ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.พ. 2025
- In this video I discuss why I am switching from kalkwasser and a calcium reactor to the Fauna Marin Bolus Method.
ReefBum's Fresh Cut SPS Frags
reefbum.com/pr...
ReefBum's WYSIWYG Frags
reefbum.com/pr...
ReefBum's LPS Frags
reefbum.com/pr...
Sign up for my newsletter and save 15% on one order of frags!
reefbum.com/ne...
Fauna Marin Products
www.reefbum.co...
Captiv8 Aquaculture Products
www.reefbum.co...
Captiv8 Aquaculture Salt
www.captiv8aqu...
Reef Octopus Calcium and Kalk Reactors
reefbum.com/pr...
GHL ION Directors/Profilux 4 Controllers/Dosers/KH Directors
reefbum.com/pr...
GHL Mitras
reefbum.com/pr...
Royal Exclusiv Pumps, Skimmers & Dreamboxes
reefbum.com/pr...
Reef Brite Halides & LED's
reefbum.com/pr...
Maxspect & IceCap Gyre Pumps
reefbum.com/pr...
iConsult: Advice on Setting Up a New Tank or Re-configuring a Current Tank
reefbum.com/pr...
Reef Keeping Master Class
reefbum.com/pr...
Tutorial on how to live stream to either Facebook or TH-cam with a DSLR, GoPro or camcorder
reefbum.com/ph...
ReefBum Book
reefbum.com/book/
ReefBum Merch
reefbum.com/pr...
Video Editing Software
This VIDEO was EDITED with Adobe Premiere Elements on a Mac.
amzn.to/2PIfpXw
DISCLAIMER: This video and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. This helps support the channel and allows us to continue to make videos like this. Thank you for the support!
He’ll be back
Facts!
I switched to bolus method 3months ago and it has fixed my PH issues, the tank buffers away better now. SPS are growing really well.
I’ve done this on an experiment tank of mine , has been wonderful
Been watching your videos for around 3 years now. Being someone that started in the hobby using 2 part myself, once I learned how to keep things alive. I made a switch to Kalk by watching your success a long with Chris Meckley's version of using it. My system made a 100 degree turn around in growth and has saved me a bundle of cash savings expense of not using 2 part. In truth Kalk has been like reef tank Crack for my tank. I have a 220 main display and a 50 gallon frag tank plumbed into a 50 gallon sump and out grown that space already. Truly going to miss your lives with the top notch guests. Its great to watch you try a new frontier in your reefing journey.
No more "lives"? Did I miss something?
I have experienced incredible results since switching over to bolus, im sure you will not be disappointed. Looking forward to future updates!
Great video! Your tank definitely looked awesome with kalk and calcium reactor! Interested how it will look under this system in a year from now! Keep us posted!
Definitely be interesting to see you journey on this!!! I have wanted to get off kalk but I’m to nervous to change what is working!!! Keep us posted tank looks amazing as usual!!!!
I switched from the Kalk/CaRx 3 months ago and my tank has never looked better. I have predominantly mature SPS colonies in my 3yo DT and I am seeing WAY more colors that I never saw before. I am so happy that I made the switch to Bolus!
I have been using BOLUS for about a year now. I also switched from Kalk. Everything will be fine; just make sure to adjust your KH daily for the next month. Also, pay attention to phosphate levels increasing, as without Kalk, they won't precipitate and may rise.
surely precipitation is entirely a function of alkalinity, calcium and pH (and things like Mg but keep them constant for comparison). why should it care whether the carbonate and bicarbonate ions came from bicarbonate dosing, or hydroxide combining with CO2? if dripped slowly in high flow - why does kalk cause precipitation? I don't believe it does. In a tank with high alk demand, then kalkwasser can only keep up by pushing the pH to its limits - it's your choice whether or not to accept the resulting precipitation (which in my opinion is benign) or to do something else. But the something else can be two part, or calcium reactor, or dose calcium formate, or calcium acetate etc - it doesn't have to be a bicarbonate single dose just before lights on.
