If you sit and watch all 52 videos and actually pay attention you will have everything you need to begin your own tank. Should be a must before anyone starts lol

Thank you Ryan, for helping the reefing community with your knowledge and passion about teaching and making this new hobby fun and interesting for me and my boyfriend, we have learn a lot from you, and understand a lot more about the basic fundamentals and elements needed for our tank! If corals can talk, they also want to thank you :)

I love the nerdiness of this. I like knowing how things work and really appreciate the education you provide. The unknown can be scary and theses videos remove the unknown. Thanks

When looking for advice/tips on KZfaq your usually faced with sombody spending the first 10minutes explaining why your watching the video in the first place! Ive not come across anything else like these series, so well thought out and explained in such detail for all to understand. Cheers guy!

hey ryan I live in India ever since I started my saltwater aquarium.i used to think I would only have fowlr tank.but after watching your brs series I have now reef.thanks buddy

The visual aids of the ions themselves where especially helpful. Demystifies the chemistry aspect of this practice quite a bit.

I think this might have been the BEST (i.e. easiest to understand) explanation of the Big 3 - Calc, Alk, and Mg that I've every seen. Every reefer should watch this. Thanks!

This is BY FAR, the BEST video explaining Calcium and Akalinity. I feel like I have a solid enough understanding to potentially take my reef to the next level. Thank you very very much!!

Obviously this caliber of info didn't just fall out of a tree and into Ryan's lap. The research, study, cross-referencing, trial and error, mistakes and successes comes at a huge price in time and money...and we get to benefit from it all. It's not often someone shares results with what works and what doesn't, AND has half a brain to be able to discuss it. You guys make me smarter....and poorer! :) Thanks for all you do.

Love this series 😍 I used to use BRS around 2007. So much has advanced since then!

The best and the easiest to understand video on this subject. Cheers Guys

I created a basic marine chemistry sheet for students learning about coral calcification, and a month later i discovered this video. You illustrate it so perfectly! Thanks so much :)

if one of these companies made all in 1 test strips that do ph,dkh, nitrate, phosphate, and magnesium accurately they would fly off shelf. BRS PULL SOME STRINGS FOR US!

I saved about $800 dollars buying my red sea reefer 450, my neptune apex(lab grade probe) 2 kessil a360 we lights, and my waveline pump all on black friday. Thank you brs for saving me from paying sales tax, free shipping of the very heavy red sea tank and cheaper prices. You put approx $800 back into my pocket!

Very well presented! I now have a much better understanding of the role that calcium, carbonate, bicarbonate, and magnesium play in the reef; and how they work together to maintain desired levels.Also, GREAT SERIES!!! this is always something that I look forward to at the end of the week.

My wife just doesn't understand my Saturday morning ritual of watching this series. :) I have just finished cycling a 1000L tank and am about to put a cleanup crew in today (yay) and without following this series i would have followed the advice of the LFS. Instead i went to the guy who i found i can trust as his advice seems always the same as yours and he has had Trochus snails shipped down from Broome. No crabs for me just Cerith and Trochus snails (20 of each) with some sand sifting stars. Without this series i almost guarantee i would have made mistakes on advice from the LFS's in my area so big Thanks to you guy's. This episode is another little gem, especially the part on Magnesium ... Brilliant work guy's

The information presented in these videos are great and I don't think can be beaten.

We appreciate your lessons. This was very helpful.

THANK YOU!!!

Woah!! I feel like doc brown now. Science me up!!!! Keep up good work Ryan.

Awesome videos. I look forward to them every week.

this is the meat and potatoes of reef keeping imo, and also the most difficult for me to understand and implement :). Thanks for this video ill re-watch it and the next few episodes many times i hae no doubt :9

Great and informative video as always!

Awesome video!

Excellent as always

super helpful!

Another great video

Thanks for this

I can't believe how little views this has compared to others! This should be super super important!

whole lot to take in in one sitting! will have to rewatch it a few more times to get a better handle of what all was said. all i know from watching previous videos and reading forums is that using kalk at night on a doser and a reactor in the day will help keep the PH solid at what ever you have it preset at. or so i've read at least haha. love this series of videos, keep up the great work TeamBRS!

Great video

Thanks

I love the videos and the service they are fantastic, my only complaint is the pop ups ads in the top right hand corner. I stop to read them while the video keeps on going and then I have to reverse and go back to what I remembered hearing last. I keep all of these videos for reference Thanks Guys as far as I'm concerned all my stuff will come from you unless you don't have.

