Balling method

  • Thread starter Thread starter ken77
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I would agree 150ml seams to be a lot I would slow down a bit I am only dosing 30-50ml of each but I too am going to stop dosing for a few days to get a better idea of what my tank is using
 
I wondered about that but the directions say 30 ml per 30 gal of water per day. That comes out to 150 ml per day. They also gave me starting values for each of those parameters that I had to acheive before starting.
 
at least you have directions you can read all of mine the TM boxes is in German but what I am doing is starting off with 20-30ml and checking numbers every other day and adding more less of each accordingly. by the way my system is a 125 with total water around 140gal.
 
I also found some directions on for the balling method in general. They suggegted starting at 25 - 30 ml per 25 gallons. So hopefully I am close. I guess I will find out when I get home today. My tank is 160 gallons but I think it about 150 gal. I usual treat it as 150 gallons of water between the kive rock and the sump it seems to work about right.
 
I am up to about 60 ml of part b and holding strong @30ml of parts A & C as of right now but I break up the 60ml into 2 30ml once in the AM and once in the PM
 
Everything I have read says use equal parts of each one. Have you read anything different.
 
from I have gotten out what my guy at my LFS had told me and what I read is that you can "fine tune" everything by being able to add different amounts and adjust what needs ajusting but like I said I am no expert... I also have gotten some bad news today and will be needing to take down all my tanks and move. sucks as we have 4 tanks up and running and moving a tank is not fun as I have done it more than once.
 
Can you shot me a link to where you read that you can use different amounts I would like to read it
 
you know I am not sure where I found but I will look for it but it mostly said fine tune so i took that as adding what is needed as to not over do it on CAL when ALK is low and such. but I try to find it and post it here
 
so now that I have tried to find it I keep finding articles telling you to add same amount of each sure hope some else chimes in on this
 
the guys at the one LFS I like to go to have never led me wrong and told me that I can add differnent amounts to fine tune things, also I have been looking for more info on tropic marin system but I can't seam to find anything in english but its been about 2 weeks now for and I am still fine tuning but so far all my softies are growning
 
Do you have any sps in your tank? Those are what I am worried about
 
i just got 2 frags in last day or so i have never had luck with them so I am trying to take things slow as I can but so far so good I will try to get some pics soon
 
Hi guys,

I used the balling method (Fauna Marin salts) for about six months on a ~180 gallon system I had. Over time it proved costly for the amount I was using in that size tank when housing slower growing "LPS" compared to other "2-part" options. Balling is different, however... mainly in that balling claims to remain more ionically balanced due to consistently dosing trace elements. I perform regular good sized water changes and find they keep parameters in line, excluding Ca and Alk (compensated by dosing ESV 2-part). Here's a couple good articles written by my friends Leonardo and Eric with loads of info.

I could not find the tropic marin system at lfs. I got eoc balling system instead. I have a concern however before I start using it. It says replace evaporated water with kalkwasser I have alwayes just used ro water. Is th kalkwasser necessary? What are you replacing evaporated water with?
I could not find anything on "eoc balling system"...? Regardless, the balling system is an alternative to kalkwasser and Ca Reactors altogether. You want to follow directions of the balling salt manufacturer, but that statement is odd.
 
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Balling is actually pretty simple if you understand what it tries to do. With the Balling Method, or at least my simple version of it, you try to keep your major parameters stable at desired concentrations. That means you try to match what you dose to the consumption rate of your corals. So what I do to figure what to dose is this.


1. I bring Alkalinity, Calcium, and Magnesium into balance at my prefered ionic levels, usually 11dkh, 460ppm, and 1350ppm, respectively. This allows the corals to consume each element/ion as they would if my water were consistently perfect AKA, the Balling System's Goal.

2. I'll then not touch the tank for a week and measure my water. Take for example Calcium. If in one week, it dropped from 460ppm to 390 ppm, that'd be a 70ppm decreace per week or a 10ppm decrease per day. I find out my daily decreases for each element.

3. I'll figure out how much of a supplement I'd need to add per day to match my daily decrease. I use Calcium Chloride, Sodium Carbonate, and Magnesium Chloride and Sulfate. All of these are available in powder form on BRS for dirt cheap.

4. I set my dosers to add that set dosage per day over as long time period as possible. If I had to add 15 mLs of homemade Calcium Chloride solution per day, I'd dose that 15mLs as slowly as possible.


Done. That's Balling as I know it. As far as the special Balling-Brand Magnesium supplement, I'm clueless. My method is practically identical, to my understanding, and I've never had better growth then when I'm able to force myself to actually test my water so as to use this method.

Good luck, and happy reefing. :D
 
That was a typo on my part. Mine is the ecosystemaquarium system.
 
I woke up this morning made my coffee turned around to check the tank as its in our dinning area anyway when I looked at it the water seamed to be cloudy????not sure why or whats going on I am off today but have to run out for a few so I am mixing up some fresh salt water as I type this and when I get back I will a 30gal water change and check all my numbers and see if I tell what happened. It looks as if an anemone or sumin got sucked up in a powerhead but all 3 that I have are still there???? I started with one RBTA and it cloned itself 4 times in less than a week a few months back. also all fish are accounted for. So not sure why water is cloudy but at lest I am off today and have time to change water and what not. Oh Also my sump and everything in it has this reddish like slime all over it and skimmer is about 1/4 full of reddish sludge so not sure whats up my sumin went wrong with my GFO reactor thats stuff is a reddish color?????
 

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