b-ionic dosing and ph question

[adaminaustin]

Is this stuff as good as they say it is?

I added picshttp://www.maast.org/index.php?name=...pic&t=6774

[jrhein]

Im off to the fish store today to get some. THanks for the advice.

[GaryP]

Steve,

Mix your 2-part into your make up water. That way it is pre-dilutes and its not as likely to precipitate when you add it. I have two jugs for RO make up water. One for the A and one for the B solution. In addition that has the advantage of keeping your levels more constant, as opposed to having big dips as might be the case if you add it once a week like a lot of people do.

The answer to how much is it depends. The recommendations on the label are just a starting point. You will have to do some testing of your calcium and alkalinity to see what your weekly, or daily demand is. A tank full of softies isn't going to use as much as a tank full of quikly growing SPS and coraline algae.

The A solution is buffer and it should solve your pH problem. I'm not sure a pH of 7.95 will cause coral to bleach, but then it could be a lot lower at night. Again, you need to monitor both pH and alkalinity until you get a treatment program worked out. If your pH is low, then your alkalinity was probably low too. That may account for your bleaching. It was probably a combination of several things. It usually is.

I make my own 2 part additives. Its a lot cheaper than buying that high price RO water from the LFS. The active ingredients in the A solution are available at HEB. I bought a 50 lb. bag of the dry stuff in the B solution for less than a gal. jug of B ($14).

Let me know if I can be of any further help.

Gary

[enriquerivas]

Hey GaryP! do you have a recipie for making this home made version of B-ionic.

[GaryP]

Enrique,

A solution: 6 parts baking soda, 1 part washing soda. I make up a few lbs. at one time and then dissolve it in RO water at a concentration of 1/2 lb. per gal.

B solution: 1 lb. of Dowflake (Calcium Chloride) in 1 gal. of RO water. It get really hot when it dissolves so be ready to put your container in a tub or sink full of cool water. I use old vinegar jugs and they will warp if it get to hot. Make sure to rinse the jug out with a spoon full of baking soda and water before you use them. That will neutralize any residual vinegar in the plastic.

Dissolve both in a make up water as I described above or feed with an air house through the air hose port on a MaxiJet in order to make fine adjustments in concentration. DO NOT mix the Part A and Part B or feed at the same time. You'll just end up making aragonite that wil cover everything in your tank.

My RO water is a lot cheaper than B-ionic's. Not that I'm putting B-ionic down. Its a very good product. I just chose not to pay the LFS for something that is 90+% RO water when I can buy the same thing at HEB.

Gary

[enriquerivas]

This is great info! I'll try it out soon. Where do you buy Dowflake? By the way this would be great info to share at the meeting on the 22nd will you be there? This B-ionic is getting around, im shure others would like to know about this. Thanks Gary.

Rick.

[GaryP]

Rick, I have shared it at past meetings. I ordered a 50 lb. bag of Dowflake a while back. I have lots of it if you want some.

Gary

[Nano_Steve]

gary,

great info! thanks for all the great tips too. i checked my ph at 100 pm and its 8.25 but its weird, i had to turn off my pc supplement bulb for the meter to stop going haywire, i guess my pc is causing some stray voltage to leak into the tank???

-steve

[GaryP]

Sounds like it. A pH metter works on the electrical potential of ions in the water. I suppose stray current would do that.

Gary

[bozack]

Good thread Steve as I've been looking in to this myself. Anything I don't have to slow drip for now is a plus.

Any idea where to pick some up in Austin or on the internet for decent prices???