Randy's Two Part

[meschaefer]

I have gotten to the point where I can't keep up with my Alkalinity and Calcium uptake with Limewater alone, so I am moving towards using Randy's Two Part.

I was able to pick up a 50lb bag of Prestone Driveway Heat, for $16 at the Home Depot on Northern Blvd in Long Island City. (It killed me to find out that this is almost the exact same thing as Kent Turbo Calcium wich sells for $10 for 200 grams ,that works out to about $2,250 for 50lbs)

Aside from letting people know where they can pick up the raw ingrediants for the calcium part, I wanted to know if people think I should continue to top off with limewater or not?

 

[lfsmarineguy]

I am always weary of these "almost the same" substances. I personally would imagine/ hope that the chemicals we buy specifically for our tanks are processed with more care than driveway de-icers. I'm sure it's not far off but if I were to start cutting corners with my tank and something happened to my livestock I'd be kicking myself for a long time. I'd be more concerned with what's in the bag and not on the ingredients. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

There are a few threads here about making 2 part out of simple easy raw materials. Search 2 part and you should come up with a ton of useful information. Oh and if you like what you see and find you like the results you are getting remember 1 thing. at the end of the season you're gonna need to stock up LOL HD doesn't sell rock salt in the summertime

 

[regal]

The dow's pellets I got a few months ago has a brownish color after mixing unlike the clear solution I get from the flakes. Eventhough the pellets look exactly the same as the Kent products, it must have some other impurities to give it a brownish color and residues. So be careful about what you use. I would rather stick with the flakes.

 

[scumonkey]

I use the DOW flake.....it's pure...and what Randy recommends...
To answer your question- you might have to keep dosing Kalk AND using
Randy's two part- I know I do! :^) You won't know till you start dosing and checking your levels to see how they are affected.

 

[meschaefer]

Randy reccomends the Prestone Driveway Heat as one of the acceptable alternative to the Dowflake. The only reason that I could find in the article as to why he uses Dowflake as the "standard" ingrediant, is because it has a known concentration of calcium cholride. As such, you need to alter the receipe by 20% and and watch your calcium level a little more closely untill you are sure that you have the calcium portion "Balanced" properly. I quote :

"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. ... Peladow, Dow mini-Pellets, Prestone Driveway Heat, Kent Turbo Calcium and other dehydrated calcium chloride products are more potent than Dowflake. The dehydration makes them both more potent by weight, and more dense, so they are much more potent by volume. The problem is that it is rarely clear how much moisture they contain." Randy Holmes Farley, An Improved Do-it-Yourself Two-Part Calcium and Alkalinity Supplement System Reef Keeping, Febuary 2006.

Regal,
Sorry to hear that your's mixed up brown. You stated that you got your Pellets a few months ago. Since a few months ago, was during the summer, and the product is used during the winter, they where probably laying around in a warehouse someplace and may have picked up this residue there. (or maybey not), Either way, I mixed up the Prestone, and it mixed up clear.

I am always weary of these "almost the same" substances. I personally would imagine/ hope that the chemicals we buy specifically for our tanks are processed with more care than driveway de-icers. I'm sure it's not far off but if I were to start cutting corners with my tank and something happened to my livestock I'd be kicking myself for a long time. I'd be more concerned with what's in the bag and not on the ingredients. Just my 2 cents.

I agree with you completely. The only reason that I am willing to put this stuff in my tank is because Randy Holmes Farley said it was ok, and he metions this partiuclars de-icer by Brand Name. I as well a a lot of other people trust him when it comes to matters of tank chemistry. He has a pHD in chemistry from Harvard and is vice president of chemistry research at Genzyme. Here is a bio.

You also need to remeber that this stuff is not made for the purpose of being a driveway de-icer, it is simply made, purchased and repackged with an apporpriate mark up on it depending upon the label.

The only reason I say it is almost the same is because Turbo Calcium is a anhydrous calcium chloride while Prestone is monohydrate calcium chloride. A chemical is "anhydrous" when it contains no water, it is "monohydrate" when it contains one molecule of water.

 

[House of Laughter]

The only reason I say it is almost the same is because Turbo Calcium is a anhydrous calcium chloride while Prestone is monohydrate calcium chloride. A chemical is "anhydrous" when it contains no water, it is "monohydrate" when it contains one molecule of water.

The exact reason why he recommends baking the water out by firing it up under your oven - if you miss this step with the Ca you'll get an algae bloom - only missing ingredient is what is in the one (mono) water molecule?

I also bought a 50lb bag of magflake from Sam's Club - I think it was like $12 and is part of the "3 Part" solution that was ammended from Randy

HTH

House

 

[meschaefer]

The exact reason why he recommends baking the water out by firing it up under your oven - if you miss this step with the Ca you'll get an algae bloom - only missing ingredient is what is in the one (mono) water molecule?

I also bought a 50lb bag of magflake from Sam's Club - I think it was like $12 and is part of the "3 Part" solution that was ammended from Randy

HTH

House

Actually, he recomends baking the Baking Soda to drive out the C02 and water, if your tank has low PH. If your tank's PH is high, he reccomends using it straight out of the box. I don't remeber him reccomending that you bake the Calcium, but I do remeber thinking that it might not be a bad idea.

Do you have experince with an alge bloom? Let me know?

I have magflake left that I put aside from last winter, silly me bought it to de-ice my sidewalk. (This was before the article came out) I don't have much left, and you don't really need much, but perhaps I should pick up extra.