Keith, I love how you’re always experimenting and exploring new ideas. You have an open mind and your track record shows you’re one of the best in the business. I’ll be following along!
Good luck!
That episode with Doug Dorrat opened my eyes with what I was experiencing with my aquarium. I decided to do a reset of sorts with getting rid of all my rock but keeping my sand. I plan on running Bolus later this year as the new rock and corals mature. Good luck Keith!!!
Trend... just a trend. You can have rocks and sand and use kalkwasser the right way for decades, no problem.
@@Alex_Correa Its not a trend Alex. Its the future of reefing. Kalk is the past and its faults have been ignored for way too long
@@RoryF96so why does every single coral farm in the US, Europe & Eastern Europe not excluding Zoo exhibits utilise Kalk?
@@RoryF96 The Bolus method is mainly directly connected to their alkalinity dosing method. The kalkwasser is a side kick to it, inserted in the talk. They also sell kalkwasser, by the way. Their observations with kalkwasser aren't anything new. Excess of anything will give you side effects. Anything dosed in your aquarium will give you side effects.
One could also list the benefits of kalk to try to balance out the pros and cons of using kalk in any saltwater aquarium in comparison to any other methods to supply alkalinity and calcium ions.
All the trends in this so called "hobby" are mostly in prol of monetary advantages. Not like before.
It would be nice if you could please elaborate more your notes about your view on the "future of reefing" and "kalk is the past and it's ignored faults".
Do it a 50 gallon maybe but not your peninsula! Crazy dude. Love it!
I’ve been drip bolusing a days worth of Kalk over an hour right before lights on. PH during the day is much higher (8.4) than when I was using all my Kalk to fight the overnight drop in pH. Since corals grow during the photoperiod, it seems like our goal should be to prioritize high pH during this time.
It's time to call Chris for an update and talk ! miss you both. !!!
Looking forward to see your review. The thing that I don't like about bolus is that there is no much evidence and good explanations why it works. People has been using kalk for 20 years without problems like you... I don't see problems, but is always good to try new goods
Yes I heard some wild claims especially ph claims about bolus it would be nice to see how it actually works
@@xhongxina286 My pH has risen since I started Bolus.
Since a lot of people are reporting good things there is probably something here. To me the problem is that the claims by FM and others as to how it works seem to go against accepted knowledge. If it works, then why is that? Part of this method is an increase in lighting, this could be what raises pH but right now we just do not know.
Cutting edge . Thank you 😊
Hey Keith, are you noticing your ph taking a noise dive at night? I'm on bolus and my ph goes doelwn sharply at night.
The Bolus method is nothing new, but the introduction of a weird name on the market with that "mystery" around of what the solution is (could be the mix of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate in the right proportions, for example, or have some calcium carbonate, borates, etc). I also add alkalinity only at night at once for the past 20+ years. The precipitation of kalkwasser in my systems never gave me any critical endings. We all knew that since the mid 90's. Most info in this hobby have the vicious cycle of rebooting over and over... Marketing strategy in many cases.
The precipitation of ANYTHING in the system using kalkwasser will ONLY be at a detrimental level IF used wrong, off the limits of that system. I was going to get to that in our last stream (and much more.. LOL!). If you chase pH using kalkwasser you will get way more precipitation that you want. Not a good idea! Specially how you were doing... ANY calcium addition method will give you precipitation, IF you don't use it right within the limits. The Bolus method will also give you precipitation if used in the wrong way!
The "old tank syndrome" talk is only a nice convincing way to take kalkwasser out of the way for the new trend of this so called "safer method" to be sold. The name is for the trend. The idea is very convincing! But many of us were doing that since the 90's... Ask those who use kalkwasser the right way and you will see there is absolutely NO PROBLEMS using kalkwasser. The proof is out there in many systems. I won't mention any names... search and you will find them... Some of the best Acro keepers out there are using kalkwasser since back in the day... no "old tank syndrome" after decades. So, that's not true!
Chase pH using kalkwasser and you will find problems in the long run. Use alkalinity solutions to try to keep it stable, dosing during the whole day, and you will also boost those problems with kalkwasser. So the problem is not the kalkwasser, but the type and way you are inserting alkalinity solution in the system. Higher pH is just a consequence of using kalkwasser and shouldn't be the primary motive.
