Any experience with NP-BACTO-BALANCE
 

I was told to replace my vinegar carbon dosing with NP-BACTO-BALANCE. Anybody here has any experience with the product? Good or bad.

The product description on the label promises a lot short of "solving the world peace".

Go here, he's been using it for 2-3 years

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...406948&page=53

Thank you for the link. It seems to be working for people just fine. If all I have to do is add this stuff to my tank and it will look like his, I am all for it. :bounce3:

I did notice that it says to store it in a dark and cool place. Now I am wondering if I can keep it next to my ATO and dose it automatically.

I did contact the manufacturer and asked him. Will post their answer here.

Imo, it's the least complicated commercial carbon dosing system and also the least expensive.

From the limited exposure I have had it's not what you want to use to knock down out of control high levels of nutrients. It does do a very good job of keeping a balance once the system is in a standard target range.

It's way too potent to put on a dosing system.........you have to hand dose. A small amount of this goes a long way.

Here's more info.......you can put in your systems volume in the calculater and you'll see what I mean by how little you need
http://www.tropic-marin-smartinfo.co...ce.html#open-5

If your goal is to spend more money on carbon dosing then go for it..

It's probably fine, but I am skeptical about it being any better than vinegar or vodka. It might have some nutrients that some tanks don't get via their food input.

The cost does not seem to be that much different. 3 year supply for my tank costs me $30. If I go with vinegar, it cost me 1 cent per day. Using NP-BACTO-BALANCE costs me 2.5 cents per day.

I believe vodka might be even closer in cost.

Here is an answer from the maker of the product as far as storing it in next to the ATO:

Our recommendation to store NP-BACTO-BALANCE in a dark and cool place is a precaution because this product might get growth of fungal spores when diluted, and stored opened in a warm and bright place. But it does not have to be – if the container in your ATO is mostly closed, not too bright we would not expect problems. At the end it is also the question how long you would use one bottle of NP-BACTO-BALANCE.