Randy Holmes-Farley
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I thought it would be useful to have an archive of DIY chemistry methods. I'll add to it as things come up.
Calcium and Alkalinity
DIY method comparison
Three Part using Sodium Hydroxide (including Balling Part C for the third part)
Two Part using Sodium Hydroxide
An Improved Do-it-Yourself Two-Part Calcium and Alkalinity Supplement System by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
Aquarium Chemistry: A Homemade Two-Part Calcium And Alkalinity Additive System ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog
Magnesium Dosing
Do-It-Yourself Magnesium Supplements for the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
Strontium Dosing
Lanthanum Dosing
Ammonia Dosing
Nitrate Dosing
Phosphate Dosing
Alkalinity Testing
DIY Alkalinity Standard
Salinity Standards
Reef Aquarium Salinity: Homemade Calibration Standards by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
Iron Dosing
Silicate Dosing
Manganese Dosing
Potassium Dosing
Iodide Dosing
Bromide Dosing
Fluoride Dosing
Zinc Dosing
Boron Dosing
Molybdenum Dosing
Cobalt Dosing
Zinc Dosing
Calcium and Alkalinity
DIY method comparison
Randy Recommended DIY Two Part Recipes
There are a whole lot of different DIY recipes around now, and I thought I lay out the differences and my recommendations. In all cases, food grade, USP (pharma) grade, or Analytical Reagent/ACS grades are all good choices for materials. Lower or ungraded materials may be fine, but its more...
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Three Part using Sodium Hydroxide (including Balling Part C for the third part)
Second New DIY Two Part Recipe with Higher pH Boost
In a previous thread, I posted a true two part DIY recipe: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/new-diy-two-part-recipes-with-higher-ph-boost.344500/ But some folks may want to just swap the new ingredient into my 2/3 part recipe (as used by BRS, for example). Here's the original recipe link...
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Two Part using Sodium Hydroxide
New DIY Two Part Recipes with Higher pH Boost
Here's a first crack at what may end up being multiple possible recipes for a DIY two part that either has a higher pH or can be made more concentrated than traditional two part recipes. This one has about twice the pH raising effect compared to a carbonate based two part, per unit of...
www.reef2reef.com
An Improved Do-it-Yourself Two-Part Calcium and Alkalinity Supplement System by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
Aquarium Chemistry: A Homemade Two-Part Calcium And Alkalinity Additive System ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog
Magnesium Dosing
Do-It-Yourself Magnesium Supplements for the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
Strontium Dosing
Post your DIY additives here!
@Randy Holmes-Farley do you see any issues using this to supplement chromium?
www.reef2reef.com
Post your DIY additives here!
@Randy Holmes-Farley do you see any issues using this to supplement chromium?
www.reef2reef.com
Lanthanum Dosing
DIY Lanthanum Dosing
Someone asked for a DIY lanthanum dosing recipe. Be sure you understand that some folks have issues with fish (especially tangs) before embarking on lanthanum dosing. it is also preferable to catch as many of the solids that precipitate out as you can, so dosing before some sort of...
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Ammonia Dosing
DIY ammonia dosing for low N systems
See the thread here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-ammonia-dosing-for-low-nitrate-systems.987087/
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Nitrate Dosing
Post your DIY additives here!
With the popularity of the Triton method and ICP testing gaining steam, a thread containing DIY elemental supplements would be very helpful. Commercial supplements are very expensive and many elements can be sourced cheaply via Amazon, eBay, etc. Examples include fergon pills, potassium...
www.reef2reef.com
Phosphate Dosing
Starting Trisodium Phophate and Calcium Nitrate dosing, need help with recipe
As my tank is growing I'm fighting with very low phosphate and nitrate. I have been feeding more and adding reef roids and AB+ but still have very low numbers. Just received my Na3PO4 and Ca(NO3)2 from Loudwolf. I have looked for a calculator/recipe but can't find one for these reagents. Any...
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Alkalinity Testing
A DIY Alkalinity Test
A DIY Alkalinity Test Alkalinity is one of the most important measurements that a reef aquarist can make. It can become rapidly depleted in many aquaria, requiring frequent measurement in order to maintain stable levels. While hobby test kits for alkalinity can be simple to use, some...
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DIY Alkalinity Standard
DIY alkalinity standard
For folks who may want to evaluate the accuracy of their alkalinity test kits, here are two suggested ways to do it. One is DIY and one is a mostly commercial standard with one DIY step. Method 1 Standard solutions could be made with sodium bicarbonate, but it can be hard to be sure it hasn't...
