Balling method. I don't get it what is going on.

Gargamel35 · 05/04/2018, 05:34 AM

112 gallon tank with LPS and SPS corals. There is around 20 different corals in the system right now, almost all are small.

I started complete balling method (adding Kh, Ca, Mg, trace elements - Trans Marine salts) with dosing pump 2 months ago. When i was adding around 35ml per day, my water elements were almost perfect (Kh 8.0, Ca 425, Mg, 1300). I wanted to lift elements a little bit to make them perfect.

So i increased the dosing to 40ml. At the same time i added couple new SPS corals also. I checked the elements 1 week later and was shocked because all the elements went down, not up. Now i increased the dosing to 50ml to see if that will help.

Is it possible that only couple corals increase consumption of the elements so much? Or is it possible something else is eating the elements? I checked the dosing and it works ok.

mndfreeze · 05/04/2018, 06:07 AM

Sure your measurements were accurate? Any other changes in the system like ambient temp or water changes or idk.. Could be the corals/bacteria/plant life are all just sucking up the extra.

I'm not super hip to all the complex water chemistry stuff but you probably should do a full battery of normal checks like alk and all that, and post them also. Someone here probably will be able to tell you if one affects the others in a way that could alter your numbers.

Lsufan · 05/04/2018, 04:04 PM

Is it a new system. U can expect changes in a newer system for several reasons. It could be somthing as simple as coraline algea started growing. U may be surprised how much coraline growing like crazy can drop the alk. I don’t think 1 or 2 new corals would make much of a difference. If the system is young I would suspect more that the corals that have been in the tank for a little while have settled in & started growing more then when they were placed in the tank. Especially if u placed a bunch of small frags around the same time

reef4mat · 12/16/2018, 03:01 PM

What did you learn was the cause?

05/04/2018, 05:34 AM	#1
Gargamel35 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2016 Posts: 71	Balling method. I don't get it what is going on. 112 gallon tank with LPS and SPS corals. There is around 20 different corals in the system right now, almost all are small. I started complete balling method (adding Kh, Ca, Mg, trace elements - Trans Marine salts) with dosing pump 2 months ago. When i was adding around 35ml per day, my water elements were almost perfect (Kh 8.0, Ca 425, Mg, 1300). I wanted to lift elements a little bit to make them perfect. So i increased the dosing to 40ml. At the same time i added couple new SPS corals also. I checked the elements 1 week later and was shocked because all the elements went down, not up. Now i increased the dosing to 50ml to see if that will help. Is it possible that only couple corals increase consumption of the elements so much? Or is it possible something else is eating the elements? I checked the dosing and it works ok.

05/04/2018, 06:07 AM	#2
mndfreeze Invert Sexy Time! Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Tempe, AZ Posts: 2,255	Sure your measurements were accurate? Any other changes in the system like ambient temp or water changes or idk.. Could be the corals/bacteria/plant life are all just sucking up the extra. I'm not super hip to all the complex water chemistry stuff but you probably should do a full battery of normal checks like alk and all that, and post them also. Someone here probably will be able to tell you if one affects the others in a way that could alter your numbers.

05/04/2018, 04:04 PM	#3
Lsufan Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Baton Rouge Posts: 1,410	Is it a new system. U can expect changes in a newer system for several reasons. It could be somthing as simple as coraline algea started growing. U may be surprised how much coraline growing like crazy can drop the alk. I don’t think 1 or 2 new corals would make much of a difference. If the system is young I would suspect more that the corals that have been in the tank for a little while have settled in & started growing more then when they were placed in the tank. Especially if u placed a bunch of small frags around the same time

12/16/2018, 03:01 PM	#4
reef4mat Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Chicago, IL 60660 Posts: 393	What did you learn was the cause?