Balling Method and Water Changes

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Have you tried trace element mixes yourself?

On a few occasions, including fairly recently using a DIY Combisan mimic. I didn't notice anything, but Greg Hiller gave me the mix he made himself, and he thought it helped his tank.

Testing them individually would be a bit too involved for me.

I thought maybe you'd tried some different brands and if they told you what was in them, you might correlate what works.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

until we have dealt with the comparisons with Balling vs 2 part.

As far as I know, none of the commercial two parts really tell you what is in them, so aside from calcium and alkalinity and pH, it is hard to compare.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What does make sense to me ( on the level that I can makes sense of it) is that the Balling method is designed to help prevent ionic im-balance between the major constituents of the seawater.

That is something that two parts can and should do perfectly well. It is easy to accomplish. Chloride buildup is certainly not a drawback of two part systems.

 

[tatuvaaj]

I thought maybe you'd tried some different brands and if they told you what was in them, you might correlate what works.

Ah, I see No, I haven't really used many TE products. I'm currently using hw's TraceTip 1&2 but Tropic Marin's K&A elements seem to work also.

I dose about half of the recommended dose, seems to be "enough" for my tank :thumbsup:

BTW, corals might not be the best bioindicators for trace element additions as far as overdose is concerned. I remember reading that in general echinoderms are very sensitive at least for heavy metals. If I remember correctly, 10 ug/l Cu is enough to cause Diadema spp. sea urchins to stop moving and eating.

As it happens, I have a large community of echinoderms :lol:

[Edit: I should point out that I do not use Balling element mixes]