DIY Chemistry Archive

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

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

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?

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Post your DIY additives here!

@Randy Holmes-Farley do you see any issues using this to supplement chromium?

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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?

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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

 

[Salty_Northerner]

Thanks for sharing Randy. This is going to be a definite good read!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Thanks for putting all of this in one place!

 

[EricR]

Awesome stuff!
No DIY phosphate link, or did I just miss it?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Awesome stuff!
No DIY phosphate link, or did I just miss it?

Thanks, Added one.

 

[killer2001]

Nice, been waiting for this.

ps, you have Zinc Dosing in two different spots, with two different links.

 

[SixlineRyan]

For someone new is there any sort of guide that explains why you would be adding each of these to your tank?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Many elements are needed and some deplete. Different options exist, but for a new reefer, I’d consider some method of calcium and alkalinity addition, then possible with some trace elements.

 

[LimestoneCowboy]

@Randy Holmes-Farley , if one was going to mix up a blend of traces with DI water to dose hourly, of this list, are there any that are easy green lights on combining? Any that are red lights and you would dose by themselves? I have tried to learn how to read a solubility chart, but I am not sure I have mastered it yet. My goal is to make a couple solutions rather than setting up a dosing pump for each individual element if possible, combining those that will play nice and dosing by themselves, once that might react. Thank you as always!

Bromine (Sodium Bromide)
Strontium Chloride
Boron (Borax)
Sodium Fluoride
Potassium Iodide
Barium Chloride Dihydrate
Molybdenum (Sodium Molybdate)
Nickel Chloride
Manganese (II) Chloride Tetrahydrate
Chromium (Chromium (III) Chloride Hexahydrate
Cobalt (Cobalt Chloride)
Iron (Ferrous Gluconate)
Selenium (Sodium Selenite)
Vanadium Pentoxide
Zinc Chloride
Rubidium Chloride

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

@Randy Holmes-Farley , if one was going to mix up a blend of traces with DI water to dose hourly, of this list, are there any that are easy green lights on combining? Any that are red lights and you would dose by themselves? I have tried to learn how to read a solubility chart, but I am not sure I have mastered it yet. My goal is to make a couple solutions rather than setting up a dosing pump for each individual element if possible, combining those that will play nice and dosing by themselves, once that might react. Thank you as always!

Bromine (Sodium Bromide)
Strontium Chloride
Boron (Borax)
Sodium Fluoride
Potassium Iodide
Barium Chloride Dihydrate
Molybdenum (Sodium Molybdate)
Nickel Chloride
Manganese (II) Chloride Tetrahydrate
Chromium (Chromium (III) Chloride Hexahydrate
Cobalt (Cobalt Chloride)
Iron (Ferrous Gluconate)
Selenium (Sodium Selenite)
Vanadium Pentoxide
Zinc Chloride
Rubidium Chloride

I personally think folks dosing rubidium and barium are wasting effort. It has no known need in any known organism.

These can be combined:

Bromine (Sodium Bromide)
Strontium Chloride
Boron (Borax)
Sodium Fluoride
Potassium Iodide
Barium Chloride Dihydrate
Rubidium chloride

The others are more complicated, being redox active. They can react with one another and change form. That may be fine, but it’s beyond a quick analysis.

As an example, combining ferrous iron and selenite gets messy and worthy of a publication all on its own:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169772216300304

 

[escaraba]

hello Randy,

can you give a recipy for dosing copper trace element?

thx,

 

[KStatefan]

Thanks

I missed this when it was first posted

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

hello Randy,

can you give a recipy for dosing copper trace element?

thx,

Welcome to reef2Reef!

Sure. Do you know what material you can buy for dosing? Cupric chloride would be best, IMO.

 

[escaraba]

Welcome to reef2Reef!

Sure. Do you know what material you can buy for dosing? Cupric chloride would be best, IMO.

Thx,

I can buy here.

Koper(II)chloride CAS 10125-13-0

Koperchloride CAS 10125-13-0 kopen? Koperchloride van de beste kwaliteit voor een vriendelijke prijs. Snel geleverd en altijd met staffelkorting

www.laboratoriumdiscounter.nl

Gr

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Ok, copper (II) chloride dihydrate is 37% copper by weight.

Dissolving 0.1 g in 1 L of ro/di gives 37 ppm, or 0.037 mg/mL = 37 ug/mL

Adding 1 mL to 100 L of tank volume boosts copper by 37 ug/100 L = 0.37 ug/L = 0.37 ppb.

Natural levels of copper in seawater are about 0.38 ug/L.

Do not add copper unless you use a high quality icp company, preferably using icp-ms. Not all icp results are suitable for dosing copper, IMO.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

Hey Randy, can you whip up a ballpark recipe for KCl that will result in a reasonable concentration supplement for a 350g system? I don’t want to overshoot it if I make it too strong or end up adding gallons of the stuff if I make it too weak.

https://a.co/d/93LHiE9

 

[Miami Reef]

Hey Randy, can you whip up a ballpark recipe for KCl that will result in a reasonable concentration supplement for a 350g system? I don’t want to overshoot it if I make it too strong or end up adding gallons of the stuff if I make it too weak.

https://a.co/d/93LHiE9

Use this calculator:

James' Planted Tank - Dosing Calculator

Select potassium nitrate, but dose 26.2% less than what it recommends to account for the potassium in potassium chloride (there is more potassium in potassium chloride vs potassium nitrate).

 

[Miami Reef]

Hey Randy, can you whip up a ballpark recipe for KCl that will result in a reasonable concentration supplement for a 350g system? I don’t want to overshoot it if I make it too strong or end up adding gallons of the stuff if I make it too weak.

https://a.co/d/93LHiE9

Nobody can reasonably estimate how much potassium you need without a test kit. ICP works well for potassium, as well as some home test kits.

Many tanks don’t need additional potassium. You need to test before you can know how much to add.

 

[KStatefan]

Hey Randy, can you whip up a ballpark recipe for KCl that will result in a reasonable concentration supplement for a 350g system? I don’t want to overshoot it if I make it too strong or end up adding gallons of the stuff if I make it too weak.

https://a.co/d/93LHiE9

I mix mine to about the same concentration as Captive8's bottle 100,000 ppm modified to make round amounts using gallons.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

Nobody can reasonably estimate how much potassium you need without a test kit. ICP works well for potassium, as well as some home test kits.

Many tanks don’t need additional potassium. You need to test before you can know how much to add.

I understand I need to test before knowing how much to add, which is why I’m not asking how much to add. I am asking how to prep a stock solution of reasonable known concentration, which I can then calculate how much to add.