B-Ionic 2 Part, released in 1995, always had on its label (and still does) that you should add the entire dose in the morning just before or at the same time the photoperiod starts, when system pH is at its lowest. The alkalinity component consists of a blend of both carbonate and bicarbonate salts (along with other major, minor, and trace elements including the halogens in amounts sufficient to balance proportionally with the sodium and chloride that accumulates with use). The product was formulated with a carbonate:bicarbonate ratio sufficient to jump start an increase in pH immediately upon addition yet not as severe an increase as dumping in sodium carbonate or saturated kalkwasser at the start of the photoperiod. For systems that ran at high pH which usually meant heavy kalkwasser use or a large reverse daylight macro algae refugium, we released B-Ionic Calcium Bicarbonate system where the alk component consisted of all bicarbonate. Over the years sales slowly dropped to the point where we discontinued it because keeping a higher system pH became more the norm in the hobby. Many systems run successfully on just B-Ionic 2 part being added in one dose just before or at the same time lights come on. See Mike Paletta’s book Ultimate Marine Aquariums..many were using B-Ionic as one daily dose as was my “Bare Bones Reef” which appears in it. When more precise dosing pumps became available, some reef aquarists started dosing the amount they were adding in one dose but spread out slowly over the full 24 hours. The result was more stable alkalinity which resulted in some improvement in growth, but the original one dose at beginning of photoperiod method still works fine for many systems.
Great content! I have been doing something similar with a bolus but with Carbonate instead of Bicarbonate for the past 3 years. My pH rises from 8.0 to 8.2 within 30 min then the lights rase the pH up to 8.35 throughout the day. Growing SPS well no issues.
As always great episode Adam. I appreciate the professional quality of the sound and info given. I have already set up my system tonight to give the bolus method a try starting tomorrow.
@@fraggarage5922 No--I am one of those long time older reefers that have dumped alkalinity into my tank with a scooper when I 1st started. I recall seeing hammer and frogspawn polyps shrink and swell up whenever alk powder falls on top of them. Yet they never died from it directly. I killed them from other reasons. I am currently using ESV B Ionic two parts. From all the info given by Doug and Claude today, I am using my educated deduction to try and use up all my B Ionic before switching out to FM balling light. So far this morning, it is going exactly as what was described, my pH went up before the lights went on (from 8.1 to 8.33) When the lights went on 30 minutes later, pH dropped to 8.29. As the lights approached the 20% ramp up for the following 2 hours, the pH crept back up to 8.33. Now I am about 4 hours into it.
@@fraggarage5922 Hi Adam, I am an old time reefer that actually dosed alkalinity by dumping a whole scoop into the tank before. Currently I am using B-Ionic 2 Part and having listened to your great podcast, I felt comfortable enough to try using it for the bolus method. By following the method outlined by Doug and Claude, I was able to dose the bolus 30 min prior to the lights coming on. I followed their lighting recommendation as well. Sure enough, I saw the pH jump then drop prior to my lights going on, then the pH increased gradually. Thank you for running such a great show!
Lots of interesting information on this topic, would this method benefit mainly coral farmers rather than a hobbiest main display tank? Especially with lowering the light period intensity & shortening it all together then I’d miss either the lights on in the morning before work or I’d miss the evening lights when home from work or could you just lower the intensity & just run a blue period for a few hours in the evening ? Also switching over to this balling method could you just switch cold Turkey straight over, if yes, any major issues to look out for & how to correct? I’m also starting up a new tank to transfer , would I be better in switching to this method on the new tank & just move live stock over once cycled? Thanks Adam for the live . 🇬🇧
You guys talked about not being able to mix this method but always referred to using someone else’s products to do the bolus. But would you be able to do the bolus method with bcarb but use a little kalk at night? You guys said you’ve tested every combination possible over the years, would like to hear stories about the failed methods! Great talk. Thanks for sharing!!
