Balling method

[mohans]

Dear reefers

After much debate I am restarting my tank again. I was running it well for 4 years before in the last year due to work commitments and travel I have been doing badly with my tank. I started selling some items but stopped and have decided to restart my tank again.

I have been thinking of setting it up using the balling method for dosing this time. My hope is that this will give additional stability to a mature tank and therefore be stable when I am traveling.

Any fellow reefers using balling method or balling lite at the moment? what is your experience so far?

cheers

Mohan

[joshua36]

Dear reefers

After much debate I am restarting my tank again. I was running it well for 4 years before in the last year due to work commitments and travel I have been doing badly with my tank. I started selling some items but stopped and have decided to restart my tank again.

I have been thinking of setting it up using the balling method for dosing this time. My hope is that this will give additional stability to a mature tank and therefore be stable when I am traveling.

Any fellow reefers using balling method or balling lite at the moment? what is your experience so far?

cheers

Mohan

hi bro, i have been using balling method for the last two years with my new setup. it does work very well for me. so far, i have no problem keeping my water parameter in check. i m dosing Calcium A, B and C from EcoSystem Aquarium, USA.

[mohans]

hi bro, i have been using balling method for the last two years with my new setup. it does work very well for me. so far, i have no problem keeping my water parameter in check. i m dosing Calcium A, B and C from EcoSystem Aquarium, USA.

Many thanks for your feedback! The ecosystem model seems small. Can you advise what size tank you have and how often you need to change the A,B & C packs?

[joshua36]

Many thanks for your feedback! The ecosystem model seems small. Can you advise what size tank you have and how often you need to change the A,B & C packs?

what do u mean by small? my tank is 4' and i dose 3 times a week. i buy 2 or 3 sets of A,B,C each time and that would normally last me 2 mths. it's the cheapest Balling Method product i can find in petmart.

[mohans]

what do u mean by small? my tank is 4' and i dose 3 times a week. i buy 2 or 3 sets of A,B,C each time and that would normally last me 2 mths. it's the cheapest Balling Method product i can find in petmart.

ok..it's not so small..

have you looked at the grotech balling method? not sure what your cost/month is for the additives but Grotech works out to something like S$35 p/mth. Do u think this reasonable?

Thanks

[joshua36]

ok..it's not so small..

have you looked at the grotech balling method? not sure what your cost/month is for the additives but Grotech works out to something like S$35 p/mth. Do u think this reasonable?

Thanks

i started with grotech but then switched to ecosystem coz it was exp. i am paying $11 for each ecosystem 16 oz bottle.

[moron_clown]

Hi i've used Balling Light Method for a couple of months now.

I've decided to use the balling light method intead of the full balling because I could not find the Tropic Marine NaCi free salt required for full balling, as well as the difficulty in measuring and accurately dosing all the other minor trace elements e.g Iron,Strontium,Molybdenum, Iodine ect. I currently replendish those by using a quality salt mix for my weekly water change.

Parameters

kH -8dkH

Calcium - 450ppm

Mag -1400mg

Formula is a modified Randy's 2 part. Because of the difficulty in obtaining pure calcium and magnesium chloride, I've chosen to use commercially available substitudes. The following describes the formula.

Calcium - 800grams of Grotech Instant Calcium mixed with 4.8 Litres of RO water

kH - 800grams of Baked (150Degrees Celcius for 2 hours) Arm and Hammer Brand Baking Powder with 4.8 litres of RO water

Magnesium - 400grams of Seachem Magnesium Advantage (Mixture of Magnesium Chloride and Sulphate) with 2 litres of RO water.

Dosing is via Aquatronica Dosing Pump

Total consumption - I have 20 colonies of SPS and 15 pcs of LPS, total consumption is 55ml kH,55ml Calcium, 35ml Magnesium.

Estimated Running Costs - Cal($20),kH($9),Mag($15) + 12L RO water and Negligible electricity for Dosing Pump. TOTAL = $44 per 90days, $14 Per Month.

Everything takes about 3-4Hours to prepare(inclusive of 2hours of Baking).

Pros and Cons(compared to using a calcium reactor)

Pros

- pH stays higher

My tank resides in a bedroom which is air conditioned most of the time. This leads to a build up of carbon dioxide which lowers pH. my previous Calcium Reactors lowers pH by quite a bit.Balling eliminates this problem.

- Lower startup costs

$200 of balling ingredients can last for more than 2 years. If a dosing pump is out of your budget, you can just get a measuring cylinder and manually pour the solutions in every night.I'm just lazy.

-Magnesium

I've had trouble in the past with magnesium when i was using a reactor. My magnesium could'nt raise above 1200mg no matter how much media i added into the reactor.Maybe its just me, but the problems solved with balling.

- Cheaper running costs

There is no extra maxijet or aquabee or eheim pump to run.This means lower running costs,eletricity and maintenance.

- Profile and Footprint

The whole setup takes up a 23X25cm footprint, there's no Co2 Bott,reactor,solenoid,regulator,pump ect to take up space. this footprint can be totally eliminated if you dose manually. Helps alot when you have a cabinet that is as small as mine.

-Noise and Heat

No extra Pumps= Lower Noise, Lower Heat.

-Limitless

A calcium reactor is limited by the amount of media that can be housed in the reactor. Balling is limitless.

CONS

-Preparing solutions

Pain in the butt to prepare the solutions. Took me around 3 Hours. The Grotech Instant Calcium will be heated up to boilling point when mixed with water,please use a glass or metal container for mixing and always wear safety goggles, masks and gloves.

