DIY Three Part with Balling Part C Recipe

[Miami Reef]

Notice: These DIYs are simple to use. They are all 1:1:1 dosing to maintain alkalinity. For example, if you require 50mL of the alkalinity solution per day, use 50mL of part 2 and part 3 as well.



Alkalinity (Pick one):

• Sodium carbonate (Soda Ash) Food-grade

"Spread baking soda (594 grams or about two ¼ cups) on a baking tray and heat in an ordinary oven at 300°F for one hour to drive off water and carbon dioxide. Overheating is not a problem, either with higher temperatures or longer times. Dissolve the residual solid in enough water to make 1 gallon total." Source

OR​

• Sodium hydroxide (Lye) Food-Grade

For the most significant boost in pH (matching the same pH boost as kalkwasser/Limewater per unit of alkalinity-dosed).

The recipe is 283 grams per gallon. This solution is very caustic, will get extremely hot while dissolving, and requires PPE. Read this thread for instructions on mixing and using Sodium Hydroxide: Second New DIY Two Part Recipe with Higher pH Boost



Calcium:


Dissolve 500 grams (about 2 ½ cups) of calcium chloride dihydrate. Bulk Reef Supply carries it.

"If you use an anhydrous or monohydrate calcium chloride (such as Dow Mini-Pellets, Kent's Turbo Calcium, Prestone Driveway Heat or Peladow Calcium Chloride), then you should use about 20% (1/5) less solid calcium chloride by volume to make the recipe." Source


Part 3 (Pick One):

• Tropic Marin Balling Part C

Dissolve 182g or seven scoops or TM Balling Part C with enough RO/DI or purified water to make a total volume of one gallon.

OR​

• Aquaforest Mineral Salt

189g of AF Mineral Salt per gallon with enough RO/DI or purified water to make a total volume of one gallon.



Magnesium (pick one):

• DIY Magnesium Version:

Dissolve 3/4 cups Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate heptahydrate) and 7¼ cups magnesium chloride hexahydrate in enough purified fresh water to make one gallon of total volume.

OR​

• BRS Magnesium Version:

Fill a 1-gallon container half full of RO/DI or distilled water and then add 7-1/4 cups (1,285 grams) of BRS Magnesium Chloride and 1/2 cup (124 grams) of BRS Magnesium Sulfate.

​

This part is added infrequently or in lower volume compared to the other parts. Add 5.4% as much as the other parts. Overtime as you finish a gallon of the other solutions, add 203mL of the magnesium mix.​

​

​

Thank you, @Randy Holmes-Farley, for the recipes.

Additional Sources:
Second New DIY Two Part Recipe with Higher pH Boost
An Improved Do-it-Yourself Two-Part Calcium and Alkalinity Supplement System
Do-It-Yourself Magnesium Supplements for the Reef Aquarium
Further explanation of Balling Part C and Magnesium by Randy Holmes-Farley

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks for putting this together, Miami!

I’ll also note that one can use Aquaforest Mineral Salt in place of Balling Part C. I expect the amount needed is likely the same, but might vary a bit based on moisture levels in the two sodium chloride free salt mixes.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

If anyone wants to read how these 3 part products work in more detail, this describes them:

How a Two Part Alkalinity and Calcium System Works, and Why it Matters

How a Two Part Alkalinity and Calcium System Works, and Why it Matters By Randy Holmes-Farley This article is intended to help aquarists understand some of the important differences between the great variety of two and three part alkalinity and...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Nossatron]

Really appreciate the time and effort gone into this.

Which trace elements do you recommend in conjunction?

I plan to go with the Recipe#1 and from what I can read the trace elements in part C are to keep it balanced but won't allow for consumption?

Currently I've been using Tropic Marin Pro-coral mineral and balancing the dosage from the iodine result. Is this something you could recommend continuing? I did read that this is based on trust in your selected brand. Maybe some blind luck required among water changes.