The problem in this hobby is that everyone is chasing trends all the time without even understand what they are. People listen to the so called "experts" selling things and ignore what we already know that was published long ago...
Make it simple and you will do much better and cheaper than using any of those trends out there.
Metal halides, kalkwasser, sodium bicarbonate, water changes, skimmer. That's all you really need to have the best Acro system there will be on the face of the Earth.
Happy New Year to all.
Peace, my friend.
It’s interesting how on one hand you’ll say that these people are “so called experts”, dismissing them, when many of these people have spent several decades studying, both academically and real world, running real coral farms, not just theoretical text book stuff. The group that was working on Bolus had over 80 years experience.
But one the other hand, you claim to have all the answers, as a hobbyist, with only 20 years experience, and having exclusively used kalk in that time.
Saying things like “better and cheaper” “that’s all you need for the best acro system on earth”.
Maybe, you are wrong?
@@chosenjacob4604 Did they start this "reef theology of Bolus method" in 1944, then? IF one, only one person, would be able to prove they are wrong when they condemn kalkwasser the way they present, according to their practical experiences and theories, and show this "new fix" to us today... maybe, would they be wrong? What about many people using kalkwasser the right way for decades with no problems? Who would be wrong? Crashing a system with kalkwasser in the long run no matter what? See... to use an alkalinity solution of sodium bicabornate, once a day dosed at night was what many of us have been doing up to this date for decades. Anything new? That's not "theorical text book stuff" as you mentioned.
@@chosenjacob4604 Working on Bolus for 80 years? Since 1944? Where did you hear that? We are using sodium bicarbonate at night since the 90's, like I've said. Nothing new! BrS was the one that introduced the sodium carbonate as what they believed would be a "better" way to boost pH many years ago. All people using kalkwasser and alkalinity solutions are doing in practice. If one person can do we all can do. They are not presenting anything new. Go to Fauna Marin youtube channel and look for the video entitled "The BOLUS method...". Claude explains the method there. The only thing not cool is to say kalkwasser precipitates too much to the point that will always crash reef tanks. That's not true.
@@chosenjacob4604 Maybe they should publish some actual evidence and be better at explaining mechanisms when they clash with established science and methods. But so far this has been in short supply. If there were less questionable, unsubstantiated claims by this bolus group then there would not be so much backlash. There may be something to bolus, but invisible magic crystals aint it.
I'd love to see a 24 hour plot of pH and alk at least once an hour with bolus dosing, from an independent expert like Keith, in an aquarium rather than a frag farm. That'd be very interesting. icp less useful but anything objective would be great. over short and medium term once it's supposed to be settled in. I've been using kalk for years and I don't think I have a problem, it's cheap and it works, the expense is the kit to ensure not dosing when pH is above 8.4 (though that never actually happens) and the pain of regular recalibrations, so I'm not worried about precipitate - I haven't dunked my heater in citric acid for years.
Coral farms can do their thing - I don't see why I should emulate what they do.
I will be showing some plots of my ph with Bolus during my next video update on this topic.
@@ReefBum If its possible to also show alk with frequent measurements then that would be extremely interesting.
@@mrmud I am measuring hourly at this point
Reefing since 02. Switched to BOLUS 6mths ago....always used kalk.Acros never looked better. Jmo
I'm recovering my reef tank from years of neglect along with a crash, but if the BOLUS method is that good then why isn't everyone trying this method? I'm curious about this, but I'm also a little sceptical about it too. Please let us know how it works and if it's even worth it. Thanks
Hmm I just upgraded to ATI Straton LEDs and have 6# kalk left. Will check out results.
I’ve been trialing a Silt Trap with mine and I think you should try it in your system.