-Health considerations

The ingredients are very harmful when inhaled. Always wear masks when preparing them. Some calcium crystals can lacerate your lung when inhaled. They can also cause skin irritations.

-Troublesome

Applies to users not using a doing pump. Can be troublesome at times for e.g, when you are overseas and need someone to dose for you. Must be dosed manually everyday.

-Water Change

Applies to Balling light users. A weekly 10% water change is recommended to remove Sodium Chloride and excess impurities. Salinity will also gradually increase due to the input of NaCi, this can be corrected with a weekly water change.

Conclusion

Having used both Balling and Reactors, I feel that Balling's pros outweighs it's cons. Since i already carry out a weekly water change, the biggest hassle of the balling method is no longer a hinder. A calcium reactor still provides ultimate convenience if you have the luxury of space and the budget for a reactor. Boths are just methods to achieve the same results.

Pictures

Sump with dosing pump and solutions

Closer up

Hope this helps.

[m12345y]

i just doubt how could your chiller work?! both front and rear are obstructed

[moron_clown]

i just doubt how could your chiller work?! both front and rear are obstructed

off topic. There's a vent at the back. the front can be partially obstructed without problems.

[mohans]

Hi i've used Balling Light Method for a couple of months now.

I've decided to use the balling light method intead of the full balling because I could not find the Tropic Marine NaCi free salt required for full balling, as well as the difficulty in measuring and accurately dosing all the other minor trace elements e.g Iron,Strontium,Molybdenum, Iodine ect. I currently replendish those by using a quality salt mix for my weekly water change.

Parameters

kH -8dkH

Calcium - 450ppm

Mag -1400mg

Formula is a modified Randy's 2 part. Because of the difficulty in obtaining pure calcium and magnesium chloride, I've chosen to use commercially available substitudes. The following describes the formula.

Calcium - 800grams of Grotech Instant Calcium mixed with 4.8 Litres of RO water

kH - 800grams of Baked (150Degrees Celcius for 2 hours) Arm and Hammer Brand Baking Powder with 4.8 litres of RO water

Magnesium - 400grams of Seachem Magnesium Advantage (Mixture of Magnesium Chloride and Sulphate) with 2 litres of RO water.

Dosing is via Aquatronica Dosing Pump

Total consumption - I have 20 colonies of SPS and 15 pcs of LPS, total consumption is 55ml kH,55ml Calcium, 35ml Magnesium.

Estimated Running Costs - Cal($20),kH($9),Mag($15) + 12L RO water and Negligible electricity for Dosing Pump. TOTAL = $44 per 90days, $14 Per Month.

Everything takes about 3-4Hours to prepare(inclusive of 2hours of Baking).

Pros and Cons(compared to using a calcium reactor)

Pros

- pH stays higher

My tank resides in a bedroom which is air conditioned most of the time. This leads to a build up of carbon dioxide which lowers pH. my previous Calcium Reactors lowers pH by quite a bit.Balling eliminates this problem.

- Lower startup costs

$200 of balling ingredients can last for more than 2 years. If a dosing pump is out of your budget, you can just get a measuring cylinder and manually pour the solutions in every night.I'm just lazy.

-Magnesium

I've had trouble in the past with magnesium when i was using a reactor. My magnesium could'nt raise above 1200mg no matter how much media i added into the reactor.Maybe its just me, but the problems solved with balling.

- Cheaper running costs

There is no extra maxijet or aquabee or eheim pump to run.This means lower running costs,eletricity and maintenance.

- Profile and Footprint

The whole setup takes up a 23X25cm footprint, there's no Co2 Bott,reactor,solenoid,regulator,pump ect to take up space. this footprint can be totally eliminated if you dose manually. Helps alot when you have a cabinet that is as small as mine.

-Noise and Heat

No extra Pumps= Lower Noise, Lower Heat.

-Limitless

A calcium reactor is limited by the amount of media that can be housed in the reactor. Balling is limitless.

CONS

-Preparing solutions

Pain in the butt to prepare the solutions. Took me around 3 Hours. The Grotech Instant Calcium will be heated up to boilling point when mixed with water,please use a glass or metal container for mixing and always wear safety goggles, masks and gloves.

-Health considerations

The ingredients are very harmful when inhaled. Always wear masks when preparing them. Some calcium crystals can lacerate your lung when inhaled. They can also cause skin irritations.

-Troublesome

Applies to users not using a doing pump. Can be troublesome at times for e.g, when you are overseas and need someone to dose for you. Must be dosed manually everyday.

-Water Change

Applies to Balling light users. A weekly 10% water change is recommended to remove Sodium Chloride and excess impurities. Salinity will also gradually increase due to the input of NaCi, this can be corrected with a weekly water change.

Conclusion

Having used both Balling and Reactors, I feel that Balling's pros outweighs it's cons. Since i already carry out a weekly water change, the biggest hassle of the balling method is no longer a hinder. A calcium reactor still provides ultimate convenience if you have the luxury of space and the budget for a reactor. Boths are just methods to achieve the same results.

Pictures

Sump with dosing pump and solutions

Closer up

Hope this helps.

Dear Fellow Reefer

Many thanks for your thoughtful and detailed feedback.

Like you I have tried CR and am moving to ball method. Over the last week I've been gradually getting the equipment and additives necessary. Am using Grotech Tec III for dosing with Grotech Instant Calcium, Instant Carbonate and Instant Magnesium - so yes balling lite seems to be easier because I have not been able to find NaCi free salts. In addition, I'm adding Corall A, B, C and Vitoamino, to solutions I, II & III.

I'll try and report the progress as it goes along.

Cheers

Mohan