High Tide Aquatics

Sea Labs No 28 -- the laziest way to dose? :)

Finally managed to set up my Apex and Trident yesterday... flushed the lines, performed a calibration, and did my first test.

I was pleasantly surprised by the initial numbers, to be honest. As some of you know, I use a product called Sea Labs No 28 for dose, and over time have learned to through in a spoon of soda ash each time I drop new blocks in. Admittedly, very haphazard...

1583430485716.png


I rarely do water changes except maybe a small amount once in a blue moon just to refresh... no more than 5 - 10%. I suppose you make call faking Triton... :)

So my plans are to monitor over time to see how well these cubes really perform... (I have a CaRX but not installed, and hoping the Trident trends will help me decide whether I should pull the trigger or not, along with dosing for alk with a DOS or similar...)

The cubes are supposed to be buffered so as to only dissolve proportional with tank chemistry -- I think the true is somewhere in between marketing spin and regular ol' water dissolution.

initial numbers:

1583430301260.png


Sea labs' analysis profile per block as they claimed:
1583430461291.png
 
I mean I know you can put a ton of kalkwasser in freshwater and it'll only "use up" what it needs to a saturation point, but no way that would work for a tank because those saturation points are a lot higher... wonder what black magic they're claiming to do.
 
I mean I know you can put a ton of kalkwasser in freshwater and it'll only "use up" what it needs to a saturation point, but no way that would work for a tank because those saturation points are a lot higher... wonder what black magic they're claiming to do.
yeah - hence, I suspect reality is between the old auto fish feeder with dissolving plaster, and marketing spin based on buffered matrix with Ca/soda ash.

either way, seems to provide good chemistry without needing to take up more space..
 
My guess: The rate it dissolves somewhat varies based on PH.
It should not be too hard to do that.
And since PH varies based on Alk, it then becomes somewhat self adjusting.

Of course, PH also varies a lot based on CO2 content.
And I really doubt that the rate it dissolves is particularly accurate.
And as it dissolves, surface area changes.
But then again, you can probably adjust the number of cubes in your sump as you learn how to use them.

So.... I would expect it to kind-of work.
Potentially an interesting product for someone with a few softies that does not want to deal with hassles.
But not for me.
 
Hmm see conflicting reports on how they work, RFH says they dissolve whether your tank needs it or not, others say they work as intended. Maybe I stick with the occasional kalkwasser manual dosings
 
Hmm see conflicting reports on how they work, RFH says they dissolve whether your tank needs it or not, others say they work as intended. Maybe I stick with the occasional kalkwasser manual dosings
They work. Best way is to follow their instructions and place in low flow area. If in high flow, the cubes will absolutely dissolve faster, which makes sense
 
They work. Best way is to follow their instructions and place in low flow area. If in high flow, the cubes will absolutely dissolve faster, which makes sense
See that seems to conflict, if they some how only dissolve based on "tank levels" then it shouldn't matter if they're in a low or high flow area. So theoretically if you place them in a tank with elevated calcium/alkalinity, and next to zero demand (say a softy tank) then they shouldn't dissolve at all regardless of the flow.
 
See that seems to conflict, if they some how only dissolve based on "tank levels" then it shouldn't matter if they're in a low or high flow area. So theoretically if you place them in a tank with elevated calcium/alkalinity, and next to zero demand (say a softy tank) then they shouldn't dissolve at all regardless of the flow.
Yup. That's why i was saying truth is somewhere in between the marketing spin and reality
 
Curious why you used these in a FOWLR?
IT was when I was working for not myself in Santa Barbara so I just did what they said. Knowing the guy in charge it was probably 50/50 because it would keep alk from bottoming out, and because he could get them cheap and charge service clients extra for dropping in a cube that takes zero extra time or effort.
 
Finally managed to set up my Apex and Trident yesterday... flushed the lines, performed a calibration, and did my first test.

I was pleasantly surprised by the initial numbers, to be honest. As some of you know, I use a product called Sea Labs No 28 for dose, and over time have learned to through in a spoon of soda ash each time I drop new blocks in. Admittedly, very haphazard...

View attachment 14352

I rarely do water changes except maybe a small amount once in a blue moon just to refresh... no more than 5 - 10%. I suppose you make call faking Triton... :)

So my plans are to monitor over time to see how well these cubes really perform... (I have a CaRX but not installed, and hoping the Trident trends will help me decide whether I should pull the trigger or not, along with dosing for alk with a DOS or similar...)

The cubes are supposed to be buffered so as to only dissolve proportional with tank chemistry -- I think the true is somewhere in between marketing spin and regular ol' water dissolution.

initial numbers:

View attachment 14350

Sea labs' analysis profile per block as they claimed:
View attachment 14351
No body seems to have a problem with all the metals it’s adding to the tank? You might as well be using tap water for your ato. They are small amounts but that’s in each cube. How many do you drop in over the course of a year.
 
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