- Tired of debating reef tank chemistry?
Just want a solution
that will not just work,
but proven itself to produce
some of the highest percentage
past to that dream tank?
The BRStv, Master Reef Tank
Chemistry series is it,
and all that's coming up.
(upbeat music)
Hey, this is Ryan with BRStv.
This week, the BRStv
chemistry quick guide,
that first episode in our master reef tank
chemistry mini series.
The next few minutes, clear guidance
on how to get major,
minor, trace elements,
PH, temperature, salinity,
and pollutants, all solved.
Today, the straightforward
how to get it done right,
following in episodes in future weeks,
the why or in depth look
at the supporting science,
data and experiences for
more complete understanding,
everything the BRS team and I have learned
on reef tank chemistry,
part of that growing list of
Master Your Reef Tank series,
found on the BRS channel page.
The biggest challenge most
of us reefers run into
at some point is that perception
that good is the enemy of great,
and resulting endless debate
or pursuit of perfection,
when most of us are just looking
for a clear, concise path
that produces an awesome tank.
The BRS quick guide's
applying the 80/20 rule
with the right approach and information,
you can achieve 80% of the results
with just 20% of the effort.
That baseline of knowledge
that will produce a successful reef tank.
Reef tank chemistry covers a lot of topics
but in reefing, looks at how
to produce high quality water,
maintain that standard of
quality in an environment
where corals are constantly
removing elements
and we're dumping in pollutants daily,
all combined with temperature
and environmental factors like pH.
Sounds like a lot to juggle, but it isn't.
Getting straight to it,
we recommend the following
chemistry parameters,
a salinity of 35 parts per thousand,
pH is 7.8 to 8.3,
temperature 78, calcium of 440,
alkalinity 9dKH and magnesium at 1350.
Using trace element solutions
that are difficult to mess up
and pollutant removal
via proactive approach
that avoids issues rather than
treats them after the fact.
Get this right and water chemistry
will never be your issue.
Starting with the foundation of all this,
salinity, because lower or higher salinity
will affect the concentration
of nearly every element
in the tank.
Salinity being off by just 10%,
the difference of over
40 points of calcium,
or a full dKH too high or low.
The best guidance is, mix the
salt to the suggested level
on the bucket that you picked up
because all of the elements in the bucket
are formulated by the
manufacturer to that level.
Most often it will be
1.026 specific gravity
or 35 parts per thousand,
something you can check
with a handheld or digital refractometer.
We recommend synthetic salts
like HW Reefer and Tropic Marin
because they're cleaner salts.
HW being the more affordable of the two,
and probably the highest
value because of that.
Tropic Marin, the high end
option, a bit more expensive
but using pharmaceutical grade salts,
and of all the salts we
tested, mixes the fastest,
keeps the storage equipment the cleanest,
and has the most stable
chemistry in long term storage,
for those who like to mix up
a month's worth of saltwater at a time.
Since the chemistry or
quality of the water
will never be better
than what you start with,
we also recommend RODI water
as a source of freshwater
for mixing up that saltwater
or topping off to replace evaporation.
A BRS five stage unit with
dual universal carbon blocks,
being the 80/20 of the RODI world
and meeting the needs
of 80% of the reefers
but also upgradable if you
ever run into a unique scenario
where there's some added value
from adding additional stages.
Making RODI water at home,
just being the red line
screwed onto your sink,
laundry tub, or cold water line,
black line down the
drain or attached to it.
And the blue line will
produce your RODI water,
going straight to a reef storage bin.
Most commonly, it's just a
Rubbermaid Brute trashcan.
I'd recommend getting a container
that's about 40% of the size of your tank,
so you can mix up a month's
worth of water at a time
if you like.
The container should have
some sort of pump in it
to mix the salt.
I suggest a Hydor Koralia
and with most salts,
we find that eight to 24 hours
being the best mixing length.
If you end up following our 10%
weekly water change guidance
there's no need to heat it.
But I would heat it for
24 hours beforehand,
if you're doing larger
percentage water changes.
Eheim making an inexpensive
heater option, if you need it.
The tank will also evaporate water
and will need to be topped
off with freshwater.
As that freshwater evaporates,
the tank salinity will go up,
so you do need to
periodically top off the tank
with freshwater to
maintain stable chemistry.
Most reefers will eventually
automate that task
with an auto top off.
The JBJ A.T.O. being the most
common entry level option.
The Tunze Osmolator being by far
the most trusted and popular option
and what I use in all my own tanks.
Next is replacing elements like
calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium
that the corals and other
organisms in the tank consume.
Nearly every reef tank
manages this with one-part,
like Kalkwasser or calcium formate,
which manages calcium and
alkalinity with a single liquid.
Two to seven parts, which
manage these elements
with separate bottles,
or a calcium reactor,
which is a piece of equipment
which adds calcium and alkalinity for you.