 

[spykes]

listen i gotta say this, the quality check on the 2 part ingredient isnt 100 percent, but dowflakes seems to stabilize the magnesium where as if you use prestoneheat the mg levels will drop.

 

[meschaefer]

listen i gotta say this, the quality check on the 2 part ingredient isnt 100 percent, but dowflakes seems to stabilize the magnesium where as if you use prestoneheat the mg levels will drop.

It should be called Randy's 3 Part. Are you dosing the 3rd Part, wich is designed to add the missing magnesium whether you are using dowflake or any of the other reccomended products?

 

[House of Laughter]

Of course David, unless you have a lab to test this stuff it can't possibly be 100% especially if you can't get the bulk rate composition info.

Matt, yes, I tried it once and got mad algae bloom and went back to ESV - at one point I was dosing 16oz a day and eventually bit the bullet and spent the cash on a reactor - the rest, they say, is history - I am going to start using the Mg DIY and see what happens. I currently use ESV Mg

House

 

[meschaefer]

The dow's pellets I got a few months ago has a brownish color after mixing unlike the clear solution I get from the flakes. Eventhough the pellets look exactly the same as the Kent products, it must have some other impurities to give it a brownish color and residues. So be careful about what you use. I would rather stick with the flakes.

I went right to the horses mouth and asked Randy Holmes Farley about the brownish color. He said that he believes that it is an iron oxide residue found in the solution after mixing, and that it can be dosed into the tank without problem.

 

[paul]

I have been using Randy`s 3 part since day one (around two years ago). Prestone Driveway Heat, Arm&Hammer baking soda, and Mag flakes for part three. I could not be happier, stuff is really cheap, I make 5 gal of calcium and alk which lasts around 2 months.

The only time I had problems was when I was using limewater for top-off. It was very difficult to keep the parameters stable, because lime water becomes weaker as it is diluted through the kalk reactor. I would add kalk to the reactor at the beginning of the month and by the end it was almost all used up, which would drop my alk/cal. I have taken it offline in the spring, since then my sps colors improved 100% and no more STN.

Here`s a recent pic,

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/pwilk20/Tank099.jpg?t=1164055959

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/pwilk20/Tank072.jpg?t=1164055889

Paul.

 

[House of Laughter]

Nice!!!

House

 

[meschaefer]

I have been using Randy`s 3 part since day one (around two years ago). Prestone Driveway Heat, Arm&Hammer baking soda, and Mag flakes for part three. I could not be happier, stuff is really cheap, I make 5 gal of calcium and alk which lasts around 2 months.

The only time I had problems was when I was using limewater for top-off. It was very difficult to keep the parameters stable, because lime water becomes weaker as it is diluted through the kalk reactor. I would add kalk to the reactor at the beginning of the month and by the end it was almost all used up, which would drop my alk/cal. I have taken it offline in the spring, since then my sps colors improved 100% and no more STN.

Here`s a recent pic,

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/pwilk20/Tank099.jpg?t=1164055959

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/pwilk20/Tank072.jpg?t=1164055889

Paul.

Paul,
Does that mean that you are no longer topping off with limewater?

It was my plan to discontinue with the limewater and just use two/three part. One of the problems I think I am having is since the amount of water I evaporate varies, so does the introduction of the Ca/Alk, ontop of the fact that I am using more Ca/Alk than I was able to replace with limewater. This means that the amount that I was underdosing, varied with how much water evaporated.

NICE PICS BY THE WAY

 

[loismustdie]

I'm using the 2 part. Over 8 months now. No problems.
Mescheafer, the best way for you to tell if you need any further supplement is to test. I test my CA, dKh and MG every week. What works for me or Paul may not work for you. (Paul, BTW, beautiful tank).
I like the Randy 2 part (3 part... I guess since I use all 3). I go through a gallon every 3 weeks. Imagine how much money I'll go through if I bought ESV. I haven't had any algae problems, or nutrient issues that can be attributed to the 3 part. My PO4 is undetectable on Salifert (0.03 on Hach) and my NO3 is still steady under 10ppm.
You'll never know how much you need to dose, or if you need the additional limewater if you don't test.

 

[scarf_ace1981]

i've seen paul's tank and it's a beaut.

matt, paul uses the t'hree' part. no kalk reactor or lime water. or @ least i beleve that's what he said last time i was there.

 

[mmike1992]

for what its worth i use randy's two part i believe recipe #1 with peladow i started off with the 20% less i think i am down to about 40% less. the reason why i say this is on my set up it seems the alk drops out alot faster than the calcium so my medical doser is supplying equal parts of each.and i wind up with real high calcium.so i just offset the amount of peldow. .i think another key to this system is the doser which is dosing this throughout the day. i have seen a complete turnaround using two part and a doser. i am sorry i did not use it earlier.your question was should you use the limewater if you are dosing the right amount of two part throughout the day it should be more than enough for your alk/cal demand good luck,mike

 

[spykes]

i understand it's three part, but if you look at the dowflakes MSDS there is magnisum anhydrous there which is about 15%. You gotta understand pleadow is 98 percent calcium chloride where dowflakes has other stuff in it. You have to dose the magnesium if you use the prestone,but in the tanks that i been looking at magnesium doesnt drop as much as if you use dowflakes.

 

[regal]

Has anyone seen dow's flakes at local HD yet?