What is this two part dosing concept?

Two Little Fishes C-Balance is good. I found some on sale a while back for about the same price as BRS. So, I ordered a few gallons. Usually though I think BRS is the way to go, just much less expensive than the others. And as you mentioned, functionally, they are more or less the same. There really is no magic in this hobby.

 

You probably want to avoid phosphate test kits then. The cheap ones are not accurate enough to detect down to the levels we are interested in.

Also, just to add, you may test and may find you don't need 2-part. typically you only need it if you have a lot of coralline growth, or hard corals. That is assuming you do regular water changes. If you do need it, I would add, follow the 2-part directions, don't add the 2 parts too close together in time. They can react before they dissolve fully and this reduces their effectiveness. Basically you will just get limestone like material all over your equipment.

 

My Salifert and Red Sea test kits have each shown nitrate readings as high as 20 when my API test still reads zero. I have always trusted API for my freshwater tanks, but they seem to be less reliable for saltwater.

 

+1. don't bother with phosphate kits. Just assume you have some. If you have algae, you have PO4... if you have a lot...

I always used salifert kits.

 

ESV B-ionic... could not think of it at all. Lot's of folks use that too but it is more expensive than BRS.

 

while additives may all be similar- the salts we use are not, considering your tank and set up, I would look into the red sea pro salt- very good stuff, so is seachem.

I posted a link showing lab testing on the most popular brands and how they checked out.

http://reefsaltanalysis.googlepages.com/AWT_Salt_Analysis_0208.pdf

 

2 parts = equal parts - generally yes, but occasionally , no

the reality is that the usage of Calcium and carbonates are not linear
its possible that a calcium demand as low as 6ppm can be combined with a 1 degreed drop of DKH in certain reef systems (its not always the 20ppm - to 1dkh that is commonly held to be the actual demand

reasons

Alkalinity ions are aslo used to boost PH - thus in tanks with high carbon dioxide levels for example, more of the supplement may be utilised to boost the PH levels

also - alternative ion utilisation by corals and coraline - corals can and do utilise Magnesium and strontium to name but 2 and these are interchangeable with Calcium in that respect

the above 2 factors in some set ups can create a need for the alkalinity supplement, above and beyond the need for the calcium one

hence testing is required even after you believe you know your demand and have keyed in that demand on your supplement routine

many of the 2 part systems I have checked out , do in fact deliver more alkalinity than calcium even when using equal parts ( they do this I assume to compensate for the non linear usage) they do not all deliver 20ppm calcium for every 1 DKH they increase

in general , I believe this would work out as equal quantities of each product, but would advise the test kits should be monitored as even with the compensation built in, you could end up with levels going out of balance



Steve

 

^^^ While you went all "Spock" on us... I was just trying to keep it simple and explain that "2 part" is meant to be a sysyem of 2 equal parts. In practice I realize it is not always the case which yo upointed out.;D

 

Better to test religiously and adjust accordingly though. Maybe not so much in a softie tank, but certainly in an SPS dominant.

It all depends on the individuals preference, but I'm going to say it is likely that the OP's original questions were answered.

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