Ira Posted March 19, 2005 Report Share Posted March 19, 2005 Thought it might be a good idea to start up a thread listing inexpensive supplements for reef tanks and where a good place to get them is and how to dose them? For noobs(And me :lol:) I can't get my KH to stay up, but the calcium is fine so let's start with that. Just add baking soda? Any cheap ways to dose magnesium, iodine, etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perky Posted March 19, 2005 Report Share Posted March 19, 2005 does anyone know hwere i can get Kent Marine Phytoplex from and for how much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petplanet Posted March 19, 2005 Report Share Posted March 19, 2005 Yeah, I would be up for mag. My calcium levels are great but magensium is always down. I have read that iodine is real dodgie unless you know exactly what you are doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perky Posted March 19, 2005 Report Share Posted March 19, 2005 hey petplanet, you should start up a store in Auckland (Kohimarama especially) I could use a store near me. anyway, back on topic, does anyone know where i can get kent marine phytoplex Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted March 19, 2005 Report Share Posted March 19, 2005 PetPlanet - Magnesium. I used to use magnesium from APS chemicals in Auckland, about $100.00 for 5kg of mg bi-carb or similar, 99.9999% pure lab grade. Mix this with water and add to tank to raise magnesium, I used this for over 15 months without issue. Its like a salt. Also epson salts add mg, check Randys forum on RC for instructions, but my reccomendation is bellow: I started using some magnesium 'chips'. I brought them from ZeovitNZ and have been using them for over 12 months. Since I started using them my mg has remained fairly stable at 1300ppm. They are little chips you add to your CA-Reactor at about 10% of the total volume of media in the reactor. I will continue to use them as they have worked very well for me over the past year. I purchased $40.00 worth, I still have half un-unused in a bag + whatever is left in the CA reactor, much better value than the stuff I was buying from APS as above. Talk with ZeovitNZ I am sure he can explain more about them and sell them to you if required. You also mentioned iodine. I am not a chemist, Layton is better to explain it than I can but it boils down to the fact that there is lots of diffent types of iodine, and its hard to know which to add or which are tested with the kits. General concencious is don't bother, iodine will be replaced with water changes any way. Some say that Xenia needs it, my tank and JetSkiSteves tanks are evidence thats not true. I just gave all my Salifert Iodine away (a brand new large bottle) as I know i'll never use it. I had added it in the past as per the instruction on the bottle never noticed a difference, didn't notice a difference when I stoped used it. Randy Holmes Farley on RC has done several good articles on Iodine and Strontium, bottom line "best left out". Hope that helps. Pie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted March 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2005 Anyone mind answering my question? KH drops by abouy .5 per week. Is dosing with baking soda a good way to keep it up? Baking soda added to the topoff water a good idea? PH and calcium are both ok, maybe a little bit low for each, so I'd dose with a bit of kalk if I had some, but they're not low enough that I've made the effort to get any yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted March 19, 2005 Report Share Posted March 19, 2005 Anyone mind answering my question? KH drops by abouy .5 per week. Is dosing with baking soda a good way to keep it up? Baking soda added to the topoff water a good idea? PH and calcium are both ok, maybe a little bit low for each, so I'd dose with a bit of kalk if I had some, but they're not low enough that I've made the effort to get any yet. Yes baking soda is one of the best ways to keep alk up, if Kalk addition can't keep up with demand. (I use it too for that reason). Raising your alk will also raise your pH (if it is low) in some cases. Iodine - not many people bother adding it. It's a bit like phosphate in that it has many stable forms, iodide, iodate, tri-iodide. I believe (but don't quote me on it) that unlike phosphate, many of the iodine ions are directly bioavailable. Test kits don't test for all these species, so you never really know how much iodine is in your tank. Although unlikely to occur, iodine can also be dangerous if it accumulates in your tank. You can buy Potassium Iodide from Total Lab Supplies. I think it's about $43 for 100g. Dissolve 100g in 2L of water, and that will be enough to keep a 180gal tank going for 6 years, (Based on Seachems dosing recommendations.) I just rely on water changes for iodine replacement myself. Magnesium. Pies, you probably would have found Magnesium chloride MUCH less expensive. I think less than $50 for 25Kg from APS. The magnesium chips you chuck in your calcium reactor are just magnesium