Why balling properly is so important

[Aqua-Digital]

Part 2..

SO HOW MUCH DO WE ADD THEN?
Quite simply It depends upon your consumption, and for this you may have to guess a little, or if you are currently using other additives you should be able to work it out from the statements on the bottles which often say how much the bottle adds, you can then work out how much you are adding on a daily basis.

If you are not sure then an easy way of working it out is to stop adding anything, settle for a day and then take a Calcium reading on a daily basis at the same time. The difference between them will tell you how much in ppm (aka milligrams per litre) your tank is consuming. This figure is very useful as you end up with how many grams of Calcium you need to add a day – and it’s very easy to work out from that figure how much of the mix you need to add daily.

Let's assume you have done the above daily tests and you are losing 5ppm per day of Calcium, and that you are running a 200l tank (figures chosen to be easy).

This means that you are losing:
5 mg per litre x 200 litres = 1000 milligrams, or more commonly known as 1 gram.

We know that our first mix with CaCl2-2H2O has one mole of Ca per 2L, and that one mole of Ca weighs 40.078grams, so we now know that we have to add 1/40.078 moles of Ca a day. That means we have to add 1/40.078 of the 2L mix, which works out at 50ml per day.

There you go, for a 5ppm loss in a 200l tank you have to add 50ml of each mix, and then to balance out the water levels you have to remove 150ml of water from the tank.

You could look at this as simply 5ml of each mix per ppm loss per 100l of total volume. A handy figure meaning that you don't have to understand any of the above to be able to use the Balling Method. Just multiply up for your loss and for your size tank and use that amount.

AND THE MAGNESIUM PART?
Ah yes, that bit. Using the known figures of relative usage between Calcium and Magnesium on average it can be shown that for each 147g of CaCl2-2H2O we are adding we need to add 34g of MgCl2-6H2O. This can actually be simply added to the same 2L mix as the CaCl2-2H2O.

That figure is actually an average, and the best way of knowing what your tank is consuming is to measure it on a longer term basis and adjust the amount appropriately. For example, if your Mg is sinking relative to a stable Ca then increase the quantity in the mix.

One concern this raises is that we have fortified that mix with more Chloride than we are adding Sodium, and at this point in time this remains unresolved. Further investigation is being conducted as to the resolution of this. Simple solutions such as reducing the quantities of each to result in a balance of Na and Cl will throw out the Ca and HCO3 balance.

GETTING IT FROM THE MIX INTO THE TANK
So far we now have a number of containers with various mixes of chemicals in them allowing us to add calcium, carbonate and a balancing mix of NaCl-free salts. It would be totally feasible to perform the final step manually by measuring out a set amount on a very frequent basis and adding it too the tank, and then removing a carefully measured amount. The problem with this approach goes back to the quest for stability and easy of use. Building in manual processes should be avoided as they will always end up being put off until later.

So the best approach to take is to setup a means of automatically dosing the mixes and removing the excess tank water. There are a number of different products around which can do this; I use an Aquatronica for other tank automation so it makes sense to use the dosing pumps available for that. For standalone purposes GroTech do a triple dosing station which can be expanded up to eleven channels, which easily will cope with the demands of this process, and for GHL Profilux users a dosing pump is available for that as well.

Each of these devices are programmed in a different way, however they all will allow very small amounts to be added on a frequent basis rather than a small number of high amounts. This spreads the dosing evenly throughout the day keeping the levels stable rather than rising and falling. As the main consumption of Calcium and carbonates will be during the lit hours, the dosing can be restricted to that time.

It is advised to always dose into a location of high flow in order to mix the additive as quickly as possible, but do remember to avoid the situation where the feed line can become a source of siphoning from the tank into the mix containers and onto the floor. It is best to drip the mix in rather than having the feed ending under water.

With all of these devices setting the amount to be dosed is simply a case of entering it into the device, this is the good part with the Balling method, once the pumps are setup increasing the dosing rate is a very quick and easy job.

Finding Supplies
A number of chemicals are required to implement this method, fortunately now several companies are specifically packaging them up for this purpose along with the NaCl-Free salt.

Calcium Chloride-Dihydrate Balling salts
Sodium Bicarbonate Balling salts
Magnesium Chloride-Hexahydrate Balling salts
Magnesium Sulphate-Heptahydrate Balling salts
Chloride Free salts for Balling
Alternatives for the Chloride Free salts include:
Tropic Marin Pro-Special Mineral
Pries Special

When looking at the cost of the NaCl-Free salts do remember that they may appear expensive, but you are only buying the expensive parts of the salt and not buying the 70% common table salt part of a standard marine salt.

CONCLUSION
And that’s about it, the darker side on Calcium and Alk addition but well work delving into, as with Balling it’s simply a case up dialling up a higher addition if your consumption goes up (indicated by falling levels so keep testing) rather than having to fiddle with flow rates and the pH and alkalinity of effluent from a calcium reactor, or hitting the limits of addition using a Kalk stirrer.

