Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners Part 2
- Thread starter Boomer
- Start date
Yes, it is an excellent article. You can't take that away from Randy Holmes-Farley.
My big objection to a lot of his writing is that it's really not geared to a beginner. They tend to be long involved articles, going into great detail. This is all great for people that are experienced and want to "know all" about the subject, but it is far beyond what most beginners can take in.
What's needed is about a two page summary up front, that tells people what the water parameters should be, and if they are out, what to do to correct them.
In the case of supplements, tell, in your opinion, which are useful, and which are questionable, and which you don't need. Most beginners need a cookbook approach. In other words, they need to be told what to do to get a reasonable system going, and not be snowed under by a lot of information they don't understand, and can't evaluate or apply it.
My big objection to a lot of his writing is that it's really not geared to a beginner. They tend to be long involved articles, going into great detail. This is all great for people that are experienced and want to "know all" about the subject, but it is far beyond what most beginners can take in.
What's needed is about a two page summary up front, that tells people what the water parameters should be, and if they are out, what to do to correct them.
In the case of supplements, tell, in your opinion, which are useful, and which are questionable, and which you don't need. Most beginners need a cookbook approach. In other words, they need to be told what to do to get a reasonable system going, and not be snowed under by a lot of information they don't understand, and can't evaluate or apply it.
JeF4y
Member
I don't know that I'd wholly agree with that. I'm brand new to reefing and read his articles yesterday along with my wife. While some of it did not make sense (I still don't understand the meq/l measurements, so I just go with the dKH) but overall it was pretty logical and understandable for us.
We found some areas where we were looking at making potential mistakes and have avoided them (balanced additives), and whipped up a gallon of his Alkalinity and Magnesium mixes. We cautiously started dosing our tank last night as the calcium and magnesium were incredibly low, and ph/alk was just slightly low.
To me, his articles took some of the mystery out of it and made sense out of things. Very glad we came across them.
Having read so many of these articles. I enjoyed and understood all of it.
Some of these articles get so technical and boring. It's like Charley Brown's teacher speaking in your head.
Thank you for all the information you gave. I look forward to reading more of these articles.
Paul
Some of these articles get so technical and boring. It's like Charley Brown's teacher speaking in your head.
Thank you for all the information you gave. I look forward to reading more of these articles.
Paul
kathya0321
Member
Hi,
I have B Ionic Ca and Alk Buffer system. I was wondering if anyone could help me with dosing. My Ca levels are down at 330 and my DK level is at 9. I tried watching some you tube videos for help, but wanted to get another opinion. I don't want to overdo I seem to get out of it that I need to dose everyday, but do I need to do the alk if it is in a good spot?
I have B Ionic Ca and Alk Buffer system. I was wondering if anyone could help me with dosing. My Ca levels are down at 330 and my DK level is at 9. I tried watching some you tube videos for help, but wanted to get another opinion. I don't want to overdo I seem to get out of it that I need to dose everyday, but do I need to do the alk if it is in a good spot?
Leo
Active Member
Can you please send link for part 1. thanks