All of these have specialized uses,
where one can be considered best,
but that all depends on
things specific to you
like budget, space,
tank size, coral types,
and approach to water changes
and other equipment choices.
However, in the spirit of
a productive quick guide conversation,
I got one sentence on what
I like about each option,
what I don't like, and
who I'd recommend each to.
Starting with Kalkwasser.
Kalkwasser or calcium hydroxide
is the lowest cost option
for most reefers,
raises the tank's pH significantly,
doesn't raise salinity,
it's inherently balanced.
A one-part additive,
which is super easy to use
in either auto top off, or even better,
with a reactor and dosing
pump for controlled doses.
Downsides the kalk are the risk
of equipment failure related overdoses,
which can cause high pH tank crashes,
no minor or trace elements,
concentration in solutions,
less predictable or
stable than other options.
Calcium and alkalinity solution is diluted
so you have to have a
larger dosing vessel reactor
and the amount you can dose is limited
by the amount that your
tank evaporates in a day.
With those considerations in mind,
I recommend Kalkwasswer to anyone,
whose major goal is
raising the pH of the tank,
also willing to use a pH
controller to protect the tank,
and wants to maintain a tank
ranging from a softy LPS
or mixed reef with SPS,
Kalkwasser will take you a lot further
than most people think.
Next, calcium formate, most commonly
Tropic Marin's carbocalcium
or All-For-Reef.
Benefits here are one-parts solution
that adds calcium, alkalinity,
and optionally 17 trace
elements concentrated
so the dosing vessel can be
small, can be dosed by hand,
or the single dosing pump
doesn't raise salinity
and doesn't have any pH related risks.
Downside is calcium formate
doesn't elevate the pH
like many options.
Testing alkalinity is somewhat delayed
because it can take up to a day or so
for the formate to transform
into carbon alkalinity
in the tank.
In theory, there's a maximum dose,
but the biggest downside is reefers
have only been using it for a few years
so there's still some unknowns
as to exactly how it works.
As to who I'd recommend it to,
I've been using it on
my softy and polyp tank
as well as my LPS tank for a couple years
and Zach on his mixed
SPR reef for even longer,
and both of us are very happy.
I've got a feeling that calcium formate,
carbocalcium and
All-For-Reef might be one of
the most popular options
as the user base expands.
However the best results
will be with the people
who are willing to do a bit
of research on how it works,
our upcoming master formate
video will be more than adequate
but also with reefers
who are okay with a risk
associated with being a
trailblazer, which in this case,
I actually feel are fairly limited.
Next is a calcium reactor.
This is a fairly large piece of equipment
that melts calcium carbonate,
or actually in some cases
old coral skeleton into
a solution for the tank,
essentially a one-part machine.
Benefits are no change to salinity,
does dose some other elements
other than just calcium and alkalinity,
scales to basically any tank size demand,
many reefers find them to
be the lowest maintenance
option of the bunch, and of course,
a clear winner in the cool
factor category as well.
Downside is a calcium reactor can lower
the tank's pH a bit, the
media can add a small amount
of phosphate to the tank,
some people feel that they're complex
but really they only require watching
a 30 minutes or so video in
how to set it up and tune it,
rest is just managing a
dose like any other method
which is pretty easy.
The biggest downside is the cool factor
actually comes at a cost.
The up front equipment
makes it not the cheapest
option out there.
But the ongoing maintenance is actually
one of the lower cost options
and why they're popular
on bigger tanks.
So who's the calcium
reactor best suited for?
This one's pretty easy.
Anyone with a large high consumption tank
will save money in the end
and then avoid salinity
issues from the other options
which can also sustain
a high consumption tank,
and then technology junkies,
where learning about the tank
science and cool gear is a
major component of the hobby.
Next up are the two-parts
which can really be three,
four, or even seven parts in total,
but two-part just meaning the
calcium and alkalinity portion
being two separate bottles.
Spoiler here, this is the one
we're going to recommend today.
Benefits include many raise the tanks pH,
the calcium and alkalinity
can be dosed independently
and adjust for subtle
differences in uptake.
Many include all the
beneficial major, minor,
and trace elements.
The solution is fairly concentrated,
one of the easiest to
understand, hardest to mess up.
Accumulated tank crashes are super rare,
the available dosing calculators
are super easy to use.
Additions can be tested in real time,
can be dosed by hand or with dosing pumps,
and the up front cost is fairly low.
Two-part downsides, high
end options are actually
the most expensive way
to manage these elements.
They slowly increase salinity over time.
There's so many options
out there it's difficult
to know what to use.
True two-parts are really
simple, but the more bottles
you get, the more complex
the dosing and testing gets,
and automation requires
multiple dosing pumps.
This is why I believe two-part
to be the 80/20 answer
to managing element
uptake and replenishment.
While the others have
caveats and best uses,
two-parts are the universal
additive that work well
in at least 80% of the tank sizes uptakes
and styles of reefing.