Tia
Ben

 

[Miami Reef]

Tropic Marin A & K is a good option. You’d add Trace A to the alkalinity solution and Trace K to the calcium solution:

80mL low demand, 160mL medium demand, or 330mL high demand system.


If you use baking soda/sodium bicarbonate for the alk, use this:

40mL low demand, 80mL medium demand, and 165mL high demand.

 

[204Reef]

I'm hoping to get a few things clarified from either Miami or Randy when it comes to using these recipes with Aquaforest products when using the sodium bicarbonate version of the above.

The recipe above for sodium bicarbonate (302grams in 1 US gallon) matches almost perfectly with Aquaforests recommendation for their KH buffer (which is sodium bicarbonate) at 80g per liter (so 302.8gram). That's easy enough.

However things diverge dramatically at the calcium chloride instructions. Randy and Miami suggest 250 grams per US gallon, whereas Aquaforest suggests 50g per liter, or 189.25 grams per US gallon. That's a difference of over 25%, yet both Randy and Aquaforest say their number should be dosed in a 1/1 ratio with the above identical sodium bicarbonate. How can that be?

The issue becomes more problematic when dealing with Part C (reef mineral salt) and trace elements. Aquaforest says to use 25g of reef mineral salt for every 50g of calcium chloride (effectively dosing it at 0.5X of calcium chloride). That would mean, if I use Randy's calcium calculation, I should use 125g per 1 US gallon. But Aquaforest says to use 25g per liter, or 94.6g per US. Gallon. 94.6g vs 125g is once again over 25% difference. Yet Randy also says in one of the above posts that you can use about the same amount of reef mineral salt as tropic marin part C, which is 91g. So how much should I use? the Aquaforest 94.6g or the 0.5X calcium concentration of 125g?

And this gets even more confusing when trying to use Aquaforest Component Strong A,B and C for trace element supplementation. Aquaforest says "5 ml should be added to 1 litre of ready solution of calcium chloride", but that is presumably based on their 50g per liter (189.25g per gallon) calcium concentration mix. So should I use that or increase it by about 25%? And if I should increase that, should I also increase the amount added to the sodium bicarbonate, which is identical to what Randy and Miami recommend?

BTW, I would just use Tropic Marin Part C and Tropic Marin A and K instead, if only to not have to worry about this, but none of my LFSs are able to bring in Tropic Marin anymore and Aquaforest is pretty much the only game in town unless I want to order online, and very few online retailers in Canada stock the large volumes of Tropic marin products (and they tend to be far more expensive here to boot!)

Finally, if I want to add dry magnesium to the Part C/Reef mineral salt and I am adding approximately 205ml of magnesium per gallon of calcium used, does that equate to 69.6g of magnesium chloride and 6.7 grams of magnesium sulfate added to the reef mineral salt or did I calculate that incorrectly? Also, that is for the BRS magnesium sulfate. I haven't found how much magnesium sulfate heptahydrate (epson salt) is required in weight, only in cups. Can you let me know how much the 3/4 of a cup of magnesium sulfate would be in grams in when using epsom salts?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

My recipe uses calcium chloride dihydrate, or 77% calcium chloride by weight. I don’t know the hydration level of their calcium chloride, but it can easily be different.

 

[Miami Reef]

edit.

 

[Cassklar]

I have a question I am going to start using the brs tropic Marin balling method adding A & K to alkalinity and calcium and also dosing component C my question is can I continue to use sodium hydroxide as my alk part as I need the ph boost also do I have to change the amount of component c to rodi water if I use sodium hydroxide thanks

 

[Miami Reef]

my question is can I continue to use sodium hydroxide as my alk part as I need the ph boost also do I have to change the amount of component c to rodi water if I use sodium hydroxide thanks

Yes. That’s exactly what this thread was made for.

283 grams sodium hydroxide/gal
500 grams BRS Calcium Chloride/gal
182 grams Balling Part C/gal

And then the trace which you already know.

 

[Pod_01]

Yes. That’s exactly what this thread was made for.

