Dosing Ca & Alk

The starter kit comes with comes with 3 1 gallon jugs 2 pumps, a dosing cup, and 3 bags of each calc and alk, and 1 bag of mag. So you can make 3 gallons Cacl and alk, and 1 gal of mag. Then you can just order replacement stuff after that. Also in the starter kit all the stuff is pre measured. Just cut open the bag and mix it in the jug.

 

confirmed. the pouches are pre measured. the buckets require a one cup measuring cup

 

Also to be clear the starter kits are purely for convenience, one stop shopping. You will save money if you buy larger quantities of the chemicals, you can get all the same jugs/dispensers etc elsewhere on the BRS site. Buying larger quantities will save on shipping and it's also cheaper per lb of chemical buying in larger quantities.
I'm not sure I would recommend the big pails of the stuff but the larger containers with a couple pounds of the stuff, especially the magnesium are well worth it.
You have to use a lot of magnesium to make one gallon of the solution and one gallon doesn't go very far, you need to dose a lot of it to raise 100ppm. For example on my system with about 110g of water it takes almost a gallon of the magnesium solution to raise 100-200ppm so make sure you plan for that. Of course magnesium depletes at a much much slower rate than the others but just something to be aware of.

 

The BRS site says to use Mag Chloride to RAISE mag levels, and to use the mix to maintain it...

wonder why it wouldn't want you to raise it with Mag Sulfate?

Also, it seems that the only difference in the "starter kit" and the "small package" is the price and measured doses... With the "small package" being nearly $10 cheaper, but with more chemicals, seems like the better way to go.

 

Ye screwtape is right. I have a very low demand in my tank right now, so I went for the smaller kit. But just like Costco the bigger you go the more you save.

 

this has been addressed already in this thread... having said that, when I initially raised it, I did it like that. nowadays "maintaining" my Mg amounts to dosing 100ppm once a month... so I use the solution (sulfate/chloride) to "maintain" it, but one could argue I'm actually raising it...

Don't worry about that too much... IMO, it's a minor detail and you'll be fine.

 

Yes you pay more and get a little less for the convenience of the pre measured bags. If that's not an issue then go with small kit.

 

Alright tested last night
Alk- 10
Ca- 450
Perfect? Also I heard that your MG is x3 your Ca, So my MG is 1350?

 

It's not necessarily 3x your Ca, it should be at least 3x. I wouldn't assume it's acceptable. It could be less than 3x right now but still enough to maintain your Ca levels, 3x is the safe range, you can get by with less.

 

Can I add Alk & Ca the same day, Like Ca in the morning & Alk at night or Alk in the morning & Ca at night?