Dosing alk and cal
 

Hello,
After long time dosing c-balance I'm determined to switch to bulk chemicals, to save some money and also because this way can dose minor element as needed.
I'm wondering what product you recommend, I was thinking the brs bulk chemicals, the AF one and also the j&l home brand.
Mostly I'm looking for purity and also clean mix. Not really into a cheap way to do it or DYU .
Have to say that I use the brs mag already, and also have alk and cal chloride to get my levels to a point and then start the balling with c balance.
Also what's the best way or the easier to start dosing those chemicals.
Thank you in advance


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Interested in people's thoughts as well. Ive never used BRS but always hear that it is the best. Im curious as to what people are comparing it too. Ive been using the bulk chemicals from Reefsupplies.ca and have been happy with how easy they mix, however, if BRS truly is a more pure and clean option then I would definitely buy it. I actually need to purchase some more, so I'm interested to hear peoples opinions. Also interested on how clean JL's Reef Crest bulk stuff is.

I currently use reefsupplies.ca soda ash and calc chloride and then mix in the aquaforest component strong. Also use the aquaforest reef mineral salts.

so when you use soda ash what are you trying to achieve? because at my work we use soda ash strictly to increase ph and I use sodium bicarbonate to increase alkalinity. I wonder what others say? I dose calcium chloride and sodium bicarbonate and magnesium occasionally

I use soda ash to raise alkalinity which also has the property of raising PH. Soda ash is sodium carbonate, which is what you achieve if you heat sodium bicarbonate.

To raise alk by 1DKH in a 100 gallon tank, you would use 11.4 grams of sodium bicarbonate, or alternatively use 7.2 grams of soda ash (sodium carbonate)

Both will raise ph but bicarb is much more efficient for alkalinity with less of a ph swing. If this was not the case then every pool would not use bicarb for alk

Strange, every time i use Sodium Bicarbonate to raise alk, I see a PH decrease.

I don't see much of a PH swing using sodium carbonate as I use a dosing pump every 2 hours to dose it.

Not the case I add many times a day to huge volumes and see ph raise after adding. We use soda ash to raise when we use gas chlorine which lowers ph

Bicarb temporarily lowers pH slightly because of the off-gassing of CO2 but then pH will go back up.

Carb doesn't have CO2 so it instantly raises pH slightly.

Neither raise pH as dramatically as Ca hydroxide (limewater aka kalk).

People don't normally dose a big enough dose to see much pH effect using carb or bicarb. On tanks with higher KH demands the use of carb will trend a slightly higher pH.

The pH effect in freshwater is much more dramatic than saltwater.

I was hoping you would chime in. So what do you use for alk?

Bicarb in client tanks because some of them dose manually, so a smaller pH effect is better.

Carb in my own tank. I'm not dosing heavily enough to make any measurable difference in pH. The CO2 scrubber does have a +0.2 pH effect though. :)

So what's people use the most for alk? Soda ash or sodium bicarbonate, also was looking at the AF stuff today .
Reefsupplies use soda ash for the 2 part dosing.

Derek how you like the component strong? Are you pretty much making your own component +1-2-3?
Thanks



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I like it I mix a gallon of reefsuplies soda ash (2cups) calcium (2.5 cups) and aquaforest mineral salt (1 cup) and add 25ml of the component strong mixes to each. I dose magnesium separately by hand.

I worked out my own mix formula of the component strong and mineral salt as the aquaforest uses sodium bicarb which uses more to raise alk then soda ash does.

I'm tempted to buy some BRS bulk chems to see if they are better.

I c...
Yes I heard a lots good things about the BRS bulk chemicals. I'm just on the fence about the component strong, just want to learn more about it... bet is good stuff but still don't know if want to dose all that separately or just use the component strong, I guess is not much difference


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I used to use the BRS chems some years ago. IMO, they are really all the same and don't make any difference in your tank, except BRS has REALLY GOOD marketing. :lol: It's kinda like all these DC pumps we're buying that all look the same - they're all made in the same factory. They just use a different colored plastic, slap a different sticker on it, and tada! New pump. :lol:

When the Canadian dollar was strong, then buying the BRS stuff made a lot more sense. Now the savings aren't really there unless you're buying the 5-gallon pails - even then I'm not sure once you start adding shipping to 5-gallon pails. BRS charges 15% for Canadian duties and taxes to all orders, then you have to add 40% right now for the dollar (thanks to Trump for the soft wood tariffs). Then you pay shipping (in US dollars) on top of that. It really adds up right now, and I'm not sure why people are still shopping in the US other than habit.

The Aquaforest KH Buffer is $47 from Reef Supplies and free shipping over $149 (BRS doesn't do free shipping to Canada). If you want to use "soda ash" (sodium carbonate), then bake it in your oven at 350F for an hour and you have soda ash. Or just buy the Reef Supplies soda ash.

I've been usinf the JL stuff for a couple of years, no complaints here.

I'm currently using the Reef Supplies bulk mix and I will say it mixed without any issues. I also went and picked up some bulk from JL when they had it on sale. I haven't experimented enough but my guess is they will all be close to the same for purity.

Yes make sense, with the low dollar don't really know if is worth to get the stuff from brs, also got a box over the border , but don't know if they ship the 5g pails for free.
I may take a look at the bulk chemicals j&l and reef supplies offer, as is easier to get.


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No politics on the forum please. :lol:

For the record, I use BRS chems and a Libra to dose.

They don't ship anything to Canada for free. :)

I know, was referring to a mail box in the US tho,


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Nice, I use a libra too.
Do you get the chemicals often?



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ATM I am using bulk stuff from JL, the sodium carbonate, alittle but goes a long way.... same with calcium... mixes pretty clean, usually clears up within 5 mins.

I'm still using the bucket I bought 3 years ago. Probably 3 years left.

Great, why I'm wasting $$$ on c balance then... should listened to Chris long time ago lol


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