Would be awesome to see icp before
and after see what happens
Also would love to know if you see a difference in detritus, I know palleta claims he had less
Im also interested in ph range night and day
Not sure detritus measurements are going to be very definitive, especially from someone who fiddles as much as Paletta. And detritus seems variable on many factors. Add a couple urchins to your tank and your detritus will skyrocket. Change wavemakers and flow (as Paletta has been doing) and you will stir up old detritus from places resulting in a temporary increase. And doesn’t old coralline algae eventually die and become detritus? So lots of new healthy coralline growth in your tank may mean large amounts of old continually dying coralline aka “detritus”.
I have done some pre/post ICP testing and will report on that during my next bolus video.
Exelente contenido, voy por ese camino
Who says you can’t teach old dogs new tricks. Balls of steel. I’ve been using the modified Berlin techniques since the late 90s and I would NOT be comfortable switching. (Plus I’d have get another investment dosing pumps). Good luck Keith!
Will you be using a KH Director to maintain KH while dosing this method?
Thanks
No, I have never used my KHDs to control anything. I am looking at my dkh an hour before my lights go off (when my ph is at its highest point) and deciding whether or not the bolus dose needs to be adjusted. If the alk is up or down two days in a row I will generally adjust the bolus dose by 1%.
@ interesting thank you.
I too am looking for an alternative to Kalkwasser, but with a 25 gallon lagoon I can easily dose something like all for reef. My question is nothing in Nature happens fast and that stability is the key to a happy tank. Is flooding it with DKH all at once not go against that?
yeah but bolus doesn't cause swings, apparently because invisible crystals (I kid you not, Doug actually claims this) and things that aren't picked up on an icp test (again, this isn't a joke, he actually has said this on multiple videos and hasn't been called out on it) but really they are in there, can't say what they are but they are there and they work. so, use bolus if you believe in magic crystals and undetectable unidentified compounds. Or use it anyway, as Niels Bohr said about his lucky horseshoe - "I'm told it works whether you believe in it or not". What mystifies me is why a company like FM would get behind this without even having a bespoke magic potion to sell. Apparently the evidence will appear in a 'book', that is yet to be published. Right now, you have to believe in magic crystals (though they work even if you don't believe, unlike tinkerbell).
Dkh swings causing crashes is likely a myth. Usually there is some other issue, which alter dkh consumption and when people finally notice the crash and test, the dkh is wildly off and they blame that instead of the true underlying cause.
@@Nick-o1h that’s wild
@@Trav84 Yea it is pretty wild. Thats why its important to have more independent people try this out to try and separate any potential benefit from the wild statements coming from some people.
Don’t do it.
BOLUS = Be on the lookout for unhappy SPS
😂
HE IS BACK LOVE IT
Like I said BEFORE algae turf scrubber
100% Agree. A big one too..... PH problems are a thing of the past with scrubbers.
@ some people just don’t want to take advise 🤷🏻♂️
Changing to bolus was the best thing I ever did, I wouldn't sweat it. Just ignore your pH for a few days. Your tank will be fine.
Interesting!!!!
Holy moly bro, that's brave... hope it goes well.
So now alkalinity swings aren’t bad anymore? 😂.
It’s always been a myth. When something go wrong, corals stop consuming alk, that’s why alk jumps. Not the other way around. Cause and effect
@ Lots of Pseudoscience and anecdotal information in this hobby. Some of us have been reefing for decades and know what works and what doesn’t. Lots of fully stocked aquariums use water changes and Kalkwasser to keep it running. On Reef2Reef forum Randy Homes Farley already called out Fauna and Doug’s BS claims and fake science. Bolus works but it’s not anything new or groundbreaking.
I agree that alkalinity swings are not a major worry.....I used to think that but not anymore.
Oh no! Chris Meckley is gonna come over and smack you for switching. :) Good luck!
One more thing: pay attention to iodine. It is present in Trace No. 3, and with the amount of KH you will need to dose, even at the recommended level of 25 ml per 5 L of solution, it may be too much iodine.
Nope he may even to double or triple it same other people
Have you seen this ”flat alkalinity” graph that fm/doug are claiming should happen. What i have seen from other sources seem to disprove this part but im curious to your experience
It does flatten out after the initial bolus does for me but then drops down. I have been told the plateau will get longer as my system acclimates to bolus.