The Holy Grail of reef keeping videos.

Worth noting my waveline dc 6000 pump broke 6 weeks in. Brs promptly sent me a replacement and i sent the defective pump back. Highly unusual for a brand new waveline pump to freeze up..but it did.

I've been measuring alkalinity on a range of low to high and not measuring actual magnesium at all. This video has definitely encouraged me to get better testing kits.

Once again great information. My dkh is at 11.8 MG at 1600 and CA at 450. I have a 65 gallon tank. My fish store said 11.8 is no big deal and MG at 1600 is high but did not tell me how to get them in the correct range.

Dang not a reefer but i want to learn more after watching this!! Reefer might seem like a lot of work but also a lot of fun and learning to do!!

hey guys..love your videos.watch religiously lol! question...I'm gonna put t5 lights on my reefer 250. how many watts do you recommend I use? thanks for the help and keep the videos coming

Really enjoying this series as this is all new to me. Trying dosing on new build with low alkalinity. I dosed what the calculator showed to raise alk with little or no change. It sounds like maybe if low levels of magnesium can prevent alkalinity from raising with dosing? I have a magnesium test kit on the way..

When will we get to see the BRS 160 again to see its progress. Also what other fish have you added or not added since your fish video? Great video I have had my 65 gallon set up for about a month now and this series has helped me from the start. Keep it up!

saving reefer Ryan !

What fish should I choose to stock a 10g saltwater tank and how much gph should I flow through the tank

Thanks guys. I'm finding even with just a few colonies that a lot of my Alk and Cal. is being used up. Just ordered some GFO and GAC and now need to pick up Cal, Mg, and your kalk diy kit One question does cyano or hair algae use any of these three elements? I am getting some growth hence the reason to get the GFO and alter my feeding. However, I'm wondering if its really the colonies and frags using up the elements or something else.

Awesome video. How would I maintain my calcium and alkalinity? Do I check daily to see how much those levels drop by? Then dose daily according to how much it drops daily?

Well explained as usual. I read or watched somewhere that you needed to does equal parts of calcium and alkalinity. I have been struggling with the concept and your explanation of Alkalinity dropping faster made me secure in not believing the source.

All I can say is "WOW", I still have some brs two part which is great but I started using other 2 parts because they state that they introduce trace elements also so it's less to remember, maybe u guys should look into doing something like that!! After watching I'm changing my resume to add chemical engineer!!

Why test for alk if it's closely related to ph? I would assume if your ph is at 8.3 your alk would be on point. Is this correct?

Always enjoy the weekly videos. Interesting about Ca, dKh, and Mg. I run a calcium reactor on 150 reef with soft and hard corals. My Ca is 430, Mg 1300, pH 8.3, and a higher dKh 12.6. My alkalinity always seems to on the high side with in general most corals alright. I wonder if I'm chasing the numbers of the dKh is I can't seem to get it much lower even after 30% bi-weekly water change. I use the Salifert kits for testing. Appreciate any thoughts here. Thanks

Ryan, first of all, I love watching your videos! So following your videos my tank and it's corals look better than ever, so thank you. The issue I'm having is after starting Kalkwaser 5 minths ago in my Tunze auto top off, my calcium always stays at about 398 (I would like it at 420) and my alkalinity can be anywhere from 11-15 dkh! I'm using a Hanna Checker to test both. I use 9 teaspoons of Kalk per 6 gallon ato. Even when I add calcium supplements my calcium doesn't seem to move. I don't supplement magnesium and rarely check it. Do you think that's my problem? Also, I have always used Instant Ocean Reef Crystals. PH is always between 8-8.1. Everything looks great, just really want to dial the numbers in. Thank you for your help!

Amazing vid! Learnt a shit load.

So since soft corals don't have skeletons, for a softie only tank we don't need to dose these elements? Thank by the way, your videos have introduced me to this hobby very well.

Just have a quick question. I know that if you add the 2 parts together you get a calcium carbonate precipitate(don't ask how), but does this happen in fresh water as well? I only ask because I have added calcium and bi-carbonate to fresh water tanks without magnesium and had no problems. I also use these 2 additives in my pool with no issue.

