Bi-onic 2 part additive

[Fastmarc]

A friend of mine uses this to supplement his calcium/alk, but has a hard time getting the calcium and alk to got to respectable levels.
He has a 120 gal that is moderately stocked with a few softies and LPS. No SPS.
He is currently dripping 100ml (50ml in the morning and 50ml at night).
This sounds like a lot. Is this normal?

 

[mars2025]

according to the bottle you should not dose more than 120 ml in a 24 hr period.
i dose 60 ml a day in a fowlr to keep the coraline growing

 

[Fastmarc]

Thanks Mars.
He does have good coralline growth, but the amount being dosed sounds like a lot to me.
I don't have any experience with this product, though. Anyone else who has, I would appreciate hearing from.

 

[Len]

hey mars2025,

Fastmarc,
I've found that B-ionic isn't terrific at elevating Ca levels (does a pretty good job with alk though). I'd tell him to try dripping kalkwasser to see if that does the trick.

ESV recommends daily additions of 1 ml. of component 1 and 1 ml. of component 2 per 2 gallons of aquarium water. THat means your friend should be dosing 60ml of part 1 and 60ml of part 2 per day. Numbers will vary, however, depending on the needs of the tank. I would say for your friend to trim back the dosage a bit and try kalkwasser.

BTW, what are alk, Ca, and pH values? If it's just a bit low, I wouldn't worry about it. Let your tank tell you how well it's doing, not just test kits. I find too many hobbyists try to aim for magicial values instead of simple observation.

 

[buddy620]

I have used that product for a long time with good results but since going to a larger tank had to get a CA reactor, more cost effective for me.

 

[MattM]

Check Mg levels as well. Low magnesium can result in both low Ca and Alk despite additions. Some salts can cause low Mg levels.

 

[Fastmarc]

Thanks all for the replies.
His alk is about 3.5 and the ca is about 360.
To be honest, his tank looks fine.
All his water changes are done with natural sea water, weekly.

 

[Fastmarc]

Just to let you all know that I personally went and checked my friends tank and it turned out that the readings he gave me were incorrect. He was using Salifert's test kits in the low range and didn't realised that the results should be multiplied by 2.
Thanks again to all who replied.

 

[Len]

Good to hear. 7 dkH with 360ppm Ca is a respectable value.

 

[Fastmarc]

I agree, Len.
His actual reading yesterday was 7.4 dkH and Ca was 420ppm. His tank is still a work in progress (recovering from a few mistakes he made) and I'm helping him with it, but I think he is heading in the right direction.
I think he has a better hang of the test kit now.