2-part dosing your reef tank. What does it actually cost each month? | BRStv Investigates

Your reef tank 2-part dosing is costing you WHAT?!? Today on BRStv Investigates we find out! See how much it really costs to supplement a reef tank using 1-4 part dosing based on a pretty common consumption rate.
#BRStvInvestigates #BRStv
More additive testing from BRStv Investigates!
➡ Best Calcium Chloride additive? : brs.li/BRStv_CalciumAdditive_...
➡ Which Alk additive would you use? : brs.li/BRStv_AlkAdditive_Testing
➡ Mag additives all the same? : brs.li/BRStv_MagAdditive_Testing
Community Links!
➡ Today's topic on Reef2Reef : brs.li/R2R_2PartDosing_Cost
➡ #AskBRStv Facebook Group : brs.li/AskBRStv_Facebook
➡ BRS R2R Sponsor Page : brs.li/BRS_R2R_Sponsor
Related Reef Gear!
➡ BRS Pharma Calcium Chloride : brs.li/BRS_Pharma_CalciumChlo...
➡ BRS Pharma Soda Ash : brs.li/BRS_Pharma_SodaAsh
➡ ESV B-Ionic : brs.li/BRS_ESV_Bionic
➡ Aquaforest Component 1, 2, 3 + : brs.li/BRS_Aquaforest_123Plus
➡ Triton Core7 Bulk 4-Liter set : brs.li/BRS_TritonCore7_4X4L
➡ Two Little Fishies C-Balance : brs.li/BRS_TLF_CBalance
➡ Tropic Marine Additives : brs.li/BRS_TropicMarin_Additives
➡ Brightwell Reef Code A & B : brs.li/BRS_Brightwell_ReefCodeAB
➡ Red Sea Reef Foundation : brs.li/BRS_RedSea_ReefFoundation
Today on BRStv, we have a brand new episode of our series, BRStv Investigates. In this series, we explore popular reefing theories, products, methods, and what the manuals are missing, with a focus on putting them to the test! Stay tuned as we explore even more reef fantasies and reef certainties as we try to dive into common hobby questions and challenge long held ideas in order to make this hobby even more fun and easy!
Legal Stuff
The purpose and content of this video is to provide general information regarding the products and their applications as presented in the video. Aquatic sales solutions, inc. And its officers, directors, employees and agents disclaim all express or implied warranties, in any way, related to the products and their application as presented in this video, make no representation or warranty regarding the products and the application as presented in this video and shall not be liable for any direct or indirect losses or damages of any type, including but not limited to punitive damages, or from personal injury or death resulting from or in any manner related to the video, and the products in and contents of the video. The viewer expressly agrees that aquatic sales solutions, inc. And its officers, directors, employees and agents shall not be liable for any damages or losses related to the products in and content of the video and hereby agrees to hold the foregoing harmless from any such losses or damages.

[@webmannycom]

I love all the analysis you guys do. This makes things much easier for everyone to understand. Keep up the good work!

[@angelnieves6087]

As always very informative and helpful. Keep up the great work guys. Your awesome! 👍🏼👊🏼

[@ajsreef1034]

Amazing episode guys yet again. Just the info i needed to know

[@bradymoran343]

Can you re-do this with the new powdered all for reef?

[@christianreefing3117]

Made all that sound so simple! Not so intimated by dosing anymore. Thanks for making reefing easy guys!

[@fuzzybunny96]

I’d like to see how much it costs to run a calcium reactor at these same levels!

[@calisky7342]

Thank you so much for doing this!

[@JMA15357]

Great comparison video! Really informative!

[@carstenpoulsen5813]

Just love you guys. Always compare items. Hopefully begin supply europe soon

[@tsurro8086]

One of ur best videos to date!, cost is always a large factor, I dose around 135ml each of brs two part!!

[@alex100492]

Great video! Hope you guys start supplying in Europe sometime soon :D

[@Random.Thoughts21]

This is hobby is super expensive as it is. So knowing where you can save money and still get great result is very important.

[@deejayera]

Great video! I'd love it if you guys added Tropic Marin Part C as an option for Trace Elements under your dosing calculator. I'm guessing it would be pretty even with the amount of BRS liquid Soda Ash and Calcium Carbonate, but I'd love to know if I need to adjust due to differing concentrations between the BRS 2 part and TM Parts A & B.

[@michaeltalley1455]

Another great video. Would have liked to seen Kalk in there. Also a video of: At what point can Kalk not keep up?

[@shallowreefing]

PSA Tropic Marin Part C DOES NOT supplement trace elements. It simply keeps the part A and B balanced at an ionic level. The rep from Tropic Marin said this on a live stream with ReefDudes about 3 months after this video was made. I wish BRS would go back and put a disclaimer on these videos now.

[@andycx2]

Would be interesting to see where fauna marin balling light sits on that graph

[@terencefugazzi5164]

EXCELLENT video - great methodical approach and I liked the addition of the trace component cost as an add-on. One added question thought is what is the long term effects of using the formate versions of calcium additives like those from TM.