It's easy to understand,
implement, and adjust,
and also has very affordable options.
Affordable, works, and easy to use is like
the recommendation trifecta.
Likely two-part is by far
the most popular option,
and BRS Pharma being the
most popular option here
because the pharmaceutical
quality and bulk prices
are impossible to beat.
The BRS WWC hybrid tank in my office,
a good example of what
Bulk Pharma 2-Part can do
in just 12 months, going
from one inch frags to this
in just over a year in a
simple sumpless system.
In the following master
chemistry episodes,
expect to see full run
downs and supporting science
of all of these methods and their approach
to major, minor, and trace elements.
Next up is pH.
Our recommendation on this is
if you have a pH of 7.8
to 8.3, leave it alone.
Decades of reefers have
produced amazing reefs
in that range.
Too many reefers have
catastrophically messed up
the chemistry chasing specific pH ranges
to suggest otherwise.
However, we're talking about
mastering chemistry here,
so it is true that maintaining
a stable pH closer to 8.3
has benefits so I'm sure you
won't be surprised to hear
later episodes in this
series will dive deep into pH
and show some methods of getting
as much as 50% more growth
by maintaining a specific pH.
Next, temperature.
Temperature plays some
pretty complex roles
in reef chemistry but the
four things you absolutely
need to know is 78 degrees
is the most common range.
If you stay within a
degree of that temperature,
it will not be an issue for you.
Second, going over 78 or too
high is 10 worse than too low.
Most otherwise healthy
tanks with adequate flow
will tolerate short periods
of a few degrees over 78,
like 83, for a matter of hours,
but after that, the odds
of a rapid tank crash
go up proportionately
or even exponentially.
In stark contrast to that,
too cold happens very slow.
The tank most often
stabilizes a few degrees
above room temperature at 73 or so.
And rather than tank
crash, you'll see things
go slowly south over a
matter of days, even weeks,
rather than a total crash
in a matter of hours.
Third, an aquarium heater is a
consumable piece of equipment
that has a limited duty
cycle and a lifespan,
has an inexpensive thermostat
that turns on millions
of times a year and getting
stuck on is a number one
cause of tank crashes.
Because this is a number
one cause of total failure
and starting over,
if you only hear one thing
today, let it be this.
Waiting for your heater to
hit end of life and completely
fail on or off in hopes
that you'll catch it in time
is the absolute wrong
mentality to have here
and almost ensures a
tank crash at some point.
So replacing the heaters
before they approach
the end of life is an obvious move.
Replacing it every 12
months will likely avoid
experiencing a heater failure
for 80% or more of you.
Alternatively, using
technology like a temperature
or full tank controller
to instantly catch it
will also reduce it by 80% or more,
probably higher in the beginning,
but reducing that
percentage as the controller
and heater age together.
So in a five year time
frame, I'm not convinced
that the approach of
preempting it or replacing it
before it fails versus
the technology behind
catching it the moment it fails
is consistently cheaper
or better than the other.
However, together they nearly
eliminate the number one
cause of tank crashes, failed heaters,
from the list of things to think about.
I obviously believe in doing both.
Replace the heaters and use a controller
as budget allows for both.
Next component of ideal
chemistry is water quality
and managing pollutants.
Pollutants can come from
a wide range of sources,
basically anything we put in the tank
intentionally or unintentionally, foods,
low quality additives, salt mixes, media,
sources of freshwater,
affects of which happen slowly
and over many months as they build up,
as well as more immediate
issues like aerosols used
near the tank, anything on your hands
when they go in the tank,
broken or failing equipment,
or pennies that our kids
might drop in the tank.
There are two approaches to
this, reactive or proactive.
Reactive meaning wait until
your fish or coral look sick
then trying to figure out
what it is that's doing it.
This requires a keen eye
and the type of first-hand
experience that produces
intuitively accurate guesses.
Proactive meaning avoiding
a vast majority of this
by just assuming some or
all of this will happen
in your tank over time
which is very likely,
an RODI system for your freshwater source,
decent salt mix and additive
system with minimal impurities,
running a small amount of activated carbon
for unintended chemicals
and yellowing compounds,
skimmer and filter socks
to avoid excess buildup
of phosphate and nitrate, and lastly,
10% weekly water changes
limiting the impact
or slow buildup of all kinds of missteps.
This proactive approach
and these specific steps
are absolutely the 80/20
of avoiding the buildup
of pollutants in your tank
and avoiding a vast majority
of challenges altogether which
is a hundred times better
and more effective than
trying to guess at them
when the corals or fish
are already showing
signs of distress.
The scope of pollutants is pretty large
and worthy of its own episode
so it's going to get one,
a deep dive into each of these topics,
the supporting science
and why's starting with
the finer details of all the
common sources of pollutants.
That, and all of our
Master Reef Tank series
on our BRStv channel home page right here,
decades of hard lessons,
experience, and research
all in one page.
