Switching to RHF 3 Part Recipe

[lactrain]

OK I got all my ingredients ... Dow Flake, Dead Sea , Arm And Hammer, Walgreens Epsoms .... What else ... Ohh Ya ... Jugs ... and DI Water ... Am i forgetting anything.

My question is should I replace each individual component as I run out or should I make the merge all at the same time....

i.e when I run out of BIonic Calcium begin to dose with RHF Calcium etc etc etc...

or

When i am out of the calcium component, remove Bionic 3 part from the shelve and replace it with the RHF 3 part recipies and begin dosing.

Len

 

[starrfish]

Len, I was just reading a thread over on RC last night in the SPS forum about dosing Bionic and Randy's recipe. Someone was saying that when you switch it's not a 1:1 switch so you really have to watch and test closely when you switch. Check out the thread - it's at the top of the SPS forum. For this reason, I would make the switch all at once - the goal is to do equal dosing of the alk and calc parts. If there is a difference in concentration between the two products, it would make it that much more difficult to get the right dosing if you do one at a time. I've never used Bionic before, so this is just my opinion based on the reading I've done. BTW - I dose Randy's recipe using pumps that kick on throughout the day. It works great for me.

Daire

edit: here's the link to the thread on RC:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=794999

 

[merk1_99]

I switched all at once. Depending on the recipe you use the high pH, vs. the low pH will impact how much you dose also. The high pH recipe requires about 2:1 of the other recipe.

 

[lactrain]

Your absolutley correct! ... I just checked it out on the Dosing Calculator and it appears that RHF recipe is a bit weaker then B-Ionic .... So my thoughts are the same ... I always second guess myself and its to nice get the reassurance from others...

I will practice the same methods of dosing that I am practicing now ... and test frequently .... hopefully i can get it in check after a few days or so... without much disturbance to my ionic balance .... like you said by switching the two at once will make sense to it quicker and eliminate my throwing it out of balance twice possibly losing all my corraline algae that I have just recently aquired.

My thoughts were exactly that of others on that forum ... that though a reactor is economical in a sense low ph issues and having to still add kalk was the sticking point with me for the reactor ...

One more question while I got you on the hook Daire ... you said yours is automated what dosing pumps do you use... The second problem I have encountered with dosing liquids is my sump/2 part is in the basement and the temp there is 50 ish and my alk is constantly crystalizing in the jug ... I think purchasing a dosing pump/s installing them upstairs and tubing down to the sump maybe the direction I need to travel to over come this problem.

Thanks again!!!

Len

 

[lactrain]

Thanks Merk...

I am going with the low PH recipe ...

 

[Jill & Brian]

I just swithed from B-ionic myself, but I am switching as I run out. I still have about a quart of ca from b-ionic. I am dosing at about 3-1 RHF alK to B-ionic CA. you just need to keep measuring the ca and alk for a week or so while you get the correct ratio.

I have noticed no negative effects on the tank

-Brian

 

[lactrain]

I just swithed from B-ionic myself, but I am switching as I run out. I still have about a quart of ca from b-ionic. I am dosing at about 3-1 RHF alK to B-ionic CA. you just need to keep measuring the ca and alk for a week or so while you get the correct ratio.

I have noticed no negative effects on the tank

-Brian

No Ill effects .... great!

 

[starrfish]

Hey Len - I use pumps which nobody else believes in, but I love them. They are the $10 Aqualifter pumps. I run them on a timer for calcium, alk, magnesium and kalk top-off. I've read that others have had clogging problems with them - I run vinegar through them once a month and I've never had a problem with them clogging. I use timers that can be programmed down to the minute, so I dose throughout the day in minute intervals. I think this helps to keep the parameters stable.

My sump and 3-part jugs are in my basement too. My magnesium was clumping in my 5g jug so I put a small microjet powerhead in there to keep it circulating. It has been working great. You could do the same with your alkalinity to keep it from crystalizing.

HTH -
Daire

 

[Jill & Brian]

Hey Len - I use pumps which nobody else believes in, but I love them. They are the $10 Aqualifter pumps. I run them on a timer for calcium, alk, magnesium and kalk top-off. I've read that others have had clogging problems with them - I run vinegar through them once a month and I've never had a problem with them clogging. I use timers that can be programmed down to the minute, so I dose throughout the day in minute intervals. I think this helps to keep the parameters stable.

HTH -
Daire

I use one of these for my auto topoff. It only has rodi going through it, but it works like a champ!! A cheap champ that is

 

[lactrain]

Wow ...you have a large tank ... whats your dosage .... Im about 50ml of each part.

1 - One minute increment would crash my system!!!!

5 gallons of magnesium!!! Holy Cow! ... I dont think I have used that much in the history of my tank...

Im not sure if will apply to me! Will it?

Len

 

[starrfish]

OMG - I definitely gave the wrong impression - sorry!! I mix up 5 gallon jugs, but they last a long time!! The magnesium will probably last a year (or more!) The timers can go down to 1 minute intervals, but you can also set them to turn on any day of the week. For example, I drip my mag in on Mon, Wed, Fri for 1 minute. I drip my calc and alk in 4x/day every day of the week for 1 minute. These timers are very flexible and you can literally drip anytime you want, as many times as you want, whenever you want for 1 minute and up. It can definitely work in any setup - big or small. I hope that helps.

Daire

 

[lactrain]

Daire ...

One minute interval = means the pump will run for one minute...correct?

How much fluid will the pump pump on a one minute interval? It must be less then 50ml for it to work in my case...

Len

 

[starrfish]

Yes, one minute interval means the pump will pump for 1 minute. I'm not sure how much is actually pumped - I think I tested it once and it was about 1/2 cup. But you could play around with it - if you put the pump a lot higher than the source, it will pump slower. You could also put a very small ball valve on it (like the ones used for RO tubing) to control the drip rate - that's probably the safest way to control it.

 

[Jill & Brian]

The other option is to dilute your cal and alk mixture such that you are not putting too much in during each minute. If you dilute it enough, you can have the pumps go on more that once a day.

or ... you can continue to dose manually ... but that is no fun

 

[lactrain]

I think for now Ill stick to the manual method .... two reasons ... one it keeps me in the game with my tank, Im afraid that ill get too comfortable with the more automation that I install ... and second auto dosing is still a bit vague.

Thanks for all your help Daire ... but im not sure if your means of automation will best suite my needs, based on the fact that my dosage is considerably less then yours... But my intimidation may be due to the lack of knowledge on exactly how your method operates...

just the more reason for me LEO (reefphreak) to take the ride to see your incredible tank and get a better feel of how it operates ...

Thanks again to all!!!!

 

[starrfish]

You are welcomed to come down any time! Once you see it, you'll realize how easy it is....