[@terencefugazzi5164]

@@BRStv :)

[@billydanzz]

@@terencefugazzi5164 - Can you provide the reasons for the question regarding long term use of formate type additives? I'm curious as to what would be possible concerns. Thanks.

[@terencefugazzi5164]

I@@billydanzz I don't know - no speculation really on my part on anything negative. However, there are some side effects mentioned elsewhere by RHF and another I have wondered about. "1. Like limewater/kalkwasser, it will slowly raise alk relative to calcium. The fixed ratio means you need another product if any corrections are needed. 2. Since it is a form of organic carbon dosing, it will drive bacterial growth and may reduce nutrients lower than you want." and the third I wonder about is after so many months of using this additive, there are certain bacteria strains that use this carbon strain more than others - will this lead to an imbalance or reduction of other bacteria? Other issues with this method are that, for larger bolus doses, there might be a temporary cliff-drop of O2. And, if you are dosing, and then measuring semi frequently (a la Trident), the numbers may not be representative of what the alk is because it has not been converted to alk yet. So there is a lag, or coasting if you will, after you step off the gas.

[@Kanoa440]

I have been using BRS two part and Tropic Marin C but I think it’s interesting that on the contents listed on the bag of Tropic Marin C it only lists 3350 mg/l Mg and 980 mg/l K. So to me, it looks like Tropic Marin C just has magnesium and potassium. I think this has gotten overlooked because of how Tropic Marin represents this product. If trace elements are what you’re after then you should look elsewhere or at Tropic Marin’s trace K+ and A- elements.

[@billydanzz]

So if I wanted to use the Carbo-Calcium (Tropic Marin) and separately dose the Part C Trace Elements from Tropic Marin as well, what would be the ratio to dose...i.e., how many ml of Part C to ml of Carbo-Calcium? Thanks.

[@ByronLumley2009]

Aquaforest bas a recipe for 1+2+3 so you can mix your own from powder and a liquid concentrate, makes it one of the cheapest products on this list a complete dosing solution.

[@clsanchez77]

And another great video from BRS, thanks guys! I have one comment and one question for you Randy: First, I was happy to see AquaForest finally made the cut, however you only included the premium ready to use Component 1, 2, 3 series and did not include their Balling method, which is a 4 part of Alkalinity, Calcium, Magnesium, Mineral Salt for ionic balance and Component Strong for trace elements. Admittedly, the instructions are not clear and the prepared 1 liter solutions do not appear to be quite balanced to me, but this cost for 1dkh alkalinity consumption for a 100 gallon tank looks like it would run about $19.50 a month. There could be some variation to this as again, the alkalinity solution does not appear balanced to the calcium. The question regarding ESV. Their two part includes all the trace elements only to the proportions required to minerally balance calcium and alkalinity additives. It is not well documented or clear if their product includes enough magnesium to compensate for magnesium consumption, or just enough to ionically balance the residual sodium chloride built up. So it seems to be the use of ESV would still require magnesium and trace element additives to keep it balanced properly. Any obervations on that? You know, a really cool test for you all would be to setup 8 20 gallon or 40 gallon tanks, stock them all the same and use the same base salt. Then dose 1 multi part system to each tank with no water changes for 4 weeks and perform an ICP test on each tank. Perhaps start them all with your choice Tropic Marin salt so they all start with the same ICP standard. The repeat the test in another 4 weeks, but this time do weekly 10% water changes. Vary to your taste (and budget haha), but I think this would very useful to the community, and perhaps would justify the higher cost (or savings) of the various products.

[@jetskiwillywilly7970]

No water change! so its easier to see the depletion of resources!

[@timm5358]

What does it actually cost.. I wondered about this some time ago. E.g. what does a bag of 25kg of foodgrade sodium(bi)carbonate cost? Peanuts, compared to any of the products mentioned in the video. No wonder there are so many producers and exact compositions remain a closely guarded secret/are never mentioned. Just compare a bottle of I+, and see how many refills you can make with farma grade potassiumiodide powder. I wish DIY would have been added to the comparison for a genuine feel of the actual costs..

[@bracka69]

Would like to have seen the cost using Aquaforest dry products used to make the Components 123.

[@ldballoon4]

Its less than half

[@Mike__B]

So CarboCalcium(?) is similar to kalkwasser in that it only doses calcium and alkalinity except I guess without the pH ? Maybe I missed it in the video is there any reason you didn't cost compare Kalkwasser then? I mean I saw you showed the concentration differences, but Kalkwasser is still relatively cheap I thought.

[@brandondouglas8358]

How did you calculate the dosage of the Red Sea trace elements. The manual says 1ml for every 20ppm per 25 gallons. So if a 100 gallon dropped 20ppm would you dose 4ml?

[@SmokenJs]

you dose 1 mil of red sea trace to every 51 mils of BRS calcium. It is what I am doing right now. This is what they recommend.

[@meiersreefs188]

So What you need to do next is a vid on how many months of dosing these chemicals it takes to pay for the up front cost of switching to a Calcium Reactor. With all the components needed for switching to a normal Calcium Reactor. Like PH probe and media and the reactor.

[@meiersreefs188]

Also you can get the AF in dry powder and mix yourself so that will save you a bunch of cash per month.

