- Raises carbonate alkalinity (KH)
- Concentrated (4,000 meq/L)
- Made with a blend of carbonate and bicarbonate salts
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Overview
Reef Carbonate™ is a concentrated (4,000 meq/L) optimized blend of carbonate and bicarbonate salts designed to restore and maintain alkalinity in the reef aquarium. Calcium and carbonates are essential to all coral growth. If either becomes deficient, coral growth will cease, followed by a rapid decline in coral health. To prevent this you must provide carbonates (Reef Carbonate™) and calcium (Reef Advantage Calcium™ or Reef Complete®).
Whereas competing products simply use sodium bicarbonate, Reef Carbonate™ is made with a blend of carbonate and bicarbonate salts. This blend of salts results in Reef Carbonate™ yielding a pK of roughly 9.0 in saltwater (higher than competing products). In a closed reef system, the multitude of organics produced by reef inhabitants tends to force pH downward, but the advantage of Reef Carbonate’s™ higher pK is a stabilization of pH around 8.3-8.4. Competing products’ formulations make them incapable of such a claim, so pH will always fall below desirable levels for a reef aquarium.
Used as directed, Reef Carbonate™ will not deplete calcium, magnesium, or strontium which usually tend to precipitate with increasing alkalinity. Reef alkalinity should be maintained at 3–6 meq/L (8–17 dKH). Alkalinity should not be allowed to fall below 2 meq/L.
Sizes: 100 mL, 250 mL, 500 mL, 2 L, 4 L
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Beginner
Use 1 capful (5 mL) per 80 L (20 US gallons) twice a week. Best if diluted into a cup of freshwater, then added. Check alkalinity every 2 weeks and adjust amount or frequency accordingly.
Advanced
Check alkalinity (use MultiTest™ Marine pH & Alkalinity to test alkalinity levels), then follow addition regimen above until alkalinity is adjusted to 4–5 meq/L. Each mL contains a minimum of 4 meq of alkalinity. Each 5 mL/80 L will raise alkalinity by about 0.25 meq/L. Amount or frequency can be adjusted, but do not exceed 20 mL/80 L per day. Thereafter, use as required to maintain alkalinity.
Expert
After determining the alkalinity consumption rate, set up a continuous drip system. Use the following formula (or skip the math and use our Dosage Calculator) to determine how much to add to your top–off water: m=va/4 (m=mL of product to add to top off water, v=volume of tank in liters, a=amount to raise alkalinity in meq/L). For example, if you want to raise alkalinity by 1 meq/L in a 200 liter tank, then you would add (200x1)/4=50 mL into the top–off water. [For reference: 1 gallon=3.8 L].
Notes
Best to pour in gradually near strong water movement. Do not add to a sump or other area of slow water exchange. Use MultiTest:™ Marine pH & Alkalinity to measure total alkalinity or Reef Status™ Magnesium, Carbonate & Borate to measure carbonate alkalinity.
DO NOT OVERDOSE: Excess alkalinity may enhance the loss of calcium, magnesium, and strontium. Do not directly mix with any calcium, magnesium, or strontium supplement. Best if calcium & carbonate additives are added on alternate days or at least 30 minutes apart.
Seachem’s philosophy is that the knowledgeable hobbyist makes the best customer. This is reflected in solid and reliable customer education and support as well as products proven in science and performance. While Seachem has grown rapidly into a national and international firm, it retains the culture of a small company and is readily available to its customers.
For over 40 years, Seachem has been a company rooted in sound science. Our experience in the hobby and an educated staff of chemists and biologists are part of the package when you purchase Seachem products. Seachem remains as one of the few surviving independent and privately owned pet care companies. Seachem is owned and operated by hobbyists. All of our employees are hobbyists who maintain aquariums at home and at the office. Seachem itself was started because one such passionate hobbyist - Dr. Leo G. Morin (Founder) - recognized that the available solutions to aquarists' problems were wanting. This resulted in Seachem’s very first product: Cupraplex™ (today known as Cupramine™). Over thirty years later, Seachem is still approaching old problems in a new way.
Seachem has been in business over 40 years and is now sold
in over 60 countries worldwide.
Innovation means approaching old problems in a new way. Seachem doesn’t simply repackage old ideas, nor do we package new ideas that require the suspension of fundamental physical or chemical principles. We offer truly innovative solutions that work better than competing products and save money through increased efficiency and concentration. Seachem products have been and continue to be based on sound science. They now cover the full spectrum of aquarium requirements in freshwater, seawater, reefs, and ponds as well as herpetological and avian husbandry. They include buffers, conditioners, filtration media, medications, and test kits. The JurassiPet® line includes foods, nutritive supplements, and products for enclosure maintenance and parasite control. Most of Seachem’s products are totally unique and specific to Seachem. With our premium line, aquavitro®, our goal is to have a line that is an outlet for rapid response to the advent of new technologies and information as they arise, something we couldn’t do with the very well established Seachem line. We’ve distilled the essential components of reef keeping and plant keeping into a no compromises, rigorously optimized product line, and added conditioners and filtration that outperform the already high standards we've set with the Seachem line. We’re committed to maintaining that optimization.
