Switched from a reactor to 2-part dosing-Interesting results - Page 2

Chicago · #26 01/09/2007, 06:20 PM

ok i hear what you are saying.. but do we really know what grade those companies are using when they make those two part mixes..

you mention comercial grade vs others.. it might be true that the dive way salts we would use in our DYI solutions are a higher grade than what is in the store shelfs..

who has answer to this.. anyone work at any of the companies?

Reefflections · #27 01/09/2007, 06:29 PM

Racenrich,
You show go on the Chemistry forum and voice your thoughts there.Randy has enough back ground and testing he knows what he is talking about.He isn't no chemist here.Read into his back ground.....People can do what they want.He doesn't write these articles for nothing here.They are way to many prople using his 2 parts.Nobody is asking you to use Randy's 2 part.I could care what you buy and where.It just another way to added these additives.I'm sure you are probably opposed to his lime water also.Mrs Wages pickle lime also.Then ESV kalkwasser addition.Again both do the same thing.I've used it in my 240 SPS tank and there has been NO problems for over 5 years now.What ever turns you on.

DrBDC · #28 01/09/2007, 06:36 PM

Do you really think they are getting 99.9% purity products for the retail 2 parts? I'll bet dollars to donut's it's Dow calcium chloride delivered to the packaging plants.

gnikoli · #29 01/09/2007, 06:59 PM

Two excellent points. There is often a question about purity, but one would have to spend a lot of money for certified, reagent-grade, 99.99% pure materials. I'm pretty sure that the synthetic seawater folks don't use such high quality ingredients and that is probably not what is sold as separate supplements either, just compare the prices from SIGMA-ALDRICH with what you get OTC at your LFS. As a practical matter, I don't think many of us would stay in the hobby if we had to pay for guaranteed, ultra-high purity supplements and mixes. What it comes down to is picking sources you have learned you can rely on for consistency and sticking with materials that have produced desirable results over time.

For my money, since I can't afford certified 99.99% pure, I would tend to take Randy's advice as a starting point over someone who was trying to sell me something. That said, I would still reserve final judgment until I saw it work in my own system.

supervdl · #30 01/09/2007, 07:45 PM

Big E, what dosing pump are you using and how do you like it?

Reefflections · #31 01/09/2007, 08:44 PM

As it's been mentioned here as for "purity" goes with these products.Now there is a huge support for the ones who use Instant Ocean salt in their systems.Yet is widely known for being a "dirty salt" wide spread threw the hobby.So if we are using a commerical grade of additives,then using IO how pure is your system? Because IO leaves a (brown) residue after being mixed ?And now we just pour it in our tanks? Are we spending big bucks for well known name products.And all they do is put their label on the bottles?No system is 99.9 % pure no matter what we do.

Chicago · #32 01/09/2007, 08:49 PM

we need an inside source with a camera phone for the real answer LOL

Wiskey · #33 01/09/2007, 10:09 PM

I also use a Dual dosing pump and randy's 2 part. I am very happy with it and happy to keep doing it, though with amounts of this stuff I am dosing I am getting really tired of mixing it up.

Whiskey

Big E · #34 01/10/2007, 06:36 AM

Hi all,

Can we keep this thread focused on my original post? What brand of two part liquids you use is meaningless to this discussion. Lets take that to a new thread if anyone wants to discuss it further.

One other thing....READ the posts. A lot of questions being asked are already anwsered above your questions.

Randy's article has been posted twice.

My tank runs at .02 phoshate on a Hanna photometer. A Salifert kit will read zero.........it's not going to pick up low levels.
The output of my effluent from the reactor reads .08. This means I'm dripping .06 phosphate at a rate of 30mls a minute which was my drip rate. My reactor was running 24/7. Thats a lot of raw phosphate.

I also posted earlier I use the Litermeter by Spectrapure. I posted a link to the Aquatronica which looks like a nice three pump unit at a nicer price.

A couple of things........If you are having problems with corals bleaching /lightening & using a two part solution you may want to
try a reactor to add more phosphate.

On the other hand if you are using a reactor & dumping phosphate into your sytem & you're having algae & brown coral problems you might want to try 2-part. Some mentioned they were using phosban(GFO) on the effluent output. I prefer not to use that stuff as it adds iron & is just messy to work with & adds cost.