[Aqua-Digital]

Aqua Digitals In conclusion,

I would rather post true facts rather than half baked comments with no science behind them or as seen elsewhere simply ridicule often personally and still not offer anything to the debate, if ridicule is the only defense of 2 -3 light then I have won this battle! But my purpose remains steadfast to bring valid information so the reading public can make an educated choice whether to follow the original system that is backed by both science and chemistry or a cut down version that reef chemistry alone I believe can simply disprove.

I hope to try and educate our readers with facts so they can make the balanced choice what is best for them, yes we are aware that for many 2 and 3 part or balling light however you wish to market it has become the standard, but what is so readily forgotten is where did these systems originate from? (Its seems likely Hans Werner Balling own system) and why did these systems decide too eliminate the one single ingredient that is the most important? NACL-free salt that contains all the correct added elements not just NACL-Free.

So far from the debate that has been raging I have seen no evidence that backs not adding NACL-Free with all the trace elements is correct, however science dictated the opposite with the Hans-Werner Ballings original method that possibly spawned these derivatives.

However I believe the spin off products came from han's system and as yet nobody has given any valid reason why this chemically proven equation that hans put his name to needed to be changed other than the fact of cost/ commercial availability of the missing link that is NACL-Free salt with the added 70 trace elements that = what is in your reef salt.

Now that you can get the right ratios everyone now has the option to add back what Hans proved and developed years ago, you can still keep using your same 2/3 part mixes of you so wish, just add the NACL-Free from Tropic Marin and see if after a year you notice some differences.

I have seen some argue that "I am doing ok without it" BUT how well will you do with it? The answer is you dont know, the effects of the imbalances have been proven to be subtle it takes time to show up, and sometimes it does not at all, corals come corals go. Maybe just maybe by following the system as designed you may just get even better success than you are having now.

If all I have managed to do is make a few people think outside what they thought was normal and look at how things were originally designed to be achieved, then I hope my time typing has been of benefit.. Then its up to our great community to decide if what they read is right for them.

Change sometimes is hard to accept more so when its coming from the distributor, and this is why I research all my facts before posting and try and keep things as level as possible with facts and not commercial hype. If you choose to do it the original way then great, if not I do hope you picked up some interest and knowledge along the way. I know I have learned a lot from Tropic Marin in the last year.

Some ask why I close these threads the reason is simple, we are putting our heads above the parapet going against what many class as standard and correct or are protecting their own commercial products and sometimes even I need a break from the cheap shots, we all are human, so when it gets too heated I calm the thread down for a few days then will re-open it. But I hope this debate can stay level so I can leave it open.

I also urge anyone to call Tropic Marin directly and speak to them with all the questions you may have.

[Aqua-Digital]

Here is another great debate thread, well structured with good info all be very similar to what i have said above

http://www.3reef.com/threads/balling...-video.152078/

What I am finding interesting as the debate continues, the 2 part or 3 part advocates whether commercial or otherwise have STILL not come to the table with anything other than often personal (kindergarten name calling I am reading elsewhere) attacks against the chemistry of Hans-Werners proven chemically balanced system. The debate is not about a photo of a fancy coral or 2 part outselling the original system. Its about providing insight into what is renowned as the balanced way of doing the job.

I am not saying you MUST use this or your tank will explode, I am giving the insight so you can make your own personal balanced choice what you feel is right for you.

I am going to stick to the science and the proven chemistry in this debate of the original balling system, nobody yet has disproved that. The chemistry speaks for itself. whether harmful or not by not following Hans-Werner is a difficult topic, but the whole purpose is to highlight that IF YOU WANT to you can get the balancing product in one simple box of salt and not have to worry about adding other liquid supplements.

the debate is about having access to the right NSACL-Free salts that comes with all the correct trace elements already included (no other supplements required to be added)

We all know 2 part has a huge following, this is NOT the debate, the debate is more about now that everyone has access to the missing link they can IF THEY CHOOSE to now follow balling as it was originally designed.

I am interested to hear instead as a debate how the 3 part users and suppliers do feel what Hans Werner Balling probably one of the most respected people in reef chemistry and marine biology can be discounted as "rubbish" without any science to back up the claims that NACL-Free plus the right ratio of trace elements is rubbished and not required. How can you claim clear and simple chemistry is rubbish, this is what confuses me and has turned this into a debate.

Yes there are other NACL-Free mixes on the market but they require still the addition of other elements to follow the system as designed, this is where TM win by offering a one shot salt mix for those that wish to try the original system easily and more affordably.

Its up to the buying public to decide what they feel is best for them. I have laid out the road map its up to the user to decide now what route suits them the most.

As always I try and write as best as possible from the heart and mind trying to not sound too commercial

To put the commercial aspect into perceptive we make less than $2 on every 1kg of NACL a dealer purchases from us, I could be spending my time promoting something we make $100 on, but I have a passion on providing what I feel is worthy info that you all may find of interest. I hope you all have learned something as much as I If you go onto to try it out great, but if not, I appreciate the time spent reading up on it and the world will continue to revolve

[Aqua-Digital]

Sorry about the few typos above (leaving out Free from an NACL line etc)

Off now too pick up my precious little one

I will leave this open for any questions (please keep it on topic and not personal to keep things flowing)

if you want too try TM for free just send me a PM.

Thanks guys.