From what I understand, Kalk would change the carbonic acid pool, especially at night, so it would not be advisable. The basis of the method depends on that shift happening between night and day in a very particular way.. I believe the FM KH buffer has some sodium carbonate in it, so it’s not entirely just bicarb.. also, the trace in trace 3 has a big effect on the Bolus boost and the corals ability to handle the extra light and increased growth. Doug would be better to explain this than me, so maybe he will chime in.. cheers!
Great live Adam. Appreciate the content. Thumbs up 👍🏼 to help the channel grow. Thank you also to Fauna Marin. Claude is a beast. Interesting method, but not sure this will work better than keeping it stable. I see the logic though. Definitely worth looking into and testing more.
Thanks buddy! We will see over the next year or two how this plays out for people. I’m going to give it a try on my smaller system that runs BL already.
@@fraggarage5922 would be good if you did some updates on your progress and things you notice with it! I've been running Bolus since February and would not go back 😎
This is what we did way back when there wasn’t automation and the lights just came on. I still dump 3 to 9 ounces of great value bicarbonate before work every day . Manualy
Im one of the Tester, im in the Hobby from 1987 and in know what i do, as Claude come up with this Idear, i think about an way not 😂 it is the same as wie do in the past, i see it right away, my Milka an a special the caulastrea are much more expand, relay good idea and works great. At the moment i run the Methode more then six month and i never Go back.
I changed my lighting schedule in preparation to try this method and found a significant change to my pH peak. I'm going to see if this trend continues before switching, but I'm wondering if the change to the lighting schedule is the major factor in the increased pH and not the Bolus dose?
@dustingerminaro3700 I changed it fast and shifted my peak in the middle of the day to an immediate start up. Then ramped 20% for 2 hours before staying constant for 4 hours, then ramping down slowly over another 4 hours.
@dustingerminaro3700 yeah, I just shifted it in one go. I have a mix of G4, G5 and G6 Radion Pros. My lights are straight on to 60%, then ramp up to 80% over 2 hour. Stay on for 4 hours and then ramp down over 4 hours. The other recent change I made before this was turning the reds up. They're at 40% at the low point and 50% during the peak of the day. Going to see want happens if I get the reds up even higher.
What does this equate to in Kh value? What levels are people aiming for? I have to keep both KH and Mag levels topped up. Both seem to drop quite steadily. If one goes low PH drops..
You three need to do this again, walk through the HTU, and not justify each point. I’m 1 day in and my tank is glowing, it’s insane. A proper how to would be good. I had to cobble together between HTU, videos, groups. This is truly game changing if one day is anything to go by.
@@fraggarage5922 not sure sorry 😞 is that bad for the system 🤷🏻♂in my 100 gallon mixed reef I struggle with some sps basing out , PC rainbow & Fox flame fine .but others not so 😢 Be great for you to do video on care of corals 🙏😁
I wish I could after the fact, but it’s not an option on YT.. hopefully next stream I have more of those things dialled in.. we don’t hear what the stream hears exactly the same..
This may well work. But there are so many wrong basic chemistry statements in this interview that it looses all credibility. Sorry, not my favorite episode.
@@Yazannreef no, not on that system.. it’s never seen Kalk.. it was already running on balling light, so I just dosed the same amount of alk as a starting point for the Bolus dose.
B-Ionic 2 Part, released in 1995, always had on its label (and still does) that you should add the entire dose in the morning just before or at the same time the photoperiod starts, when system pH is at its lowest. The alkalinity component consists of a blend of both carbonate and bicarbonate salts (along with other major, minor, and trace elements including the halogens in amounts sufficient to balance proportionally with the sodium and chloride that accumulates with use). The product was formulated with a carbonate:bicarbonate ratio sufficient to jump start an increase in pH immediately upon addition yet not as severe an increase as dumping in sodium carbonate or saturated kalkwasser at the start of the photoperiod. For systems that ran at high pH which usually meant heavy kalkwasser use or a large reverse daylight macro algae refugium, we released B-Ionic Calcium Bicarbonate system where the alk component consisted of all bicarbonate. Over the years sales slowly dropped to the point where we discontinued it because keeping a higher system pH became more the norm in the hobby. Many systems run successfully on just B-Ionic 2 part being added in one dose just before or at the same time lights come on. See Mike Paletta’s book Ultimate Marine Aquariums..many were using B-Ionic as one daily dose as was my “Bare Bones Reef” which appears in it. When more precise dosing pumps became available, some reef aquarists started dosing the amount they were adding in one dose but spread out slowly over the full 24 hours. The result was more stable alkalinity which resulted in some improvement in growth, but the original one dose at beginning of photoperiod method still works fine for many systems.
