Red Sea RCP vs BRS vs ESV B-Ionic dosing breakdown

Like the title states, I decided to break down the recommended dosing instructions per brand to help me (and possibly others) when deciding on what supplements to use and dose (and how much if switching).

I decided to do this after spending a good amount of time looking into all three and I wanted to have all three laid out in a simple comparison for easy dosing instructions. So hopefully this helps someone out, like it helped me.

I did this by simply using the Red Sea Reef Care Program's (RCP) Reef Foundation ABC supplements and their dosing instructions, and then comparing it to the calculators on BRS, and the Reef Chemistry Calculator.

Bulk Reef Supply Calculator: http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef-calculator/
Reef Chemistry Calculator: http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html


Red Sea RCP vs BRS vs ESV B-Ionic dosing breakdown:

Red Sea RCP
Reef Foundation A: 1ml will raise the Ca level of 100 liters (25 gal) by 2ppm
Reef Foundation B: 1ml will raise the Alk level of 100 liters (25 gal) by (0.1dKH)
Reef Foundation C: 1ml will raise the Mg level of 100 liters (25 gal) by 1ppm.

BRS 2 part
2 part Calcium Solution: 5.1 ml will raise the Ca level of 100 liters (25 gal) by 2ppm
2 part Alkalinity Solution (Soda Ash): 1.7 ml will raise the Alk level of 100 liters (25 gal) by (0.1dKH)
BRS Magnesium Mix Solution: 2 ml will raise the Mg level of 100 liters (25 gal) by 1ppm.

ESV B-Ionic
E.S.V. B-Ionic Calcium Buffer System Part 2 (Ca): 3.1 ml will raise the Ca level of 100 liters (25 gal) by 2ppm
E.S.V. B-Ionic Calcium Buffer System Part 1 (Alk): 1.1 ml will raise the Alk level of 100 liters (25 gal) by (0.1dKH)
E.S.V. B-Ionic Magnesium: 2.5 ml will raise the Mg level of 100 liters (25 gal) by 1ppm.


I hope that helps!


- David

Which supplement are you going to use?

thanks for the info!

My warehouse distribute 2 of those brands by the pallets and I've personally have used all 3 over my 10+ years as a reefer.

Over the dozens of trade shows I've attended and exhibited at, I learn a lil more and spend time after closing talking with manufacturer

Honest opinion, SAME quality stuff and that's based off of very thorough understanding of how this industry works.

You key is consistency and maintain levels close to the reef as possible. Test regularly and readjust if necessary. There's no shortcuts.

With my current/new tank and my maintenance goals/philosophy I am trying to run it on; I am going to switch to ESV once I am out of the Red Sea products. After I have my new tank stocked to closer to how I want (I only recently got it up and running with a few corals and fish), I am going to get a base line of how my elements are consumed via ICP testing. ESV will be the easiest for me to utilize and also includes trace elements, I can then use the remaining 2 dosing pumps I have for amino acids, carbon dosing, etc.

If I wanted to set up an additional dosing unit (bring up my current 4 dosing channels available to 8) I would probably go with BRS for Ca, Alk, and Mg, and then use Red Sea for the trace element (A, B, C, & D), and then the final 8th dosing pump for amino acids or a carbon source. This would be so I could control absolutely everything (I try to avoid water changes like the plague). The pricing would roughly work out to be similar. ESV might be slightly more expensive, but not by much. That's because I am concerned with adding trace elements and such to round out what I am dosing, since I run a skimmer and chaeto and try to go without water changes. I guess you could say I'm going for a modified Triton method.