does two part cal. and alk. dosing raise calcium?

[njp14333]

does kent marine's nano reef part A and B raise calcium, or just buffer it?

[steve the plumb]

I never used that product.I have used the liquid calcium wich I found does work well.You might want to save yourself some money and use Randy's two part formula its much cheaper.I use to spend tons of money on the Kent Products.

[bertoni]

The product looks like a standard 2-part supplement, and should add both calcium and alkalinity, along with a lot of trace elements.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I could not find a description of a nano reef two part additive from Kent. Anyone have a link?

In general, two part additives can raise calcium, but if you add both parts equally, you'll be very limited in the amount you can raise calcium because the alkalinity will rise too much. The solution to that problem is to add a large amount of just the calcium part to raise calcium. Alternatively, and less expensively, one can use calcium chloride.

This calculator shows how much to add for several two part systems, but not that one. The article guides you through the process:

Reef chemicals calculator
http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html

Solving Calcium and Alkalinity Problems
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm

[njp14333]

click here to see the kent marine nano reef parts A and B (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=12804&Ntt=nano%20reefs&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&N=2004&Nty=1)

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks for the link.

All I can say, is WOW. That detailed analysis of the ions present:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/add_info.cfm?pCatId=12804

Guaranteed Analysis
Calcium (Min) 1650.0 mg/oz
Magnesium (Min) 75.0 mg/oz
Strontium (Min) 5.8 mg/oz
Potassium (Min) 2-1/2 mg/oz
Iron (Min) 0.124 mg/oz

makes me wonder how good (or bad) the commercial two part systems are, despite claiming to be balanced. And here the values are touted as if they are suitable. :( :( :(

I would not use that product for these reasons:

It seems quite low in magnesium to me. Only 22% of what I add in my DIY two part recipe, relative to the calcium provided.

The potassium seems way, way too low to be balanced. Mine has potassium as 3.6% by weight of the calcium, and in my analysis, that is actually a bit too little. This product has it as 0.15%.


Here's my DIY recipe and the residual ion calculaton:

An Improved Do-it-Yourself Two-Part Calcium and Alkalinity Supplement System
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

and the analysis of the ions in the calcium (Dowflake) that is used:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/mar2004/chem.htm