Anyone Dose JUST Two Part on Larger Tanks??? (180 Gallon plus)

mcola78 · #1 10/23/2007, 09:04 AM

I used to use a calc reactor on my 124 when I had it and now that I have a 45 gallon sps I dose two part through an aqua medic doser. I simply love the dosing system over the calc reactor.

I am going to get a 225 gallon and am trying to decide which method to use.

Does anyone use just two-part dosing on a larger aquarium (sps dominated) with any success???

twon8 · #2 10/23/2007, 09:17 AM

i use kalk for top off and supplement with two part on a 180, mostly sps

mcola78 · #3 10/23/2007, 09:19 AM

If you didnt use Kalk, do you think the two part would be enough? How much two-part are you dosing daily?

rleechb · #4 10/23/2007, 09:38 AM

I'd really consider a reactor for a tank that big, unless you've got plenty of room for some big jugs of 2-part (5g+, unless you want to be swapping out all the time).

twon8 · #5 10/23/2007, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by mcola78
If you didnt use Kalk, do you think the two part would be enough? How much two-part are you dosing daily?

i dose about 300 ml a week. i only dose once a week or so.

rleechb · #6 10/23/2007, 10:38 AM

I don't use kalk, but I'm up over 400ml/day (each part) in a 58g. I had to get 3 gallon jugs, because the 1 gallon jugs lasted only about a week before I had to refill (quite a pain).

jeffbrig · #7 10/23/2007, 11:17 AM

I'm currently dosing about 200mL/day of each part. With my tank volume, that's the equivalent of replacing a daily uptake of ~1dKH and 8pm of calcium.

400mL/day in a 58g seems extraordinarily high to me. On a per volume basis, that's nearly 10x what I'm dosing. That's 8-10dKH and 70-80ppm calcium, per day, and probably 1.5lbs of material per week. Are you seeing a lot of precipitation on pumps and heaters? That amount of alkalinity solution would send my pH through the roof!

besl · #8 10/23/2007, 11:26 AM

I had been dosing B-Ionic on my 125 gallon reef (1/2 sps and 1/2 lps)... as the Ca demand increased I got tired of dosing and went with a reactor... for a 180 gallon I think that's were you will eventually end up based on easier care and cost - JMHO, though.

trueblackpercula · #9 10/23/2007, 11:41 AM

I do not know if my tank is considerd large but I use two part on my 120 with a dual dosing pump.
180 ml's a day with good results
Michael

gcarroll · #10 10/23/2007, 11:47 AM

I am currently in the process of changing calcium reactors and dosing in the meantime. I am dosing 300 ml Warner Marine Calxmax in my 225 gallon per day. I do occasionally run kalk and I sometimes adjust accordingly.

rleechb · #11 10/23/2007, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jeffbrig
400mL/day in a 58g seems extraordinarily high to me. On a per volume basis, that's nearly 10x what I'm dosing. That's 8-10dKH and 70-80ppm calcium, per day, and probably 1.5lbs of material per week. Are you seeing a lot of precipitation on pumps and heaters? That amount of alkalinity solution would send my pH through the roof!

Yep, it's ridiculously high. It used to be a bit lower, but with a recent lighting change to a whiter/bright bulb, it's been ridiculous. I might be a bit high with my approximation, but I don't believe I'm too far off. No precipitation whatsoever.

mcola78 · #12 10/23/2007, 12:16 PM

Thanks for all the input.

I am guessing that I may need to dose anywhere from 150-300ml per day to maintain levels, depending on the sps load. If I place two 5 gallon buckets under the tank (one for each part), I estimate that I will have anywhere from 9-18 weeks of solution for dosing.

Refilling the containers every two to four months would be pretty easy.

Rleechb - I have found that when first trying to maintian levels on my current tank, regardless of adding 24ml-75ml a day, I had similar levels maintained. The bulk of it may have gone to the fact that I simply was adding too much too fast and it did precipitate on the top part of the glass at the water line. I dropped levels back to 24 and have the same results as I did at 75 with little/no precipitation.