You have to do some measurements with a photo meter or test kit that can read low levels. All media brands may not produce the same amount of phosphate. On top of that all systems are going to assimilate & export phosphate differetly.

Big E · #35 01/10/2007, 06:55 AM

If anyone has access to a low level test it would be interesting to get some phosphate readings from other reactor media brands.

There might be a media more phosphate friendly & allow even more options for us all.

Lets get actual readings........not some old articles or manufacturer claims.

Chicago · #36 01/10/2007, 07:45 AM

need to do a search.. someone already did a test for phpsphate on reactor brands years ago... i will try and find it... think it was in advance aquarist or another

Big E · #37 01/10/2007, 08:41 AM

Lets get actual readings........not some old articles or manufacturer claims.

Zoom · #38 01/10/2007, 09:40 AM

I have Dinos and trying to bust PH so I use two part B-I for a month cost me $40 a month to buy the B-I.
My surprise was how steady my ph was .
I had explosion of coralline algae in my tank all the bad algae die out in one month .
After I saw all this I when ahead and got me a low
P04 colorimeter and check me reactor output to find very high P04 at 0.3 with very expensive fluidize reactor media .
After my finding I did some rerouting of my reactor outflow and that help out alat. I now drip the reactor outflow directly in to my cheato fill refuge and let me tell you the cheato strated to grow so fast I have to trim it weekly.
I really like the two part but it is not cost effective to me. I have a large tank and need to dose almost 100Ml a day with a dosing pump .
If my tank was 100 Gallons or last i will use the two part .

jackson6745 · #39 01/10/2007, 09:49 AM

ZOOM I use 250ml per day of Randy's 2 part. Each 5 gal batch of both parts cost me like $6

Zoom · #40 01/10/2007, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jackson6745
ZOOM I use 250ml per day of Randy's 2 part. Each 5 gal batch of both parts cost me like $6

I need to try to find some of the ingredients.
Did your SPS looks good with the home made two part?

jackson6745 · #41 01/10/2007, 11:14 AM

Yep, SPS look great. Same stuff as B-ionic.

Racenrich · #42 01/10/2007, 11:14 AM

Reefflections,
This is a forum for replying to questions or insights that people have...it is uncalled for to make judgment on my comments and tell me to go somewhere else.

I don't bash people here, i don't point to other peoples comments, i only respond to things that i've done, things that i do and the pros/cons of that, as well as ask questions......
We all have our own opinions....to me that is what makes this site worth it.

PS
As someone posted "stick to what works for ya"....

Bugger · #43 01/10/2007, 11:52 AM

I just turn the reactor on 12 hours a day and If I forget I will throw some buffer into the system. This is really the way to do it the controller is pretty much wothless in my opinion sorry for the typo....

Chicago · #44 01/11/2007, 05:55 PM

to raise alk i was adding baking soda.. did nothing to increase the ph.. but when i used the bicarbonate part of the two part kent.. ph went up right away.. why

thoughts

dvanacker · #45 01/11/2007, 06:00 PM

because you didnt bake the baking soda?? This drives the water and co2 out of the baking soda and turns it into washing soda.

Don't know all the chemical mumbo jumbo but baked baking soda rises pH....straight baking soda doesnt

Chicago · #46 01/11/2007, 06:35 PM

i tried that .. baked the soda and really didnt notice a diff.. perhaps needed more baking... 350 for 1/2 hour?

dvanacker · #47 01/11/2007, 08:59 PM

350 for an hour is what Randy calls for I beleive.

DrBDC · #48 01/11/2007, 09:48 PM

Once baked, it will make the pH jump unless you go sloooowwww. You need to add slow or it will precipitate.

Chicago · #49 01/11/2007, 09:54 PM

will try again

Big E · #50 01/15/2007, 05:10 PM

Just wanted to make a quick update of changes. My phosphate now reads Zero on the Hanna meter. It's been eleven days since my last reading which was .02.

The coral colors look about the same for the most part. Most noticeable is more lightening & coloring of the polyps.

Overall the tank looks clearer, but I think it's because I haven't had to wipe the front pane off, so it always seems clear.

The side panes are clear of all film algae even though I haven't touched them. I think the two tuxedo urchins are catching up to what is left over. I don't think the algae is dying off.

I'm keeping a close eye on possible bleaching. If things get too clean I think my first move is going to be to turn skimmer off occasionally.