So you would recommend one doses or spread dosis?
Great content!
I have been doing something similar with a bolus but with Carbonate instead of Bicarbonate for the past 3 years. My pH rises from 8.0 to 8.2 within 30 min then the lights rase the pH up to 8.35 throughout the day. Growing SPS well no issues.
As always great episode Adam. I appreciate the professional quality of the sound and info given. I have already set up my system tonight to give the bolus method a try starting tomorrow.
Thanks Alex.. are you already on FM balling light?
@@fraggarage5922 No--I am one of those long time older reefers that have dumped alkalinity into my tank with a scooper when I 1st started. I recall seeing hammer and frogspawn polyps shrink and swell up whenever alk powder falls on top of them. Yet they never died from it directly. I killed them from other reasons. I am currently using ESV B Ionic two parts. From all the info given by Doug and Claude today, I am using my educated deduction to try and use up all my B Ionic before switching out to FM balling light.
So far this morning, it is going exactly as what was described, my pH went up before the lights went on (from 8.1 to 8.33) When the lights went on 30 minutes later, pH dropped to 8.29. As the lights approached the 20% ramp up for the following 2 hours, the pH crept back up to 8.33. Now I am about 4 hours into it.
@@fraggarage5922 Hi Adam, I am an old time reefer that actually dosed alkalinity by dumping a whole scoop into the tank before. Currently I am using B-Ionic 2 Part and having listened to your great podcast, I felt comfortable enough to try using it for the bolus method. By following the method outlined by Doug and Claude, I was able to dose the bolus 30 min prior to the lights coming on. I followed their lighting recommendation as well. Sure enough, I saw the pH jump then drop prior to my lights going on, then the pH increased gradually. Thank you for running such a great show!
Lots of interesting information on this topic, would this method benefit mainly coral farmers rather than a hobbiest main display tank? Especially with lowering the light period intensity & shortening it all together then I’d miss either the lights on in the morning before work or I’d miss the evening lights when home from work or could you just lower the intensity & just run a blue period for a few hours in the evening ? Also switching over to this balling method could you just switch cold Turkey straight over, if yes, any major issues to look out for & how to correct? I’m also starting up a new tank to transfer , would I be better in switching to this method on the new tank & just move live stock over once cycled?
Thanks Adam for the live . 🇬🇧
Amazing talk, fascinating!
You guys talked about not being able to mix this method but always referred to using someone else’s products to do the bolus. But would you be able to do the bolus method with bcarb but use a little kalk at night? You guys said you’ve tested every combination possible over the years, would like to hear stories about the failed methods! Great talk. Thanks for sharing!!
From what I understand, Kalk would change the carbonic acid pool, especially at night, so it would not be advisable. The basis of the method depends on that shift happening between night and day in a very particular way.. I believe the FM KH buffer has some sodium carbonate in it, so it’s not entirely just bicarb.. also, the trace in trace 3 has a big effect on the Bolus boost and the corals ability to handle the extra light and increased growth. Doug would be better to explain this than me, so maybe he will chime in.. cheers!
Great live Adam. Appreciate the content. Thumbs up 👍🏼 to help the channel grow. Thank you also to Fauna Marin. Claude is a beast. Interesting method, but not sure this will work better than keeping it stable. I see the logic though. Definitely worth looking into and testing more.
Thanks buddy! We will see over the next year or two how this plays out for people. I’m going to give it a try on my smaller system that runs BL already.
@@fraggarage5922 would be good if you did some updates on your progress and things you notice with it! I've been running Bolus since February and would not go back 😎
This is what we did way back when there wasn’t automation and the lights just came on.
