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Today on BRStv we are going to discuss two part calcium and alkalinity solutions. In
this episode we will cover what two part is, a bit of information about the different brands,
how to dose it as well as a few tips on long term use.
Two part is basically a solution for dosing calcium and alkalinity to the tank using two
different jugs. The calcium jug is typically filled with a solution of calcium chloride
and the other sodium carbonate or bicarbonate for alkalinity. Most of them are designed
to add equal amounts each day.
This system can be used on basically any sized tank. The only thing that changes is the size
of jug you use for holding each solution. For tanks less than 150 gallons most people
will use a gallon size container. Tanks in the hundreds of gallons will probably use
something much larger like a five gallon pail. As long as there is a lid on the container
to prevent evaporation the solutions can be stored almost indefinitely, so many people
will select as large a container as possible to reduce maintenance tasks.
I believe two part to be the easiest and most accurate method of maintaining calcium and
alkalinity, it's also one of the most affordable as well. There isn't a tremendous amount of
work or complexity to the system. More or less all you need to do is find the right
amount to dose and add that amount each day. You can automate this with a couple of dosing
pumps and the only real task becomes refilling your jugs every month or so. Doesn't get much
easier than that.
I think it is also the most accurate solution. While kalkwasser and calcium reactors are
also excellent solutions it can be difficult to achieve the same level of accuracy for
most newer reefers. Kalkwasser is often affected by the age of the solution and frequently
also dependent on or limited by on the volume of daily evaporation which can change. These
things make it difficult to make precise adjustments to the volume of calcium and alkalinity added.
It is easier to adjust the amounts dosed with a calcium reactor by adjusting the drip rate
of solution added to the tank or potency of the solution by adjusting the amount of CO2.
While this does make it easy to adjust, it takes a bit of practice to properly tune a
calcium reactor so the bubble rate and drip rate result in a output of calcium and alkalinity
that matches your tank's daily consumption. A process that needs to be repeated as the
corals grow and consume more elements.
The reason we feel two part is the most accurate option is each jug contains a known amount
of calcium and alkalinity. So the results of adding more or less solution is fairly
predictable. There are even calculators available to tell you exactly how much you need to add
to make the changes you are looking for. Adjusting for growth is as simple as increasing your
daily dose.
There are a whole slew of retail two part brands available these days. Biggest differences
between all of them is if they come in liquid or dry form, how do they deal with trace elements
and weather they are a true two part or do they actually have three parts.
The liquid forms are the easiest to use because most of them come pre-mixed, however they
are often the most expensive as well. I think this makes them appropriate for smaller tanks
or people who don't mind paying for convince. There are also some brands which offer a dry
version like Fauna Marin or Red Sea. These are often considerably more affordable but
require you to mix it with purified water. Since this is super easy I think most people
are probably better served with the dry versions. Each brand also handles trace elements differently
as well. There are a few brands that mix it in directly with the two part and some that
make them available as separate solutions. There is an obvious ease of use benefit with
combining them with the two part. However, offering trace elements in separate solutions
often allows them to include additional elements that can't be combined in high concentrations
with calcium or alkalinity solutions.
This is the same reason some brands come in three parts where the third part is typically
magnesium. The true two parts are mixing the magnesium and calcium solutions together which
makes it easier because there are only two products to dose.
However, the three parts typically contain major elements in ratios which match natural
seawater more closely. In most cases three parts are also better options for making large
adjustments to a single element. For instance if I want to raise my calcium from 380 to
420, I don't necessarily want to raise magnesium or a variety of trace elements at the same
time.
Last but not least we have our bulk packaged version of two part. This is easily the most
affordable retail version available. I also believe it is the highest grade of material
available to the aquarium industry. We use only pharmaceutical grade calcium and magnesium
materials. The difference between grades of material is dramatic enough to be seen visually.
The pharmaceutical grade material dissolves crystal clear. These other two are a couple
of the more popular retail brands of calcium chloride aquarium additives you can see there
is a significant amount of residue that settles out at the bottom and that's just impurities
you can see with the naked eye.
Our two part kit comes with a container of calcium chloride, sodium carbonate as well
as magnesium chloride and sulfate. We also include a couple measuring cups, some jugs
and dispensing pumps. There is also a version that includes a pair of dosing pumps to automate
the system.
Regardless of the brand you use, two part typically involves the following. First we
need to get the levels up to where you want them - we typically suggest a calcium level
of 420 parts per million, a dKH of 9 and magnesium at 1350 parts per million. Some people prefer
a slightly lower alkalinity of 7-8 which is closer to natural sea levels. I have seen
many tanks thrive anywhere in this range.
If you are using BRS two part, raising the levels is super easy. We have an easy to use
reef calculator on our site where you can enter your tank size, what your current levels
are, your desired level and what you are using to raise them. For example if we had a 100
gallon tank with a calcium level of 380 and we wanted to get to 420 using two part calcium
mix it would tell us we need 409 milliliters to do that. Once added to the tank you should
be able to come back to the tank and test minutes later.
Now that we have the levels up it is time to figure out how much to use to maintain
these new levels . I would check the manufacturer's dosing suggestions and start with that but
it will probably will need to be adjusted. Adjusting is fairly easy, use your test kits
to find out which direction the levels are going. If they are going down increase your
daily dose, if they are going up, adjust it down. Shouldn't take more than a few adjustments
to hone in on the right dose where the levels are stable. Once you find right dose, you
should only need to tweak it every few months as you add additional corals or to keep up
with their growth.
The doses should be added slowly to a high flow area of the tank. It is normal for the
alkalinity to cloud the water temporarily and it should dissipate fairly quickly. The
doses can be done manually but it's best to use a cheap dripper to add the dose over a
couple hours if possible. If you automate it with a couple of dosers like these which
dose 1.1 mL a minute it is pretty easy to not only spread the dose out over a long period
of time but you can also dose each solution at different times which is ideal.
There are some really cool dosers out there like the Vertex Libra which has intelligent
programming which makes setting up and changing your dosing schedule ridiculously easy using
a touch pad screen. The process is so intuitive I think basically anyone could figure it out
in less than a minute.
Time for a few quick two part tips, you can use pretty much any reef safe container to
store your two part. There are some really cool vessels from various manufacturers which
add some style to the sump area and match other equipment. You can make your own using
a Mur-lok bulkhead and virtually any container. Most of them have a neat down tube which draws
about an inch off the bottom to prevent dosing any precipitate. This isn't required for BRS
two part because ours dissolves completely but it looks nice regardless.
Next, it can be difficult to dissolve the alkalinity component of any brand's two part.
If it clumps up on you, we suggest floating the jug in a sink of hot water to raise the
temperature and make it easier to dissolve. The best way to mix it is in an open top container
where it is easy to stir and add the powder at the same time. If you take this step, it
dissolves almost instantly without clumping issues.
Lastly, one thing you want to consider when using two part over a long period of time
is the eventual build-up of chloride and sodium ions from the calcium chloride and sodium
carbonate. This effect is very minimal as long as you have a reasonable water change
schedule. If you see your salinity rising this is probably one of the reasons.
For this and a whole variety of other reasons, we suggest stringing together a few larger
water changes once a year to get a high volume of new water into the tank and reduce or remove
any containments or trace and macro elements that may have built up over the year, this
advice really applies to any tank regardless of the calcium solution used.
That wraps up today's episode. This week's question of the week is "which brand and how
much two part do you dose every day? Next week we will be covering calcium reactors.
If you would like to be notified when they come out hit that subscribe button. Thank
you for watching BRStv.