b-ionic dosing?

diddley

diddley

Member
just a quick question. do those of you that use this product adjust your "maintenance dose" to coincide with water changes. my io is higher in alk than it is in calcium. so if you kept dosing in equal quantities while doing regular water changes it would eventually throw things off balance. since the salt mix itself is not "balanced" using the alk/dkh/cal chart i found on this site. does this make sense? let me know.
 
diddley

diddley

Member
i've always thought it was just an inconistent batch with high alk. i was just thinking it must not be isolated to just me. i figured it was common, as my io has always tested relatively low for calcium. i was just wondering if anyone changed their dosing schedule after a water change to correct "imbalances." i pour ro water in a bucket and add salt and mix while doing so. run a powerhead for a couple of hours at the least to overnight at the most. don't use a heater, but leave bucket in climate controlled area. test kits have a 2008 expiration date. using oceanic in my 30 without this going on. sticking with io in the ten as they are so danged finicky anyway. thanks for your time and appreciate reading all your posts. nice job. btw, i see dumb**** is back posting his nonsense.
 
hookedonreefs

hookedonreefs

Member
who's dumb**** (I hope it's not me!?!)
You're probably talking about Kip huh ..... yeah he knows nothing
j/k - Kip helped me ALOT many moon ago.
-I really hope I'm not the dumb****.......:nope:
FWIW - I agree with Kip, dose the Ca additive (part 2 if I remember) and keep an eye on the Alk. I think I got advice that using b-ionic Alk raises by .5 for every 10 Ca goes up.
I'll confirm.
yours truely,
possibly a dumb****
 
diddley

diddley

Member
your paranoid reefs. if you were on the boards this past weekend, you'ld know for sure. his username rhymes with weasel. thanks for info.
 
hookedonreefs

hookedonreefs

Member
sorry - it's just that I've been away from this board for a while. I'm just getting back into things here and finally giving advice - the last time I was here I was getting most of the advice. I just wanted to make sure people didn't think I was slinging cr*p.
And, when you're blonde and polish, you can easily pass for a dumb****
:D
 
007

007

Active Member
my current batch of reef crystals is the same way. Higher alk (4.8meq/L) and lower Ca (~350). I have yet to see oceanic in my area yet though.
 
T

thomas712

Guest
I think people forget that water source is also a factor. Those that use tap water can wind up with a variety of cal and alk measurements.
Come to think of it I never have tested RO water for Alk and Cal, anyone?
Thomas
Hookedonreefs. I did notice your absence from last year or was it longer. Then you popped in now and again latley. Hows the tank doing? Any chitons survive?
Thomas
 
broomer5

broomer5

Active Member
Are you mixing your IO to full strength seawater salinity of 35ppm ? If not - you can get a variance in pH, alk and calcium.
Mixing it with RO or RO/DI water will not be the same as mixing it with hard water ( tapwater ) or another freshwater source.
My IO most always mixes around 320-350 calcium, and alkalinity of 3.5 meq/l ( around 8 dKH ) - using aerated RO/DI water.
 
hookedonreefs

hookedonreefs

Member
Can I just say.... what a turnout on this thread!
Three of my most influential mentors Thomas, Kip & broomer

Thomas - yes I've had quite the hiatus. I was busy actually playing with a tank and doing different tests/talking to fellow reefers. Then I got wrapped up modding on another forum. I figured it was time to get back to my roots and see if I could gain more knowledge (which of course was true) and help some other people out.
Yes, I have quite the chiton population. They always come out at night. I've even been able to catch the rare few to give to fellow local reefers. The tank is great. I've gone from about 50lbs. of dead rock to 150 of crazy life - rock. I've been able to add tons of live diversity to my rock. I also have upped my skimmer and added a nice fuge. This weekend I'm building a Ca/CO2 reactor- which should make things better. Oh, I'm rambling again.
Thanks for asking though Thomas!
 
diddley

diddley

Member
use ro from the grocery or ro/di from the fish store. i figured that was normal calcium for io, but high alk for whatever reason.
 
jsb

jsb

Member
Good thread.
I just started dosing as well, but I'm on the other end. I started with 1.7(meg/l) and 450ish Ca. I started dosing the Alk with out the Ca, and after two doses my Ca has dropped dramatically. So now after two more doses and adding the Ca part on the last two,My Alk is at 2.2ish meg/l, and 350 Ca. I'm dosing evey day and testing every day to keep track. I was thinking it would rise quicker than it is.
Oh and I forgot to add I use RO water, but when I started this hobby I filled with tap.
 
hookedonreefs

hookedonreefs

Member
If your Alk is low, and you Ca is OK, then I would dose the balanced additive per the instructions.
per Randy Holmes-Farley, "Adding a balanced additive adds only 20 ppm calcium for every 1 meq/L (2.8 dKH) of alkalinity."
So adding enough B-ionic to raise your 2.2 Alk to say 3.2 will only make you Ca go from 350 to 370.
I had the same problem, and this advice worked for me. I would give it a try IMHO since you pretty much have 100 Ca to go before you're getting in the risky range.
Hope that helps!
 
jsb

jsb

Member
Thanks, That's what I started doing after the first two doses. And you comfirming that for me makes me feel better about my dosing method.
If you can remember, how long did it take to get your levels up? I do weekly water changes vs. monthly. Will this slow the process?
Thanks again!
 
hookedonreefs

hookedonreefs

Member
Weekly water change CAN slow the process. It took me about two weeks with every other day dosing.
If you want to make sure the water changes don't adversly affect things, test your change water and dose it to your goal. That way water changes will hep the process rather than prolong it.
Have you read the 4 quadrants of reef alkalinity/calcium article that randy wrote? It's a good artice which explains alot. (BTW that's not the exact title, ut if you've read it - you'd know what I'm talking about)
GL
hooked
 
jsb

jsb

Member
Okay...That sounds good.
No I haven't read it. Is it here on the forum? I could do a search i guess.
 
hookedonreefs

hookedonreefs

Member
No need to do a search. You can find it here. *** As much as I have read that article itself it does contain direct links to other BB's so it can not be allowed to stand. Sorry but its part of the job. I don't mind if you cut and paste the whole thing here minus advertizents and competitive links.
 
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