I still dump 3 to 9 ounces of great value bicarbonate before work every day . Manualy
Im one of the Tester, im in the Hobby from 1987 and in know what i do, as Claude come up with this Idear, i think about an way not 😂 it is the same as wie do in the past, i see it right away, my Milka an a special the caulastrea are much more expand, relay good idea and works great. At the moment i run the Methode more then six month and i never Go back.
What is the alk deviation pre and post bolus?
Thanks
Super generous of you, thank you!
The show is great. You’re very inquisitive and asking the right critical questions. Very well made.
I changed my lighting schedule in preparation to try this method and found a significant change to my pH peak. I'm going to see if this trend continues before switching, but I'm wondering if the change to the lighting schedule is the major factor in the increased pH and not the Bolus dose?
I'm curious. Did you change it fast or slow, and what exactly did you change
@dustingerminaro3700 I changed it fast and shifted my peak in the middle of the day to an immediate start up. Then ramped 20% for 2 hours before staying constant for 4 hours, then ramping down slowly over another 4 hours.
How fast? In one day? I have a 2hr ramp time, from 10am to 12pm to 90%. Can I just move the full intensity to 10am?
@dustingerminaro3700 yeah, I just shifted it in one go.
I have a mix of G4, G5 and G6 Radion Pros. My lights are straight on to 60%, then ramp up to 80% over 2 hour. Stay on for 4 hours and then ramp down over 4 hours.
The other recent change I made before this was turning the reds up. They're at 40% at the low point and 50% during the peak of the day.
Going to see want happens if I get the reds up even higher.
I thought they said have your lights at 100 percent for the first 2 hours then go to 80 for 2 hours?
Hi Adam I think I’m ready to change onto F/M balling would you go onto light first or straight onto Bolus 🤔🤷🏻♂️
Nice! What system are you on right now for major elements etc?
What does this equate to in Kh value? What levels are people aiming for?
I have to keep both KH and Mag levels topped up. Both seem to drop quite steadily. If one goes low PH drops..
You three need to do this again, walk through the HTU, and not justify each point. I’m 1 day in and my tank is glowing, it’s insane. A proper how to would be good. I had to cobble together between HTU, videos, groups. This is truly game changing if one day is anything to go by.
Do you do water changes with this method?
@@3r1ckt0rr35 yep!
Hi Adam I’m dosing 38ml reef zlements PLUS Alk 8.4 ph 8.2 to 8.47
I think that's the brand that uses hydroxides, right?
@@fraggarage5922 not sure sorry 😞 is that bad for the system 🤷🏻♂in my 100 gallon mixed reef I struggle with some sps basing out , PC rainbow & Fox flame fine .but others not so 😢 Be great for you to do video on care of corals 🙏😁
Tomorrow will be my first bolus and solus
Anyway you can boost audio on your end? Maybe before upload? I do listen over heavy equipment smile😅.
I wish I could after the fact, but it’s not an option on YT.. hopefully next stream I have more of those things dialled in.. we don’t hear what the stream hears exactly the same..
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
This may well work. But there are so many wrong basic chemistry statements in this interview that it looses all credibility. Sorry, not my favorite episode.
This method doesn't do anything for pH at all.
I saw a .1 increase in PH by the 3rd day of bolus on my smaller system.
@fraggarage5922 that's interesting. Are you still using kalk at night? My pH tanks at night. How do you maintain it if not for Kalk please?
@@Yazannreef no, not on that system.. it’s never seen Kalk.. it was already running on balling light, so I just dosed the same amount of alk as a starting point for the Bolus dose.
@@fraggarage5922 maybe because I switched from kalk to bolus it kinda messed up the pH. Thanks for the info
@@Yazannreef Yeah, that would make sense. You tried a hard switch over to Bolus? How much kalk were you dosing?
The method isn’t new
Been around for ever
Read some books
Im yet to see good corals from Fauna Marin sorry my 20 cents
Then you arnt looking very hard... 😂
They are really easy to find ..