DIY chemical feedback?

[renogaw]

i FINALLY found a supplier for dowflake and magflake and am going to go pickup a bag of each. I have a 20 gallon QT i'm going to test raising my alk and calcium with before i destroy my DT. has anyone followed that article and made their own chemicals? any success/failure stories?

 

[moneyman]

When I did the 1st recipe, my (baked or unbaked) baking soda would not dissolve. So, I am using the 2nd less concentrated recipe.

 

[renogaw]

did the dowflake/magflake work ok? i've been holding off doing anything until getting these bags.

 

[moneyman]

Originally Posted by renogaw
did the dowflake/magflake work ok? i've been holding off doing anything until getting these bags.
I use Prestone Driveway Heat (Monohydrate Calcium Chloride) instead of Dowflake (Dihydrate Calcium Chloride).
For magnesium, I use Mag Pellet. Which is different from MAG Flakes. But, I follow the same direction per recipe.
No problem with any chemicals in any recipe. The CaCl2 will get your water pretty warm.

 

[thangbom]

i use the 2 ( but actually 3 ) part dosing on my tank.. only used it for 2 months tho.. soo far soo good... as for the baking soda... i boil the water first then add the BS... i trust the diy stuff.. read many people on -- having great results...
YzGyz

 

[renogaw]

just have it stuck in my head that i'd be using chemicals that i would normally be melting ice with, so i'm a little hesitant.

 

[thangbom]

it's been tested by a man with a PHD (Randy Holmes Farly ).... i think he actually is the one that made this diy dosing chem...
YzGyz

 

[renogaw]

i know, hehe and everyone says it's great, but everyone doesn't have thousands of $ invested in my tank. i have about 1/4 bottle left of both b-ionic bottles so i have some time to see how it works i got dowflake today, i am having trouble finding magflake, but i guess i can just do epsom salts.

 

[renogaw]

ended up making the calcium and the alkalinity portions last night. baking soda does not like to dissolve LOL. gonna start dosing my QT tonight after a water change to start fresh i probably have enough dowflake to make a lifetime of calcium addative... 2.5 cups out of a 50lb bag didn't make a dent in it.

 

[moneyman]

Originally Posted by renogaw
ended up making the calcium and the alkalinity portions last night. baking soda does not like to dissolve LOL. gonna start dosing my QT tonight after a water change to start fresh i probably have enough dowflake to make a lifetime of calcium addative... 2.5 cups out of a 50lb bag didn't make a dent in it.
lol - same problem here about over stocked. Have you ever considered using it on your sidewalk comes winter?

 

[renogaw]

oh probably, although i'd be afraid my dog would lick it. I have a reef club meeting coming up so i'll probably hand out little buckets of it LOL. there's only a few places near us that have the dowflake, although i ended up finding mine in Agway.
you think going up to a seafood counter asking for 1 or 2 clams or a raw shrimp is ackward... try buying snowmelt when the weather is 90 out...

 

[thangbom]

wish i had that problem... i looked all over the place and cant find dowflakes.... ended up ordering online for like $30 something for like 16 cups .... (talking about ripped) then like 2 months later a guy moved and had like 14 cups and sold it to me for like $6 so that was no that bad... wish i knew about it when i was in jersy.. bet i could of got a 50lb bag for like <$15 and took it with me on the move.. would of lasted me a life time!!!! well almost.. BTW i trust this stuff!!! i can see my corals growing every week!!!! been doing for a little over 2 months and used 1 gal of each so far...
YzGyz

 

[ifirefight]

I use it..but I ordered the pre-packaged stuff. 45.00 but more than enough to last over a year on my 130 gallon. I am extremely happy with it. My parameters are always VERY stable. Took a little tinkering to find out how much to add,but now its a piece of cake. I was thinking about buying in bulk but then you have to store it, I think a huge bag of mag flake would last several lifetimes

 

[renogaw]

yea, that's why i think i'm just going to use epsom salts and watch the sulfates. I got a 1/2 gallon container of them for $3 from the

[hr]
.
I did water change in the QT. alk was at 9.3 and calcium was at 370. so i put in the calculator website for target of 10 and 440. I'll test it tomorrow to see if i hit the target or not
if this truly works, i cannot understand how b-ionic can stay on the shelf.

 

[renogaw]

alk was 11, calcium 460, ph 8.2-.4 (i can never tell an exact reading). so i'm a tad concerned about the alk, but am thinking it may have been testing error. I only put in 10 ml of the alk, so who knows.