TrueBlackPercula - The tank in your avitar, is that the one you dose two-part on? Nice tank

tmz · #13 10/23/2007, 12:30 PM

I drip3.5 gallons of saturated limewater nightly and run a calcium reactor 24/7 for my 400gallon puddle. They balance each other of and I get nice even ph High 8.3 /low 8.1 with calcium at 470ppm and alkalinity at 4.0meql(11.2dkh) I rarely supplement with Calcium Chloride and/or buffer anymore.

rleechb · #14 10/23/2007, 12:37 PM

I really think it might be more cost effective to get a reactor if you plan on having an sps dominated tank. That's an awfully large sps tank for 2 part dosing, imo. You might want to check out prices for 2-part + a dosing pump, and compare to a reactor

btw, I'm definitely not precipitating anything; if I reduce the dosing speed on my pump, I drop alk very quickly

mcola78 · #15 10/23/2007, 01:28 PM

Rleechb - That's amazing.

I already have a doser and would just need to add the two part. I can get it for 38 dollars per 5 gallon kit. So in a year, it would cost anywhere from 114-228 dollars (10-20 a month).

Can anyone give me an annual cost estimate on running a Kalk reactor. I figured between reactor C02, solenoid, etc. I am looking at 350. So how often does media have to be replaced, est costs? CO2 refilled? Not to mention pumps running 24-7, electricity, etc.

tmz · #16 10/23/2007, 01:34 PM

Co2 once a year or so for 20lbs about $25. Media about 1x per year @$ 50. If you use a reactor it might not be enough on it's own and you will wan't to offset the 6.7 ph and co2 eventually so you can figure another $40 or so for lime. You could use your doser for limewater dosing in conjunction with a calcium reactor.

hyperfocal · #17 10/23/2007, 02:25 PM

You might want to read this article. It has a very interesting cost breakdown of the various Ca and Alk supplementation methods. Bottom line: for serious Ca needs, a Ca reactor is *much* cheaper that dosing 2 part... like, in the *thousands* of dollars per year cheaper vicinity.

DaddyJax · #18 10/23/2007, 02:54 PM

That article came out 4 years ago and before Randy released his home made two part recipe. His recipe is by far much cheaper than anything else. The only draw back is that you have to make it!

DaddyJax · #19 10/23/2007, 03:00 PM

rleechb, that is way too much imo. Have you checked your Mag levels?

I dose Randy's two part in my dual tank system with 300g in it and between 150-200 sps colonies and I was at 250ml a day. When I had to start dosing more was when my Mag started to drop too low.

saltysupply · #20 10/23/2007, 03:12 PM

its possible depending on how heavily stocked you are...reactor just makes it easier.

hyperfocal · #21 10/23/2007, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DaddyJax
That article came out 4 years ago and before Randy released his home made two part recipe. His recipe is by far much cheaper than anything else. The only draw back is that you have to make it!

I suspect that very few people will actually make their own 2-part, so while you are technically correct that 2-part dosing can be cheaper than listed in the article it really isn't representative -- after all, someone could build their own reactor and use budget media too.

Even then, the reduced cost of DIY 2-part only brings additives to cost parity with a Ca reactor. That's a lot of work to save no money. What's your time worth? (rhetorical question)

twon8 · #22 10/23/2007, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by hyperfocal
I suspect that very few people will actually make their own 2-part, so while you are technically correct that 2-part dosing can be cheaper than listed in the article it really isn't representative -- after all, someone could build their own reactor and use budget media too.

Even then, the reduced cost of DIY 2-part only brings additives to cost parity with a Ca reactor. That's a lot of work to save no money. What's your time worth? (rhetorical question)

most of the people in my local reef club make their own two part; how do you figure the diy is at cost parity with a calcium reactor? reactor run 600+ for a full setup

hyperfocal · #23 10/23/2007, 03:50 PM

Did you read the article?

twon8 · #24 10/23/2007, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by hyperfocal
Did you read the article?

I read that when it first came out, but since it doesn't include diy two part, i dont' see how it is at all relevant.

hyperfocal · #25 10/23/2007, 04:09 PM

A two-gallon kit of DIY 2-part ingredients (from http://www.twopartsolution.com) runs $10. I can buy the same amount of C-Balance from DrsF&S for $30. Easy napkin math puts the DIY stuff at 1/3rd the cost of store-bought.

In the article, RHF shows how a heavily loaded 100gal tank will chew through ~$2000 worth of store bought 2-part. Since the DIY 2-part costs 1/3rd to make, that means the same 100gal would consume ~$600 worth.

In the same article, RHF shows how a Ca reactor amortizes it's cost out to ~$80 a year.

That puts a Ca reactor in the vicinity of 7.5x cheaper than 2-part. Even if you can get the components to make the DIY 2-part for half the cost of that web site, it's still 3x cheaper to run the reactor. That's how it's relevant.