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If you do have any questions about balling please feel free to post here or PM me and i'll try to help in anyway i can
What is Balling Lite?
The well-known and popular Balling Lite method is an extremely simple method for providing your aquarium with calcium, magnesium, carbonate hardness and trace elements. To provide an optimal supply for a marine aquarium these substances are added daily by hand or by a dosing pump and is a direct replacement for a calcium reactor.
What water values should you be aiming for when using Balling Lite continuously?
Calcium 380 – 420 mg/litre
Magnesium 1200 – 1350 mg/litre
Alkalinity 6.5 – 8 dkH
Salinity 33 – 35 per mil
How do I mix up my balling salts and to what ratio?
Three 5-litre canisters are to be prepared separately
1st canister:
Dissolve 2 kg of calcium chloride dihydrate in 4 litres of osmosis water and then fill the canister with osmosis water.
! Caution ! Always add the salt to the water - never vice versa!
Then add 25 ml Trace B heavy metal complex and 25 ml Trace B strontium / barium complex to the canister.
2nd canister:
Dissolve 2 kg of magnesium chloride hexahydrate in 4 litres of osmosis water and then fill the canister with osmosis water.
Nothing else is added to this canister!
3rd canister:
Dissolve 500 g of sodium bicarbonate in 4 litres of osmosis water and then fill the canister with osmosis water.
Then add 25 ml Trace B iodine flour complex to the canister.
!Tip! Use luke warm RO to dissolve the sodium bicarbonate.
A slight discolouration of the solutions is normal and is due to the addition of bioactive substances and trace elements. This has no impact on the quality or stability of the solutions.
After dissolution the solutions can be stored indefinitely.
The three canisters are now ready to be used and can be connected to an appropriate dosing computer.
How much should I be dosing?
This will depend on many factors like stocking levels and lighting used and will of coarse be different for every setup.
Depending on the content of the aquarium the individual solutions now need to be metered manually in order to determine the actual requirements.
Before doing this determine the current water values and make a note of the results.
Example:
50 ml of canister 1 into a 500 litre aquarium.
Value before dosing = 380 mg of calcium. After 2 hours repeat the test the calcium value after the 2nd test is then 400 mg of calcium.
In this example 50 ml of the solution from canister 1 increases the calcium value by 20mg/litre for a 500 litre aquarium.
Now programme the dosing computer to add 7 ml of the solution once a day, i.e. 50 ml of the solution spread over a week.
After a week measure the calcium value again and note it has only risen to 390 mg/litre, although in a pure arithmetic sense this should have risen to 400 mg/litre.
This method determines the actual loss of calcium in the system that is to be compensated. In some cases this actual loss may differ significantly from the calculated loss as a result of growth or chemical precipitation!
You can now easily adapt the dosage level by increasing the value by 3 ml per day as already calculated. 50 ml = + 20 mg / 7 days = 7 ml In order to obtain + 30 mg therefore 75 ml / 7 days = 10 ml must be added.
Using this simple 3-part calculation you can easily adjust each of your desired values and set an automatic dosing schedule in just a few days.
A daily inspection of the calcium (Ca TEST), magnesium (Mg test) and dKH values (KH test) is to be conducted at the start and the dosing quantity adapted on the device if necessary.
After no more than 2 weeks you will have determined the specific requirements for your aquarium and set the dosing unit accordingly.
Do I need to add any other minerals or trace elements?
Mineral salts can be added by hand, however this is not essential with regular waterchanges of 10% per week, as a good branded mineral salt will adequately cover the mineral salt requirements.
Relinquishment of the mineral salt in the Balling light method can be explained not only as a result of the regular water exchange, but also as a result of the generally too-high quantity of dissolved trace elements in our aquariums.
Therefore, the often mentioned 'ion displacement' factor is only applicable based on theoretical consideration of the Balling method.
The regular exchange of water helps your system to dilute unwanted substances and it makes it very easy to adjust and control salinity levels.
Edited by Psyance, 30 June 2011 - 12:21 PM.
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