The Most Baller Aquarium

There is a certain portion of the population of aquarium keepers whose dream tank is densely populated with stony corals, decorative clams and other invertebrates that all have a high demand for calcium and alkalinity as well as a myriad of other minerals and trace nutrients. This is something that was really difficult until the early 1990s. Yes, that's a long time ago, but the history of glass aquariums that goes back at least to the early 1800s and the history of captive fish keeping goes back hundreds if not thousands of years. Back in the 70s and 80s if you wanted to keep a tank full of corals happy, the only ways were either to do very large and very frequent water changes or use complicated calcium reactors It wasn't until 1994 that we started balling out.

Yes, Balling. Dr. Hans-Werner Balling invented the balling method in Germany, around the same time that Julian Sprung released his own system and these two are likely the genesis of the whole dosing genre. It's difficult to say who came first, but for our purposes it doesn't really matter. To this day, the Balling system remains the best, easiest and most complete way to maintain not only calcium and alkalinity but also trace elements and minerals, where many two-part dosing products struggles. Do you need Balling Salts? Not everyone will. Tanks with low demand for CA and Alk will not benefit from it, but if your tank has Tridacna Clams or a lot of corals, your tank is a candidate for Balling Salts.

The genius of Dr. Balling's system is in its simplicity. Whether you buy them as a powder or a liquid, there are three parts. Part A is the calcium component and is calcium chloride dihydrate which when dissolved and dosed into seawater, provides stable and biologically available calcium. Part B is the alkalinity component and is made up of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate. Part C is a wide spectrum sea salt, that has everything in it except for “salt” (sodium chloride). Part C will dose everything else your system needs including magnesium and potassium and it will do it in appropriate levels for the system.

All good dosing practices start with testing, and if you're going to put anything in your aquarium there needs to be testing before and after. Balling Salts are no exception to this rule; you need to know what to dose. So, start by carrying out water testing for calcium, alkalinity and magnesium to understand exactly how much of each your tank is using up every day or every week. Tropic Marin also makes an excellent range of test kits that are perfect for the kind of accuracy needed here. Start your water testing right after a water change and then repeat it the next day and note any differences. If there aren't any differences, test again the next day and keep this going for the full week. Keep notes on every testing, and remember you are comparing the daily test numbers to the original test (right after the water change) to measure usage. If you haven't seen any change after a week, your system demand probably isn't high enough to warrant dosing yet. Just keep up the regular water changes.

On the other side, those of you who do see changes in your calcium, alkalinity and magnesium levels will need to address those shortfalls. If you purchase Balling Salts as a powder, you'll need to mix each separate salt into its own container. A small scoop is included. You'll mix twelve level scoops of Part A powder into one gallon of RO/DI water. The Part B ratio is 16 scoops per gallon and the Part C ratio is four scoops per gallon. Obviously, if you buy the pre-mixed liquid you won't need to worry about this. The liquid is more convenient, but less economical. Never mix the solutions together directly as they'll react and ruin any amount you've mixed together.

The best way to manage the actual dosing is with a dosing pump with three programmable channels. You'll add each solution to its own channel and have them dose out the liquid over time. The best place to do this is either directly into the flow of the aquarium, or into the return portion of the sump. You should time the different solutions to get delivered into the tank with a few minutes gap between them to prevent any possibility of having too much Ca and Alk in a small volume at the same time, which can result in precipitation, which should be avoided at all costs. Start by dosing all three salts at the same dosage and base that dosage on the calcium test. One fluid ounce (30ml) of each solution will raise the calcium level by 15ppm and alkalinity by 2.2 degrees for every ten gallons of water. So as an example, if your 100-gallon aquarium drops 15 ppm per day, you'd need to dose 10 fluid ounces (30ml) per day (this would be a massive calcium demand and is used only as an easy-math example, not something you should expect). If you're dosing more than half an ounce (15ml) per day, divide your total dosage by the number of times you want to dose and deliver that amount per dose. We suggest at least two doses and more is always better. You can do this dosing by hand, by adding the liquid directly to the aquarium or sump, but a dosing pump will make this more accurate, dramatically easier and more stable.

Once you start dosing, keep testing for all three parameters (Ca, Alk, Mg). Make adjustments to your dosing based on what these tests tell you. If after dosing, the Ca is staying perfect, but the Alk is dropping, leave the Part A dosage alone and raise the Part B. If the Alk is rising too fast and the Ca is dropping, increase the Part A and decrease the Part B. The maximum dose you should ever be using is two fluid ounces (60ml) per ten gallons of capacity per day. Make small adjustments, never large ones. It's better to creep up on the number you're looking for than trying to jump there in one go.

 Part C is the only part that shouldn't be adjusted based on the testing. Match how much Part C you are dosing with the lesser of the other two. As an example, if you are dosing one fluid ounce of Part A, and only half an ounce of Part B, then your part three dose will also be half an ounce. Part C is a supplement, but it is also required to balance out the water chemistry needs that result from dosing Part A and Part B. Basically by dosing these two, you're making a certain amount of salt, and the Part C balances out the magnesium, potassium and trace minerals with that additional amount of salt. If magnesium continues to drop, do not dose more Part C, instead utilize Tropic Marin Bio-Magnesium. If you need to dose the magnesium, you'll also need to use the trace nutrient supplements and the best way to get that done is with Tropic Marin K+ and A-. As an aside, very few tanks will need additional magnesium supplementation beyond the Part C.

In a nutshell, really baller reef tanks require stability in all ways, temperature, lighting, biology, and mineral levels. This last one is incredibly important and the easiest and most complete way to do this is via the Balling Method. In a nutshell, this means adding calcium, alkalinity and a salt free mix to replenish elements as they are used up. Consistent and continued testing is the key to maintaining any mechanism you choose to achieve this balance. Your system's needs will change as your invertebrates grow, and you need to be able to stay on top of this. Remember you are not dosing to raise these levels; you're dosing to maintain a stable balance. Don't try to raise your levels by dosing. Get your original levels from doing large and regular water changes with a quality salt like Tropic Marin which we not only recommend but is also the only salt we use in our system here at Quality Marine. If you want your display to ball out, head to your local fish store (LFS) and ask them about getting you set up to start dosing Balling Salts today!