I have an important question. I have the Kent calcium. Right now my calcium is at 350 so o know I need to add some calcium. But I don't have any alk or mag. Can I just add some calcium without alk or mag? Or do all three have to be added together at the same time ? If not how much calcium would u recommend? It says 1-5 ml per 50 gallons and I have a 75 gallon. Thanks !

So one question is, which elements are well-replaced by regular water changes, and which still need additions? I'm guessing water changes tend to replace most of the trace elements with a good salt and actually DOING the water changes. Assuming Ca/dKH/Mag still need extra support.

I've been having an odd issue where my ph hangs between 8.0-8.13 (salifert test) but dkh is up around 14 (red sea pro). Calcium sits at 450 and magnesium 1320... How can I adjust the alkalinity down without driving the ph with it? Using ro water from local water store and Weigandt Reefer Salt and mix at 1.024... thanks in advance BRS

my dosing pump for alkalinity always seems to crystalize at the end and clog the hose. I am having to clean it evey few days. I have tried different levels off the water for the hose and more flow of alk through the pump but nothing seems to work. if I don't clean it then my alk drops and my corals get mad at me. any ideas?

If I use a salt (reef crystals) and the calcium and alkalinity of a fresh batch of water measure 440 ppm and ~11 dkh respectively, should those numbers be my target I want to keep my tank parameters at?

So how much should I add? And the frequency? I don't want my tank to crash I would cry!! So I'm a little nervous. It says 1-5 ml for 50 gallons and I have a 75.

How do I up my alk and ph? Is it soda ash or sodium bicarbonate? I thought you had a video on this but cant find it. I am at 7.3 and like to go to about 9. I know one is to up it and I think the other is to maintain. My ph is about 7.8 like to be 8.5. Also what do I do when I do a water change? It ups to about 9.3 the within 10 days (which is when I do a water change) then fell pretty quicky to 7.3 and has been maintaing that for about a week or more. My alk had fallen to 6.5 after water change before last and up to 9 after so now that it is 7.3 it will probably up it to 10. My alk started falling and nitrates rising after I introduced a ton of new frags. I started dosing no pox and its getting much better now but it scares me to do the WC beacuse of it adding to much alk after I start dosing. Am I not supposed to dose alk on the day I do a WC? I use IO reef crystals? I hate to change because its so cheap! LOL

1:54 "teaspoon of calcium deluxe every full moon" LOL he barely kept it together there.

my ph rises to 8.45 and at night it drops to 7.9 - 8.0. i keep my alk at 8.26 and my cal at 380. why does my ph drop so much?

Great video! But when is the best time of the day to dose KH? I`m also using the zeovit method on my tank. And i got no light in the sump, so my pH is dropping at night. Will you guys recomend dosing KH at night to keep the pH up? :)

in our LFS the owner sells bags of crushed (large chips) oyster shells, in net bags, with a sign that says "buffer/replace your calcium naturally, just place a bag in your filter"... could this work to any real degree??

What size tank was used in this video?

whats the connection between ph and dKh though?

What is the difference in 2 part soda ash, Dry sodium bicarbonate, and dry soda ash sodium carbonate. I only use 2part soda ash, since there is a proportion of bicarbonate and carbonate in the reef should I be proportioning the other 2 into my solution?

Still new to this and need help to start dosing? My alk is at 7.7 my mag is 1350 and my cal is 475 this is on my 30 gallon. I have mostly soft corals and two Skelton corals should I start dosing or just stick with water changes? One last question how is all for reef it’s a three in one dosing?

This video came at a pefect time. I have a question. i use BRS 2 part. I dose alk and ca using a dosing pump so i know exactly whats going in. but the Mg is high...1600 without even dosing. i did a water change and got it down a bit..down to 1500. any reasons why it climes? thanks..

I understand that corals absorb calcium ions to make their calcium carbonate, and this is why we dose calcium. But i'm also gathering that corals build their skeleton in part from bicarbonate, the alkalinity additive. A result of this, I think, is that corals will acidify the water faster if I dose the tank for alkalinity and magnesium only, and not calcium too. Am I misunderstanding? I'm trying to keep an anemone. I don't think I need to dose calcium, but I think I do need to dose alkalinity along with something to raise my pH.

Was is Vitamin D not considered. In most organisms need not only proper pH of body chemistries but also calcium and Magnesium. Is Vit D not needed in corals or is that something we overlook in this process. Sunlight, Vit D inactive form to active form through light exposure the use the Vit d to utilize calcium to build bone (tissue).

what happens if the mg is up around 1600?

