So I think I've finally discovered how to correctly use 2-part (Calcium and Alkalinity) dosing solutions and figured since I had such a difficult time figuring it out, maybe others did too and could use a little info session.
Reef experts - feel free to jump in and correct me as needed, most of this is just my chemistry background speaking and might not be true in terms of the reefing world.
2-part is something that quite a few reefers use to boost the calcium (and also Alkalinity) in their tanks. It's a super simple solution and one of the cheaper ways to ensure your calcium levels stay in the correct range (380-440ppm). I recently started doing this as I've noticed some calcium levels dropping in my tank (and also sweet growth:up
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So I picked up the BRS 2-part, which is super, super simple, and then headed over to use their 2-part calculator to figure out just how much to use. THIS IS WHERE I SCREWED UP. My calcium levels were roughly 360ppm, which is low but not terrible. My Alkalinity levels, on the other hand, weren't bad at all at 8.4 dKh. For a quick chemistry lesson here, Alkalinity and Calcium are used at a near 1:1 ratio by corals with hard skeletons. That means that in theory, these numbers should always be similar, but in practice I find that to not be the case.
Anyway, the BRS calculator allows you to put in your information and it will tell you how much 2-part to add to get you in to the correct range. For me, it said I needed to add something like 150mL of Calcium and only 10mL of Alkalinity solution. This isn't really the case. By adding a ton (relatively) of calcium, I simply drove my Alkalinity number down. That's because these two ions have inverse relationships. If you add a ton of one, the other goes down and vice-versa. It's a pretty simple chemical reaction.
What I should have done: I should have added the solutions at an equal rate. Like I said earlier, Cal and Alk are used at a near 1:1 ratio by corals AND they offset each other (when one goes up, the other goes down). This means that if I want to raise one of the ions (Cal or Alk) I need to add an equal amount of 2-part from BOTH daily until the numbers are where I want them. By doing this, you can increase the Calcium or the Alkalinity and you don't need to worry about spiking the other solution because it will balance itself out in simple chemistry.
TL;DR - always use equal amounts of 2-part solution. If you are having issues with Cal or Alk being low, add more of both.
Reef experts - feel free to jump in and correct me as needed, most of this is just my chemistry background speaking and might not be true in terms of the reefing world.
2-part is something that quite a few reefers use to boost the calcium (and also Alkalinity) in their tanks. It's a super simple solution and one of the cheaper ways to ensure your calcium levels stay in the correct range (380-440ppm). I recently started doing this as I've noticed some calcium levels dropping in my tank (and also sweet growth:up
.So I picked up the BRS 2-part, which is super, super simple, and then headed over to use their 2-part calculator to figure out just how much to use. THIS IS WHERE I SCREWED UP. My calcium levels were roughly 360ppm, which is low but not terrible. My Alkalinity levels, on the other hand, weren't bad at all at 8.4 dKh. For a quick chemistry lesson here, Alkalinity and Calcium are used at a near 1:1 ratio by corals with hard skeletons. That means that in theory, these numbers should always be similar, but in practice I find that to not be the case.
Anyway, the BRS calculator allows you to put in your information and it will tell you how much 2-part to add to get you in to the correct range. For me, it said I needed to add something like 150mL of Calcium and only 10mL of Alkalinity solution. This isn't really the case. By adding a ton (relatively) of calcium, I simply drove my Alkalinity number down. That's because these two ions have inverse relationships. If you add a ton of one, the other goes down and vice-versa. It's a pretty simple chemical reaction.
What I should have done: I should have added the solutions at an equal rate. Like I said earlier, Cal and Alk are used at a near 1:1 ratio by corals AND they offset each other (when one goes up, the other goes down). This means that if I want to raise one of the ions (Cal or Alk) I need to add an equal amount of 2-part from BOTH daily until the numbers are where I want them. By doing this, you can increase the Calcium or the Alkalinity and you don't need to worry about spiking the other solution because it will balance itself out in simple chemistry.
TL;DR - always use equal amounts of 2-part solution. If you are having issues with Cal or Alk being low, add more of both.
