past year. CFORCE, PRESTONE DRIVEWAY HEAT, the two more concentrated anhydrous beads, and the dow flake i ordered from somewhere. the dow flake is a hydrated form, so it is about 30% less concentrated in calcium than the pellets. which means you have to use more. so, i prefer the anhydrous bead forms.

I like to store both the calcium chlorides and mag flake in old salt buckets with tight lids after opening the bags. they both will absorb a lot of moisture from the air and turn to slush or at least rock up if you leave them open. Keeping them dry and loose makes it easier to work with and measure.

 

[ronert]

Practical application ...

Practical application ...

For you folks who have already settled into the routine of using these, how do you do it? I can pretty much figure out how to make the three parts, but on a day-to-day basis, <b><i>how do you do the dosing?</i></b>

Reactor?
Dosing pump?
Daily dose?
Weekly dose?
Little green men from Mars? (Actually, if you're using this method, you might want to keep that to yourself...)

Also, while we're on the dosing topic, did you find the <b><i>recommended amount</i></b> from the article about right?

Also also, I assume you <b>do not</b> mix the first two parts (Ca and Alk) together. Seems something would likely precipitate out, but I have not had a chance to play with this, yet.

Also also also, where do you get the epsom salts and baking soda? Drug store, wally-world, grocery store? Are there less expensive sources?

Sorry, but I think I may have reached the question-mark quota with this post ... Any info is, as always, appreciated.

- ted

 

[Shnabbles]

I found the recommended dosage per day pretty close... I actually add an extra 25ml/day of the calcium and its keep my levels right were I want..

I just pour 50ml/day of the alk directly into the tank.. then maybe 30 minutes to a hour later add the 75ml of the calicum directly to the tank..

I drip fresh water, and lime water to keep the PH up.

I got the baking soda from walmart.

Yes DO NOT mix the 2 parts.

 

[mbbuna]

the Epsom and baking soda i get from the super market.

i dose it every day. i had the alk and ca part set up on dosing pumps, but one pump has a bad seal so just the alk is being dosed 24/7 now and the ca and mg parts i do by hand everyday.

this link will give you the exact amount of each to use.

http://reef.diesyst.com/

and you can not mix any of these togeather

 

[firecrackerbob]

Sweet! Just picked mine up... I have been wanting to try this system for a long time- thanks for the heads up Ken!
Eric

 

[kaptken]

Your welcome Eric

I have heard a lot of questions the past month or two on where to buy the supplies and wanted to post as soon as they came into stock and give everyone a heads up. I almost missed them last year myself by waiting too long. feel free to post any new locations.

Yes Ted, the calculator Chris posted will get you very close. Bear in mind there is no magic number,, but more like a comfort range to stay within for best coral growth. In time, with a little testing you can adjust to your tanks daily needs. because we usually dose daily at the same time, the tank concentrations swing up and down everyday,, like a sine wave. we just try to keep the wave as small as possible in that range.

That's correct, the calc and alk should not be combined, or dosed at the same time. they will precip out and be a waste. they do disolve and disperse very rapidly, so half hour apart seems to work for me also. and the less frequent part 3 also at a half hour interval just to be safe.

Personally, I got tired of mixing gallons of calc, and alk so i just calculated how many teaspoons or tablespoons equivalent of the dry calcium chloride and baking soda i was dosing daily in each tank, and just sprinkle that amount in a high flow part of the sumps each day. or in the smaller sumpless tanks where it wont fall on livestock. But i do make a stock sollution of the magnesium since that is a mixture. actually i make a batch using 2 1/2 cups of mag flake and 1 1/2 cups epsoms with 1/2 gallon water which makes about 3 quarts in the gallon jug. But it also completely disolves. the official 8 cups with enough water to fill a gallon was super saturated with a slurry on the bottom. so i just need to add a bit more of my slightly diluted solution. not a problem for me.

Oh also, I add strontium once a week too. corals and coraline will consume a good deal of the calcium, carbonate, magnesium and a proportional small amount of strontium. so to keep them growing it needs replenishing. along with a touch of Iodine weekly.

well, i checked the new castle HD last night . they have 3 pallets mag flake and 2 pallets CFORCE in stock.

Happy Three Parting and Thank You Randy!!

 

[russellqueen]

Got mine at HD in Newark/Christiana today. They were right next to each other outside close to the cement section.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[ronert]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8645200#post8645200 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kaptken
Oh also, I add strontium once a week too. corals and coraline will consume a good deal of the calcium, carbonate, magnesium and a proportional small amount of strontium. so to keep them growing it needs replenishing. along with a touch of Iodine weekly.

What do you use for strontium? Is there a less expensive source? SAme for iodine. What do you use? Lugols? Something else?

- ted

 

[kaptken]

yep Ted, no big rush on ice melts so far this year. plenty of supply still out there. so we should all be stocked up by now.

I have always used seachems powdered reef advantage strontium. simple and easy to use. not very expensive online. a kilogram jar lasts me a year or so. TFP has 600 gram jars for less than $7. that would last you a long time.

i also like seachems iodine. a safe form of potasium iodide. they have a nice little 1 ml dropper inside the bottle that makes dosing easy. i only use 1 ml per week or so on my 75 systems. keeps the corals happy and the crustateans growing new shells. also a pint bottle for less than $7 at TFP. so these are not expensive, but necessary supplements. just dont get carried away . I have never tested for these but just rely on the general dose rate.

Interesting side note i got from a seachem rep. a common trace impurity in the strontium chloride refining process is molybdenum. so you dont need to buy a separate addative for that. we get all we need in the strontium mix and sea salts. Kent markets molybdenum in their strontium as an addative. I believe strontium is also a trace impurity in many kalwasser products. but not sure how much, or how much gets precipitated out when mixing lime water.