Eco Balling method A,B,C

[Djplus1]

Has anyone here tried the Eco Balling method with the three bottles (A,B,C)? I picked up a set on sale on Premium Aquatics website a few months ago and am interested in trying it, now that I have some corals. The instructions on the bottles are pretty vague and I got a reply from the Eco website as follows from Leng Sy:

 

"Did this come with the instruction? Mix in one gallon each to make it into a solution. From here you can pour into your bottle as you wish. You can store it anywhere. Use it according to the instruction. You pour everything into your tank it will kill everything in there. Read the instruction and it is best to do less than half the amount as suggested. The solution is concentrated. This product also comes already mix for you. Next time get that.

Thanks

Leng"

 

Once again, not real clear, but I have also never dosed, so maybe I'm the idiot.

 

If someone here can literally give me a step by step on how to manually dose properly, without me crashing my tank, it would be greatly appreciated.

[matt]

Not familiar with this product, maybe others are. Is this it?

http://www.ecosystemaquarium.com/products/marine/calcium-line/eco-balling-method-overview/

 

If so, it looks like they've combined the mg and ca into one bottle, meaning you can't does each individually. Then one bottle is alk, and the third bottle is 'minerals"????

 

Do you have test kits for CA, ALK, and MG yet? Don't touch this stuff until you know what your current levels are.

 

If what I just read quickly at link is right, then you'd first need to dose a 4th additive of MG solution to get to the proper MG level...then you'd get into a dosing routine. However, be aware that water changes impact your levels and you will have to compensate by adjusting new saltwater before adding to tank unless your normal mixed saltwater is pretty darn close.....test that too.

 

CAVEAT - I'm still learning about this too, just not this product...I went to two-part route

[Djplus1]

Not familiar with this product, maybe others are. Is this it?

http://www.ecosystem...ethod-overview/

 

If so, it looks like they've combined the mg and ca into one bottle, meaning you can't does each individually. Then one bottle is alk, and the third bottle is 'minerals"????

 

Do you have test kits for CA, ALK, and MG yet? Don't touch this stuff until you know what your current levels are.

 

If what I just read quickly at link is right, then you'd first need to dose a 4th additive of MG solution to get to the proper MG level...then you'd get into a dosing routine. However, be aware that water changes impact your levels and you will have to compensate by adjusting new saltwater before adding to tank unless your normal mixed saltwater is pretty darn close.....test that too.

 

CAVEAT - I'm still learning about this too, just not this product...I went to two-part route

That's the stuff. I'm testing for all that and noticing a little bit of a deficiency, so that's why I'm thinking of using it. I also, bought a bunch of Kalk, so I might just get a stirrer and use that, but I am intrigued by the Balling method.

[DaveS]

I haven't used that product before but the principles should be the same. There are 3 parts (historically referred to as 2 part dosing). They are Calcium, Alkalinity (Kalk), and Magnesium. You typically dose Ca and Alk in equal parts. You do them separately as if you combine the solutions together, they basically cancel each other out. How much you put in will depend on what the corals in your tank consume. You should start off dosing smaller amounts and test the Ca and Alk levels to ensure they are not going up. If they are, you are adding in more than the corals consume. If they go down, you need to dose more.

 

The third part is Mg. You add that in much smaller proportion than the other 2. People used to only do Ca and Alk which is why it's referred to as 2 part.

 

If you do some research online (even within the WAMAS board) you'll find tons of info on actual volumes to dose. But keep in mind that solutions can have different strengths so 10ml of your CA solution may not be the same as 10ml of someone else's. If you have the solid stuff and combined it with water you would have a better idea of it's strength. When you buy a pre-mixed solution the strength is less certain. Some vendors may even dilute the solution to increase profits.

 

If you don't know, you can start with small amounts and go up from there. Underdosing will hurt like over dosing.

[matt]

i'm sure others do, but marinap uses the balling method if i remember correctly. may not use your product...i think balling is a method of incrementally dosing ca, alk, and mg...more than it is a product. look up her tank thread...really beautiful corals. i think the product referenced is a bit different than two-part...they've mixed the mg and ca in one solution in advance.

 

btw - i bought a two part kit (also includes mg) from BRS. the BRS help guy told me i should NOT mix mg solutions with either the ca or alk solutions. bummer, cuz i hoped that might enable me to dose mg consistently while i dose the other two solutions (i have only two dosing pumps).

[zygote2k]

i'm sure others do, but marinap uses the balling method if i remember correctly. may not use your product...i think balling is a method of incrementally dosing ca, alk, and mg...more than it is a product. look up her tank thread...really beautiful corals. i think the product referenced is a bit different than two-part...they've mixed the mg and ca in one solution in advance.

 

btw - i bought a two part kit (also includes mg) from BRS. the BRS help guy told me i should NOT mix mg solutions with either the ca or alk solutions. bummer, cuz i hoped that might enable me to dose mg consistently while i dose the other two solutions (i have only two dosing pumps).

pour the mg in 1 quart at a time. no need for a doser.

[PotomacBoater]

I'm a little confused about "balling"

 

I thought it was the pre-curser to what we now call 2 part

 

(why is it called 2 part if it has 3 parts of cal/alk/mag???)

 

Don't balling and 2-part both use the same chemicals, with trace minerals added?

or am I missing something?