@@ReefBum if alkalinity is flat, and nothing is added to the tank, then that means your corals are not calcifying. If I saw flat alkalinity between doses far apart I would consider it a very bad thing. If I couldn't see why, I'd do a water change, send off an icp, buy new reagents, recalibrate things, clean pumps, change di resin, test test test. etc. I'd panic, but try not to actually change anything before I knew why. Flat alkalinity without dosing anything means no calcifcation, it cannot possibly mean anything else (at correct pH). I assume that a year ago you would have had the same thought - why is nothing calcifying? What is it about this method that makes you seek out what traditionally would have been seen as very very bad?
of course, this flat alkalinity thing doesn't happen, or so I believe. Your corals do stay alive, they do grow, and alkalinity drops exactly as it always has. I'm keen to see your results. But if you do see flat alkalinity, wouldn't you be at least a little bit worried that the only possible explanation for alkalinity flattening out is that your corals are all dying?
or of course the carbonate mix isn't what it says it is, and it relies on bacterial action to relase steady alkalinity. that might be part of it, but it's a gamble no? find out things stay alive and grow, then you are dosing all-for-reef. Find they all die, then it's something else. Find they are all fine and alk swings up then drops down, then you are dosing like it's 1999.
@@Nick-o1h As I mentioned, the flat dkh is supposed to be typical with bolus but I am not there yet and thus I can't address your comments. Just starting this thing and I am learning along the way and relating my experience.
@@ReefBum forgive my impatience. you know what you're doing but if I may reiterate my point to people who don't have your experience - a flat alkalinity during the photoperiod is not a good thing (in a tank with stony corals, clams , snails etc) ! It's a bad sign. it means there's no calcification, and it means your corals are not growing, which means they are slowly dying. I'm sorry to keep butting in like this, but facts are facts and flat alkalinity without dosing means no coral growth and that is bad (obviously). The bolus thing seems to suggest it is good, and it absolutely is not good, it is slow death. I don't know why they think it is good, it is not. But since it doesn't happen in real tanks everything is fine, dosing once a day works if that's what you want to do, but still I want to say to reefers if you see flat alkalinity between doses it is not a good sign! I think you have a responsibility not just to your own tank, but to people who look to you for guidance if you do these things publically (privately is your own affair).
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
I like what you say but wwc has been using kalk for years
There are too many salespeople in the industry who target young reefers and get them to buy to buy dose pumps and reactors and fancy pumps , lights it’s horrible
I can't agree more!
I remember in the "old days" we used to dump in a little baking soda or maybe soda ash by hand and things looked great.
I still do
It’s to bad some people will buy a named brand with a fish sticker on it and call it good
Bolus Bogus.
In the hobby since early 70's. Best growth ever with Bolus.
@@reefer44 'Bolus' is latin for ball, if they hadn't chosen the latin name and instead gone with the english word, maybe they could have called it the Balling method ;)
The b
The bolus has been around since the kalk it works ,been doing it for 20 years with no trace elements
@@luckyday4134 the method is not novel, what is novel is the claims and the proposed mechanism (incomplete and incoherent as it is for the moment at least).
Also, we can't know if it's novel or not since FM do not say what is in their carbonate mix, all we know for sure is that it isn't 100% bicarbonate. what else is in there is a secret, it might be a secrect novel ingredient or, more likely, it's carbonate, just like all the other 2-parts.
@@Nick-o1hthey claim to add trace elements to the baking soda, the dollar store stuff is working for me and I add it in the morning
@@luckyday4134 hmm, they say " we additionally use bioactive stabilizers, pH buffers and special minerals, which significantly increase the stability of the chemical parameters in the aquariums." I've no idea what they are talking about. What on God's green Earth are 'special minerals' and why would they increase stability of anything? "Chemical parameters" - right that helps. Honsetly, I understand and sympathise with the financial pressures the company is under, but peddling bullshit instead of quality products is not the route I would have chosen. I see that and simply think, ok, not buying anything from FM. I can't be alone, and yet I'm sure their products are high quality, I just can't trust anything they say.