carbonate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracker Posted March 19, 2005 Report Share Posted March 19, 2005 Baking soda is the easiest way. If you are running a small system, Reef Success CALK is a great way to add KH and Calcium at the same time. I am using it and it is great. You simply dump the powder into the sump twice a week and your done. No premixing or settling whatsoever. Well priced to for the amount used. Then you simply add a little bit of Baking soda to keep the kh up to around 10KH. IMO. I only use this system as my system is too small to use a reactor. Otherwise a reactor is the ultimate for stability. (The KH buffer in the CALK is not sufficient to keep it all the way up, only buffers it a touch, but sends the calcium up hugely). I love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracker Posted March 19, 2005 Report Share Posted March 19, 2005 Perky, why do you want this product? may not be needed, what are you trying to acheive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perky Posted March 19, 2005 Report Share Posted March 19, 2005 i want to put it in the tank so my corals can have more to eat etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogmatix Posted March 19, 2005 Report Share Posted March 19, 2005 Ira, at home nad at work im using red sea Calk, and it is working very well, Mt edens reef tank is sucking out the tho at about 0.4 Meq/day do as an additional booster im using Seachem Alkilinty raiser ( powder in a pink tub) daily pre mixed in fresh water, and its working very very well. HTH Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted March 20, 2005 Report Share Posted March 20, 2005 Layton - I think that is what it was, mg ch, but I am sure it cost me $100 for 5kg from APS. Maybee I just got ripped off? Quite happy with the chips at the moment, seem to be doing the job. IRA - I have a little 3/4 a tub of Salifert PH/KH buffer at home. If you want to come out and grab it you can have it, I don't use it any more. I think its part of a 2 part system from Salifert with the Calcium product but not sure, Reef will know. Pie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeBlog Posted March 20, 2005 Report Share Posted March 20, 2005 I have the Miracle Mud in the sump which seems to keep the Mg stable at 1350. Magnesium. Pies, you probably would have found Magnesium chloride MUCH less expensive. I think less than $50 for 25Kg from APS. The magnesium chips you chuck in your calcium reactor are just magnesium carbonate. I bought a 25KG bag of Magnesium Chloride and Calcium Chloride for $11.25 and $16.25 respectively from Aakland Chemicals Limited. As far as dosing, I used to follow (before the MM) Randy Holmes-Farley's "Homemade Two-Part Calcium and Alkalinity Additive System" which uses Epsom Salts, Calcium Chloride and Baking Soda, except I replaced the Epsom Salts for Magnesium Chloride. Now, I just use the Calcium Chloride and Baking Soda parts with awesome success. Although, I am expecting there to be a problem keeping up as soon as the SPS get a bit bigger!! So, I expect a calcium reactor purchase in my near future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted March 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2005 I have a little 3/4 a tub of Salifert PH/KH buffer at home. If you want to come out and grab it you can have it, I don't use it any more. Thanks, if I get out to your place any time soon I might grab it. The baking soda seems to be working, I just need to dose more than I have. Been putting in 1/8 tsp into the topoff water so about 1/8th every 4 days. I'd calculated that should be enough, but it's not quite. Once I get the exact amount figured out I think it should be good. I'm doubling it and we'll see how that goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted March 20, 2005 Report Share Posted March 20, 2005 Are you using kalk with your top up water as well?? I'm no expert but was told not to add buffer and calcium at the same time. Also my buffer states on the container not to mix with ca or mg. Comments?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracker Posted March 21, 2005 Report Share Posted March 21, 2005 reef success CALk is both in one. Shouldnt be problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RnB Posted March 21, 2005 Report Share Posted March 21, 2005 http://www.ecosystemaquarium.com/html/40g_berlin.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted March 21, 2005 Report Share Posted March 21, 2005 Are you using kalk with your top up water as well?? I'm no expert but was told not to add buffer and calcium at the same time. Also my buffer states on the container not to mix with ca or mg. Comments?? That's true. The high pH of kalk means that if you add buffer, (usually some form of carbonate/bicarbonate) the locally high pH will mean you get precipitation of calcium carbonate if they mix. So you get a solid accumulating at the bottom of the sump, as it strips the calcium out of the kalk solution. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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