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Salinity Standards
Reef Aquarium Salinity: Homemade Calibration Standards by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
Iron Dosing
Dosing for Algae Scrubbers
For all those who do dose your systems that contain algae scrubbers, which product have you used with great results to grow your algae for the scrubber? I'm just connecting my algae scrubber to my system and was curious as to which product to began dosing. Please let me know. Thanks. Larry
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Chemistry And The Aquarium: Iron In A Reef Tank
Randy discusses iron and its usage in our aquariums.
reefs.com
Silicate Dosing
Silica In Reef Aquariums
Why would I recommend dosing silica? Largely because creatures in our tanks use it, the concentrations in our tanks (at least in mine) are below natural levels, and the sponges, mollusks, and diatoms may not be getting enough to thrive.
reefs.com
Manganese Dosing
diy iron and manganese supplement
Is there a good way to dose iron and manganese? Since the commercial iron and manganese supplements don't state how much is actually in them, I'd like to make a diy one. We test our water twice a month and found that our gonioporas do much better if our iron and manganese levels are...
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diy iron and manganese supplement
Zinc sulfate is 40% zinc by weight. Is the manganese sulfate hydrated? MnSO₄ - 4H₂O, thanks
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diy iron and manganese supplement
Zinc sulfate is 40% zinc by weight. Is the manganese sulfate hydrated? MnSO₄ - 4H₂O, thanks
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Potassium Dosing
Post your DIY additives here!
Is that the same as "Sodium tetraborate decahydrate"? yes. Decahydrate means 10 water molecules.
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Iodide Dosing
diy iron and manganese supplement
We use the following. We used the following concentrations (always up to 1000 ml solution: SrCl2 · 6H2O for Strontium: 24,35 gramm NiSO4 · 6H2O for Nikkel: 0,45 gramm MnSO4 · 4H2O for Manganese: 0,43 gramm ZnSO4 · 7H2O for Zinc: 4,39 gramm You must know that these amounts require a super...
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Bromide Dosing
Post your DIY additives here!
@Randy Holmes-Farley do you see any issues using this to supplement chromium?
www.reef2reef.com
Post your DIY additives here!
1ml of the kH+ = 2.8 kH and includes 0,001 ml of the Mo for 0.1 ppb. There are no guidelines and this is an experimental amount based on balling.I just made alk supplement of 500gms of Sodium Carbonate with total water volume of 5.067 liters. So how doni calculate the dose?
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Fluoride Dosing
Post your DIY additives here!
I would not worry about a little silica. It doesn't dissolve super readily, and some dissolved silicate is fine (I dosed it regularly).
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Zinc Dosing
diy iron and manganese supplement
We use the following. We used the following concentrations (always up to 1000 ml solution: SrCl2 · 6H2O for Strontium: 24,35 gramm NiSO4 · 6H2O for Nikkel: 0,45 gramm MnSO4 · 4H2O for Manganese: 0,43 gramm ZnSO4 · 7H2O for Zinc: 4,39 gramm You must know that these amounts require a super...
www.reef2reef.com
Boron Dosing
Post your DIY additives here!
With the popularity of the Triton method and ICP testing gaining steam, a thread containing DIY elemental supplements would be very helpful. Commercial supplements are very expensive and many elements can be sourced cheaply via Amazon, eBay, etc. Examples include fergon pills, potassium...
www.reef2reef.com
Molybdenum Dosing
Post your DIY additives here!
With the popularity of the Triton method and ICP testing gaining steam, a thread containing DIY elemental supplements would be very helpful. Commercial supplements are very expensive and many elements can be sourced cheaply via Amazon, eBay, etc. Examples include fergon pills, potassium...
www.reef2reef.com
Cobalt Dosing
Post your DIY additives here!
Yes here are the cobalt and zinc links: According to their MSDS for this catalog # (GRM7628), this is the anhydrous form and not a hydrate. This is the form that functions as a Lewis Acid. @Randy Holmes-Farley Here's the 2 components I chose.
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Zinc Dosing
Post your DIY additives here!
Yes here are the cobalt and zinc links: According to their MSDS for this catalog # (GRM7628), this is the anhydrous form and not a hydrate. This is the form that functions as a Lewis Acid. @Randy Holmes-Farley Here's the 2 components I chose.
www.reef2reef.com
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