283 grams sodium hydroxide/gal
500 grams BRS Calcium Chloride/gal
182 grams Balling Part C/gal

And then the trace which you already know.

Just to clarify, can you add TM A- Elements to the sodium hydroxide?

Can it cause precipitation issues?

 

[Miami Reef]

Just to clarify, can you add TM A- Elements to the sodium hydroxide?

I think so, but let me ask to make sure.

@Randy Holmes-Farley @Hans-Werner

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I expect that anything that is ok in the carbonate recipe is ok in hydroxide, but you can always check to be sure the solution remains clear after mixing.

 

[Miami Reef]

I expect that anything that is ok in the carbonate recipe is ok in hydroxide

That was also my reasoning. Good idea about watching for precipitation.

 

[Cassklar]

Yes. That’s exactly what this thread was made for.

283 grams sodium hydroxide/gal
500 grams BRS Calcium Chloride/gal
182 grams Balling Part C/gal

And then the trace which you already know.

just to clarify about the balling part c I dose double the amount of my all correct? for example if I'm dosing 100 ml of all it would be 200 ml of part c ? I am also dosing kalwasser 24/7 at a rate of 3ml per minute

 

[Miami Reef]

just to clarify about the balling part c I dose double the amount of my all correct? for example if I'm dosing 100 ml of all it would be 200 ml of part c ? I am also dosing kalwasser 24/7 at a rate of 3ml per minute

The standard tropic marine instruction is 91g/gal. This is when using sodium bicarbonate. Dosing 1:1

If you use sodium carbonate or sodium hydroxide, use 182g per gal. Dose 1:1


There is no 100mL alk per 200mL in the recipe. It’s easier to have them all the same concentration so you can replenish the solutions at the same time.

Kalkwasser is balanced, so don’t add part c to the alk added from that.

 

[Cassklar]

The standard tropic marine instruction is 91g/gal. This is when using sodium bicarbonate. Dosing 1:1

If you use sodium carbonate or sodium hydroxide, use 182g per gal. Dose 1:1


There is no 100mL alk per 200mL in the recipe. It’s easier to have them all the same concentration so you can replenish the solutions at the same time.

Kalkwasser is balanced, so don’t add part c to the alk added from that.

Thank you

 

[Miami Reef]

Thank you

Of course.

 

[Nossatron]

Afternoon Reefers. I need some clarification here before i send it and crash my reef.

I plan to mix the solutions 20 liters at a time and confused myself with the above comments about's the third part. In the future when money permits i plan to separate out the trace and dose individually.

Solution 1:
1496g Sodium Hydroxide
100 ml FM Trace 3 - Potassium, Iodine, Bromine, stabilizers. Based on inorganic compounds

Solution 2:
2643g Calcium Chloride
120ml FM Trace 2 - Iron, Manganese, copper, nickel, zinc, chromium
200ml FM Trace 1 - Potassium, strontium, boron, selenium, rubidium, vanadium, fluorine

Solution 3:
962g AF Mineral salt
6792g Magnesium Chloride
900g Magnesium Sulfate

Does this look about right?

 

[Miami Reef]

962g AF Mineral salt

Can you explain how you got this number? Doesn’t Aquaforest required 25g per L?

500g Mineral salt in 20L is what you need.

Reef Mineral Salt - Aquaforest

Reef Mineral Salt: key to maintaining a constant level of minerals in reef aquariums. Prevents mineral deficiencies and supports the growth and coloration of corals, especially when supplementing with calcium chloride and sodium bicarbonate.

aquaforest.eu

As you finish 20L of the 3 part, you’d need to add 1,072mL of the magnesium solution.

Here’s how to make a gallon of the magnesium solution:

Dissolve Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate heptahydrate (¾ cups) and magnesium chloride hexahydrate (7¼ cups) in enough purified fresh water to make one gallon of total volume.

If you want to buy the magnesium from BRS:

7-1/4 cups (1,285 grams) of BRS Magnesium Chloride and 1/2 cup (124 grams) of BRS Magnesium Sulfate.