So when using Red Sea test kits and additives it says for a mixed reef 11.5 alk is this incorrect? Should I keep it lower around the 8.5 as suggested?

I am just stepping up into the Alk/Ca world for my reef tank and am struggling to learn the chemistry... I would love to see a BRS video on what causes and then of course how to correct problems. for example my tank is 2.5 meq Alk and 520 ppm Ca! I would love it if you guys could explain what could cause imbalances like this and the best way to fix them. thanks!

I finally really understood what alkalinity is. Thank you. At the end where you mention the optimal levels, you didn't say what the best ph level is.

Great video ! Would you be able to make a video on how to correct out of balance levels please ?

Enjoyable vid Question:When measuring true magnesium levels in salt water do you need to minus your calcium result. Example mg =1600 Ca =400 Is the real mg level 1200 or 1600??

What if my cal is 500 and mag is 1500ppm?

with a nano im 30 gal aio is regular water changes not enough to replace trace elements , required?

Do you all know if there are any detrimental effects to having higher Mag levels? I've overdosed one time Mag went to like 1600, and I just left it that way; didn't wanna deal w more water changes that day. Two weeks later, and corals chillin like nothing, however, not sure what was going on at the molecular level in conjunction with the availability of Alk/Ca to the corals.

If alkalinity is used more than calcium how does kalkwasser maintain a even level of calcium and alkalinity?

having a healthy tank and having low PH is it posible? don't chase the dragon my PH is 7.78 never get up to 8.0 and i don't want a buffer the PH i did open windows everyday also got m skimmer running air vent.

So I've got kh at 8.9 Ca at 500 and Mg at 1500, I seem to have a lot of white bits floating in my DT, is this precipitation if so what's best way to cure

What are some ways to decrease the amount of calcium you have in your tank?

I am scared to start a reef tank. 😭😩😢 should i start with a 70 gallon or just a 10 or 15 gallon?

keep check back more then a month when are you guys going to get the reborn media main as well get the 44 just need to know when i even called NOT sure about the ETA

I bought a dieing sps coral from a pestered over here. What is the best way to bring it back to life?

Hi! Hope some one can help. I was adding a PH buffer and also adding Alkalinity to my tank at the same time. Not knowing that the PH buffer also raced my Alkalinity. Currently my Alkalinity test is taking up to 17 drops to change my test solution from blue to yellow. I have done water changes but i am afraid because my PH went from 8.3 to 7.8 and I can't add any buffers because it will shot my Alkalinity up again. What should I do? Should I just keep changing the water every week and not stress the 7.8 PH level or can I get more corals to soak in the Alkalinity that is in my tank now? My calcium is perfect. Please help.

Very new to saltwater so excuse my ignorance. My ph is 7.8 I wanna rise it and my lps recommends a buffer but my KH is high and from what I've read on the back of the buffers they all rise KH. Can anyone help me out and recommend me something that will just up my PH?

How do I lower alkalinity mine is at 10.8 dkh

Do tanks without corals (FOWLR) have to dose all this stuff? The chemistry is very confusing

Can't wait for next week; Ryan ALWAYS talks about Kalkwasser lol

Do a few videos without a hat! :P

420 ppm Ca for corals to get stoned.

Hey guys I mean to be rude but why have the uploads become inconsistent lately?

Can I use the Alkalinity increaser that I use in my swimming pool?

Another great video Ryan. Looking forward to this series. I loved the throwback video. Should have dropped the resolution a bit and made it more 80's looking too! Also, hope the new married life is as sweet as you deserve. But just to give you a heads up of your future....kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ipaKn5ylndWadac.html

How is calcium replenished in the ocean?

This is my second time through all the vids, love them. Understand a lot more now since the tank has been up and running vs watching prior to the tank. Hey would be great if BRS would sub to my channel and help out a newb to the tube. Cheers! And thanks for the vids.

Too many reefers talk about alkalinity as if it were a substance, like calcium, instead of realizing that it's a measure of water's ability to resist a drop in pH when you add an acid. Yeah, you can add substances to the water to raise the alk. but you aren't adding alkalinity. You can only raise you water's alkalinity by adding buffers of one form or another. Maybe I'm nit picking here, but I think a lot of people get confused because the language the community uses to talk about it is confusing.