B IONIC 2PARTS

[papijames]

Morning all,
I recently made the switch from a FOWRL to a mix tank with a mushrooms, gsp, zoas, candycane,etc.
Now I was in the search of a good reef food to feed my corals. I've read alot of good posting about the 2parts B Ionic and went to AD 2 weeks ago to get it. Instead, I was sold another product "Kent marine Coral-Vite"
Is it as good as the B-ionic? should I still buy it? is the Coral-vite worth keeping?

[tony]

never heard of the other product

ive used b-ionic for 3 years now with zero problems. search the forum, many others have too

[Kristy]

Totally different products, they do different things. The coralvite is food, you feed the tank or corals directly. The B-Ionic is chemicals that balance the calcium and alk, also very important, but best advice says don't use anything you are not testing for.

We have used the coralvite previously while we were target feeding some of the corals, but now just use phyto for the whole tank.

Mike (& Kristy)

[papijames]

Thanks guys, I guess I'll go buy it. so where's the best place to get it? online or a local FS?

PS: Kristy I didn't forget about you for the mushrooms. I did what you told me and have a piece of rock next to the purple mushrooms but they are still not attaching themselves to it. Am I doing something wrong? if you know how to pluck some out of rock without killing them then you're more than welcome to come get some anytime.

[Kristy]

Only start the B-Ionic 2 part if you are monitoring calcium and alkalinity and find that they are getting out of balance beyond what your water changes are taking care of. I kind of doubt that the amount of corals you have are depleting the calcium to that degree, but maybe... anyway, just be sure you are testing calcium and alk.

And about the mushrooms, no worries. If they should start to spread you can give us one, but if not that's okay. i am trying to stay away from mushrooms but Mike just loves them, so what you gonna do?

[lt1z28]

DIY Ionic is cheaper.

[cpreefguy]

B ionic is great, Ive used it for years.
Also, you may want to check out:
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/Two-Part-Kits/c52/index.html

It seems very straight forward, and a lot more cost efficient

[Dominican]

James, like Kristy says, B-Ionic is good stuff, but it's not for feeding corals. Don't use it if you're not actively managing your calcium/alkalinity levels. That would be asking for trouble IMO.

I'm feeding corals with a combination of cyclopeeze and phyto. You can get them at your LFS.

[cpreefguy]

Also, if using B-Ionic, it would be wise to invest in Calcium and Alk test kits, I like salifert test kits

[papijames]

Ok I just realized that I had a calcium and alkalinity tester. the Calcium tester is from NUTRAFIN purchased @Texas tropical, and the Alkalinity test is from Instant Ocean purchased @ Alamo Aquatic. I got a 400mg/L calcium result(20drops X 20). For the Alkalinity,now that's another story. it says to divide the number of drop by 4 to get mEg/l then to x 50 to get ppm caCO3. so I got 5drops/4=1.25mEgl X 50=62.5ppm caCO3.
is that correct?

[Kristy]

Assuming you did the test correctly, followed the directions correctly, etc. AND that both your tests are accurate, then both calcium and alkalinity results would be low.

[glennr1978]

I wouldn't worry about dosing for Ca, and Alk. Given the corals you are / want to keep I think just doing regular water changes with a decent salt mix would be sufficient. Anyone disagree?

[ErikH]

I completely agree with Glenn here. Water changes weekly, maybe ten gallons with Reef Crystals salt should keep your tank quite healthy. As bstreep as said "Saltwater is cheap." and I agree. James, I just added a CA reactor since I have put alot of SPS in there, and since I am going SPS dominant (even with a large fish load) I found that this is going to be the most managable, hands-off approach to keeping my tank. I am hoping that by next month I will have my tank situated enough to be able to keep my hands out of the water, only in to feed nori. In a tank that is not SPS dominant, just those changes should do you great.

[Ping]

Water changes may meet a systems requirement for Calcium and Alkalinity/(K)arbonate hardness. The water must be tested to determine a systems rate of consumption. New tanks have a tendency for pH shifts beyond the long term natural diurnal pH cycle. A long term steady and higher than natural seawater dKH provides many long term benefits.

Many problems / deaths in a new system can be alleviated by long term testing of Calcium and Alkalinity.

Testing should be daily, until the tanks normal parameters are measured. The time between testing can be extended when system norms are noted. During this testing cycle the determination of a systems consumption of calcium and buffer (Alk) are noted, and tank dosing is adjusted accordingly.

Stability is the key. Alkalinity is dangerously low in many tanks, and low Alkalinity contributes to the deaths of aquarium inhabitants.

[papijames]

thank you so much guys for all of your answers. I guess I will start doing weekly water change instead of bi-weekly. I currently use Red Sea Coral Pro salt and did a water change today. my Calcium & Alkalinity numbers were higher than what I had this morning.

[stoneroller]

I've been using 2 part solution from bulkreefsupply and this calculator http://reef.diesyst.com/flashcalc/flashcalc.html, love it. BTW, I'd be happy with a consistent 400 mg/l Ca!