B-ionic in SPS coral systems

[Piper27]

why do you think the quest for knowledge is negative?

Sorry that was a little funny

I don't see anything Gary has said as being negative. I have been keeping up with this thread since I recently cut back all my corals and my calcium reactor is irritating me. I may try dosing (never done it before on a big tank) so I will stay tuned... I might try Bionic, but then again I have never looked at the price. So we will see.
He is asking a question that no one is answering though.

 

[SPotter]

I may have missed it but what question is that?


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[NyReefNoob]

i use esv and dose kalk, ive had many talks with Bob about his products. ive tried the diy two parts and was never happy with them, for the actually little amount of $ saved it isnt worth it in my time nor hoping that i put the exact amount of stuff in, and didnt like having to dose almost twice as much. i will say that i dont use his kalk powder though, for that i use mrs wages pickling lime $2.50 a bag. and i had used esv kalk before and had same results to the eye as well as levels tested

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

not to side track

not to side track

but I've used calcium hydroxide offered by most of the major sources: Ball's, Mrs. Wages, TLF, ESV, Kent, Seachem, BRS etc.

A few seemed to have slightly more impurities than others... and the pickling lime brands seemed to have the most. (Impurities accumulate at the bottom precip.)

Right now I'm working off the big bucket of BRS calcium hydroxide and there's no way I could tell it apart from ESV kalk powder except that I saved a lot of money getting it at BRS. (Although cost effective, I didn't like what I saw in the pickling lime brands so I stopped using them.)

 

[PL-Reef]

I think everyone is in agreement that b-ionic is a great product. In post #2 I said that it was great but it gets expensive. I personally find the extra cost is a small price to pay for added stability when stability after all is key to sps. I will continue to use b-ionic as long as it's available.

:thumbsup: I couldn't of said it better myself.

 

[symbiodinium]

I am just starting out in SPS so I would like the convenience factor of ESV. I would like to know what equipment you use when you do use two part regardless of who the manufacturer is. BRS sells kits containing their product and equipment but to my knowledge ESV doesn't. Can you provide me with your recommendations as to which dosers and containers to buy.

Some snap shots of your equipment set-up would be beneficial.

 

[Bluecorals]

i use b-ionic on my 350g mixed tank. i do have a lot of sps but the tank is still young at 4 months. right now im only using 160ml per day so its not too bad.

i buy the 5gal buckets for $80.00, lasts me close to 4 months.

I cant find 5 gals of b-ionic, where can I buy it in this size?

Thanks

 

[SPotter]

I cant find 5 gals of b-ionic, where can I buy it in this size?

Thanks

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[Drae]

Premium aquatics


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Sweet, I was wondering where to get bulk esv myself. Good looking out bro.

 

[SPotter]

Sweet, I was wondering where to get bulk esv myself. Good looking out bro.

No problem! A little advice if you do get the buckets. The alk bucket might have a brick at the bottom of it. If you can, put the bucket in a sink and fill the sink with hot water. It will slowly warm the fluid in the bucket which will eventually liquify the brick.

 

[jg93]

OK, I've been using BRS 2 part for a year and thanks to this thread I'm considering making the switch to B-Ionic.

Could someone please answer a few questions for me?

I'm assuming I can just use my current BRS 2-Part Dosers?

More importantly - my Calc and Alk are pretty rock stable. I add 12 ml/day of Calcium Chloride, 19 ml/day of Sodium Bicarbonate in a 70 gallon system. Where should I start with b-ionic? I really would like to keep my parameters as stable as possible.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Allmost]

OK, I've been using BRS 2 part for a year and thanks to this thread I'm considering making the switch to B-Ionic.

Could someone please answer a few questions for me?

I'm assuming I can just use my current BRS 2-Part Dosers?

More importantly - my Calc and Alk are pretty rock stable. I add 12 ml/day of Calcium Chloride, 19 ml/day of Sodium Bicarbonate in a 70 gallon system. Where should I start with b-ionic? I really would like to keep my parameters as stable as possible.

Thanks for the help!

use the calculator :
http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

enter volume, and then see how much of your method you need to raise kh by 1 Dkh, then change to B-ionic and see if you need more of it or less to make the same change.

the calculator is prety good and trusted, but the concentrate B-ionic you have to dilute so mistakes could be made.

 

[SPotter]

use the calculator :
http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

enter volume, and then see how much of your method you need to raise kh by 1 Dkh, then change to B-ionic and see if you need more of it or less to make the same change.

the calculator is prety good and trusted, but the concentrate B-ionic you have to dilute so mistakes could be made.

+1 the calculator is an excellent tool and I have found the concentrate to be stronger than the pre-diluted bottled. You also have to factor in the type of salt you are using and what those levels are. When I switched to the concentrate I started low and adjusted every 3-4 days until I was able to dial it.

 

[jg93]

Thanks! The Calcium supplement looks like an identical dose which is easy, and the Alk supp about 1/4th as much.

I'm always surprised how little I use compared to how packed my tank is.

 

[symbiodinium]

How about some advice on the dosing equipment?

Can you provide me with your recommendations as to which dosers and containers to buy. Some snap shots of your equipment set-up would be beneficial.

 

[Allmost]

How about some advice on the dosing equipment?

Can you provide me with your recommendations as to which dosers and containers to buy. Some snap shots of your equipment set-up would be beneficial.

for years, I used 2 TOM Aqualifter [20 bucks each] and 2 walmart containers [5 bucks] with a digital timer, which can go down to seconds [15 bucks form HD] then I upgraded to a RKL [99 bucks]

now I use a GHL doser .... does the same, maybe a bit more accurate. for container, I use the ones that it comes in. I get large buckets.

you have choice between alot of dosers, GHL, vertex, BM, and so on ... they all do the same.

 

[symbiodinium]

Thank you Allmost, I was getting ready to shell out 200.00 on a system, 60.00 is much more attractive and I can still achieve the same goal with money left over for another Mille!

 

[Allmost]

if you go with aqualifter, do check the flow weekly and get some extra suction cups, the alk part seems to make it go slower and clog it within a month or so.

 

[Drae]

At what rate does the aqua lifter dose?

 

[Allmost]

not sure, but its drip.

what I used to do [still do for my other tanks] is to have a check valve at the output, to stop 1. back siphoning and emptying what is in the line, and 2 slow the flow down more.

I usually make 5 gallons of ESV so thats prety diluted and easy to dose.

but I should point out again. a nice doser is MUCH better, and much more accurate. I am by no means saying use aqualifter .... I just posted it as one option, which is better than/easier than manual dosing ... it is by no means better or equal to a nice auto doser..

Edit : its 3 gallon per hour, which is 0.05 Gallon per minute, which is 3 ml per second, with no head pressure. the chck valve lowers it to about 1-3 ml per second.