New to Balling method and aquaforest

onetootreefor · Nov 2, 2017

I just started dosing Aquaforest and is my first time diving into the dosing realm. My Calc and Alk seemed to be depleting by equal amounts before starting to dose.

I started off by getting my Alk and Calc to desired levels before starting on a dosing regimen. I got alk stable at 8.9-9.0 dKH and my calc stable at 425-450.

I started dosing Aquaforest 25ml (30 gallon tank) throughout 6x per day. I have a kore 5th doser. For the first 4 days everything stayed really stable Alk right at 9.0 dKH and calc 425-435.

Today (the 5th day) I checked and saw my Alk shoot up to 9.2 dKH and my calc was at 397. I use hannah checkers and check my water chemistry at the same time every day. Should I change my dosages? I know we are supposed to dose all 3 parts equally but it seems like my reef is consuming at unequal parts.

The only change between yesterday and today is I started Vodka dosing to help with my phosphates. (I only added .2 ml of Vodka before testing), could that be the reason for the change in alk and calc? I wouldn't think so.

Will Milberger · Nov 2, 2017

150ml a day?

onetootreefor · Nov 2, 2017

no like 25ml across 6 doses...i think its 4.38ml per dose

Mark Derail · Nov 2, 2017

I have the initial kit (liquid) & doser, waiting on my levels to come down before starting. Yesterday my numbers were still high, doing weekly WCs of some 20-30%.
(Ca was 440 this Tuesday, coming down from 500+ 5-6 days ago - Stuff is finally GrowinG !)

The LFS I got the kit from also has the dry half-kilo (small) buckets so you can use RODI to make new liquid for #1, #2, #3.
I saw on Youtube lots of hobbyists thanking Aqua Forest to make our own 3-parts solutions.

You like the Hanna checkers? The cheapest I've found here in Montreal (Canada) is 70$ for the initial kit, and 16$ for 25 more tests. Ridiculous. 25 pouches should be 5-7$ tops.

Compared to Salifert (more work) 24$ kits that do 50+ tests.
I find the Ca, KH, Mg tests are no-brainers, not having to compare against a color chart, just measure what's left in the 1.0ml after the color change.

onetootreefor · Nov 2, 2017

I absolutely love the Hannah checkers it makes it so incredibly easy to check your levels and have a digital acurate readout...no comparing colors to charts!

The initial cost is a little expensive luckily I have a friend who is a manager at a lfs and he got them to me for the wholesale price...

The reagents don’t cost that much in the US Retail it’s like 5-6 bucks per test maybe try checking on amazon or a differen fish store for a better price 16 dollars seems outrageous

As for the aqua forest dosing I just jumped in with the pre mixed jugs because this was my first go and wanted it done right...with the little amount I’m dosing they should last me 4-6 months...might start mixing my own once I run out.