Going on Vacation - can I dose Randy's Two Part Solution mixed in my top-off water

[superstein61]

Going on vacation in a month for 10 days. I will set up an auto top off with a float switch, an aqua lifter pump and about 15 gallons of ro/di in a rubbermaid bin.

My tank is 72 gallons with a 15 gallon sump - and I typically dose 50 ml of Randy's Two Part Solution daily. I know you typically should not mix the two but could I do so in a large volume (15+ gallons) of top-off water.

I never worried about it before when I had my 37 gallon but I have added SPS in the 72g so I am more particular maintaining calcium and alk levels.

If mixing 2 part in the top-off water won't work, would adding a teaspoon of kalk per gallon of top off water in the rubbermaid bin work? I typically do not dose kalk. Would I need to add a powerhead in the top-off water bin to keep it mixed?

Thanks

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

No, they cannot be mixed together into any volume of fresh water.

My recommendation is to put the alkalinity par into the top off, and boost the calcium in the tank to 500-550 ppm, or whatever you calculate most of the dose to be. It does not hurt appreciably to have it all there, and it declines slowly.

[superstein61]

Great - thanks Randy !!!

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You're welcome and good luck. :)

[LISound]

but if it precipitates out, he will lose both rather quickly.

Another recomendation...do a test run a few weeks before you leave to make sure it works like you want it to.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

There should not be any precipitation problem at 500 ppm calcium. With respect to precipitation, that's no different than the alkalinity of NSW rising from 7 to 8.3 dKH or the pH rising from 8.2 to 8.28. :)

But testing in advance is always a good idea before making changes prior to vacations. :)