[@meiersreefs188]

@@randyr.8115 Ya When you mix the Dry you have to also buy Component Strong as well and add to it for your trace elements. All was I was getting at is the total cost of a calcium Reactor with everything needed, How long it would take dosing to make up the cost of the CR. To show if the up front cost of the CR is worth it or if continuing to dose is cheaper that is all. Just helping out with vid Ideas

[@davidrichard451]

you could of done the powder form of aquaforest

[@Trickmanii]

I would like to see the cost monthly for the All-For-Reef - Powder Mix - Tropic Marin now.

[@BRStv]

The larger 1600g powdered All For Reef currently retails for $74.68 and can make 10 L of solution. Using the 100 gallon, 1 dKH per day example tank in this video and some quick math, the powder version would run you somewhere between $14 and $15 per month.

[@tsurro8086]

I had to watch this a few times to make sure I heard correctly, talking with Lou at tropic Marin,the a,b,c, powders do not have any magnesium or trace elements in it, part c is just to balance the ions, nothing else, no magnesium or trace elements, u will still have to use the k+,a-, liquids for trace elements, I bet allot of people got dooped on buying part c!! Honestly I was dosing 160 ml a day of brs, switched to a,b,c, dose almost 300ml, to get the same results, very weak addictive, doser works twice as hard,,

[@omaralkhoori9858]

Why isn’t magnesium not into factor in Red Sea?

[@Paquidermo00]

Well Triton does save some money with water changes. But including water change it won't even be close to the cheapest option .That being said, Triton does save drinkable water in the long run. I was gonna go triton but, man, brs is a cheap high quality contender.

[@elie6682]

Do you guys have any plans to sell your BRS products outside America?? ;)

[@elie6682]

@@BRStv Hope u guys achieve that goal. Personally I'd love to buy your products if they become available internationally..

[@alishaaishahandayah4054]

its cost more in singapore n dats suxs

[@Furfeatherandclaw]

How does Tropic Marin All For Reef POWDER weigh in here now??

[@BRStv]

The larger 1600g powdered All For Reef currently retails for $74.68 and can make 10 L of solution. Using the 100 gallon, 1 dKH per day example tank in this video and some quick math, the powder version would run you somewhere between $14 and $15 per month.

[@Furfeatherandclaw]

@@BRStv thanks so much! wow, but in theory that's "everything" for some setups. Great stuff 😊

[@Furfeatherandclaw]

@@BRStv wait, doesn't the cheaper 800g make 10 ltrs of all for reef solution?

[@karennation3580]

what is the difference between carbo calcium and all for reef? How do you know which to us?. I think i watched a you tube about carbo calcium is for larger tanks? What is the definition of major, minor, and trace elements? What if you do 30 percent biweekly water changes. Is there a chance of having to much elements and over doing it? Also I am assuming since you didn't do powered all for reef but did powered carbo calcium that its coming out the same or isnt i you did say it wouldnt be your first choice unless you had a small tank! Kind of baffling why you didint cover it and lots of comments asking why!

[@Et20220]

So if I order a 20 gal nuvo and I open it and just poor normal water in it to make sure there no leak and there is can I still return it because the 30 day open none used warranty would testing if I can hold the water void the 365 return warranty ?

[@Et20220]

@@BRStv thank you for letting me know

[@fadetoblack.-]

Or you can save all your money and the trouble and just get a calcium reactor. Steady water quality on a constant basis all the time.

[@terencefugazzi5164]

Doesn't give you everything, and also its nice to have a dosing system as a backup so when you are away, if something goes wrong with the CaRx, you have a stopgap measure until you get back.

[@fadetoblack.-]

@@terencefugazzi5164 it doesn't give you everything? It gives you everything exactly in exact proportion especially if you're using Florida crushed Coral. The only thing you would need to add would be magnesium. And you can add magnesium granules into the calcium reactor as well. I've been using a calcium reactor for over 25 years. With SPS tanks beautifully whoever told you that? sorry to tell you you're misinformed.

[@terencefugazzi5164]

Respectfully - "Everything" - no, not exactly. First there is absolutely magnesium that must be supplemented somehow. But that can be put in the CaRx with something like ReMag from TLF. However, on top of Mg, there are trace elements (and others like K which really is not trace seeing it is kept at around 400ppm) that do not exist in coral skeletons in the quantities necessary to stay maintained with a CaRx unless you are one does lots of water changes. I do not. So, these must be supplemented some other way.

[@fadetoblack.-]

@@terencefugazzi5164 I mentioned in my last statement you do need to add something for magnesium. Other than that you don't need to add anything else. I don't have a video up yet. But once again you're misinformed here's a video of a 4 year old tank that runs on calcium reactor. With no water changes. And supplementation of aquavitro fuel. kzbin.info/www/bejne/h4fHepVjhbqYpZI

[@terencefugazzi5164]

OK, let's now assume I am misinformed. Then help me understand, where do these trace elements and potassium all come from for what is taken up by the animals in the tank? If I am misinformed, then I have good company: www.reef2reef.com/threads/calcium-reactor-and-trace-elements.324962/#post-4026124

[@kevinfenly8598]

Is the rick dead