Kessil

BOLUS vs. Calcium Hydroxide

I really liked the content of this. Doug is so much better than Claude to present in front of an English speaking audience (which is the main reason why I did not pursue the Claude Zoom call for now), and he comes close to Claude when Claude does the German speaking videos. I always thought Claude was far less effective in English, and Doug is a great mouthpiece of his.

He says a ton of stuff folks here might not like the hear. There is a rare comment of not using lanthanum I have not heard yet, but it looks like the reason for not using it might be easily mitigated by dosing lanthanum slowly in small doses.

Main talking points are about the precipation issues and how not good Kalkwasser is. While it sounds like a Fauna Marin Balling light commercial, the theory behind this is from one of the most respected reef (!) chemists in Germany, who is responsible for the water chemistry of the Karlsruhe Aquarium I had posted previously while I was in Germany (including videos). If you read the current issue of Coral Magazine, you may notice that this is the showcase public Aquarium. And, they do BOLUS in this aquarium, every three days the full three days dose of sodium bicabonate. Looks like they have been quite successful.

Thoughts?

 
Alexander1312 said:
I really liked the content of this. Doug is so much better than Claude to present in front of an English speaking audience (which is the main reason why I did not pursue the Claude Zoom call for now), and he comes close to Claude when Claude does the German speaking videos. I always thought Claude was far less effective in English, and Doug is a great mouthpiece of his.

He says a ton of stuff folks here might not like the hear. There is a rare comment of not using lanthanum I have not heard yet, but it looks like the reason for not using it might be easily mitigated by dosing lanthanum slowly in small doses.

Main talking points are about the precipation issues and how not good Kalkwasser is. While it sounds like a Fauna Marin Balling light commercial, the theory behind this is from one of the most respected reef (!) chemists in Germany, who is responsible for the water chemistry of the Karlsruhe Aquarium I had posted previously while I was in Germany (including videos). If you read the current issue of Coral Magazine, you may notice that this is the showcase public Aquarium. And, they do BOLUS in this aquarium, every three days the full three days dose of sodium bicabonate. Looks like they have been quite successful.

Thoughts?

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Will check it out.
 
Patio said:
I got a little used car salesman feel. That does not mean I think BOLUS is bad. BOLUS is fine, just like many other methods.
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+1 I haven't listened to the ReefBum episode yet, but Doug was also recently on Beyond the Reef. I thought he had kind of a slimy and elitist vibe also. And some pretty hand-wavy takes, IMO.
 
I have had several discussions recently with folks around what dosing system I am using etc.

Here are the links to it and where I currently buy it:

Fauna Marin Balling light - requires at least two dosing pumps

BOLUS is only the way they recommend dosing Balling light, but it can be dosed throughout the day, does not have to be done the BOLUS way.

Alkalinity -

Fauna Marin Balling Salts Kh 1 kg | Premium Aquatics

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I buy the 4kg size. 1 kg creates 10,000 ml solution. My tank uses 400 ml daily, which is unusually high.

CA - https://premiumaquatics.com/products/fauna-marin-balling-salts-ca-1-kg.html
I buy the 4kg size. 1kg creates 2,500 ml solution. My tank uses 74 ml daily.

MG - I do have their magnesium but I do not use it, and I only recommend buying it when needed, i.e., tested low.

The following trace elements to be added to Alkalinity and CA solutions:

Trace 3 - https://premiumaquatics.com/products/fauna-marin-balling-trace-3-health-250-ml.html
Will needed to be added to Alkalinity solution. You typically start with 25 ml per 5,000 ml solution.

Trace 1 - https://premiumaquatics.com/products/fauna-marin-balling-trace-1-color-grow-250-ml.html
Will need to be added to CA solution. Same as above, 25 ml per 5,000 ml solution.

Trace 2 - https://premiumaquatics.com/products/fauna-marin-balling-trace-2-metabolic-250-ml.html
Will need to be added to CA solution. Same as above, 25 ml per 5,000 ml solution.

This is where I buy my ICP tests from - https://icp1999.com/product/reef-icp-test-total/
I prefer the ICP Total since it covers all elements. I buy the 6 pack which brings down the average price quite a bit, but I pay 11-12 USD shipping to Los Angeles. And it takes 7-8 days before receiving the test results (I suggest send it out on Monday to the collection point), which is rather long.
 
Thales said:
From the video it seems like he is doing it to try to see if it works for him
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I did say he is trying it, not that he has successfully done it and that he recommends it to everyone now. And it might not work for him.

Fun fact, it does currently not ‘work’ for me (as per my tank journal). And I am still doing it to see the ‘BOLUS’ effect eventually. But even without the BOLUS effect, I am not clear of what the downside would be. Maybe there is one.
 
Thales said:
I think the downside is what led us away form this 20, 25 years ago. Having to do it. Though, maybe with dosing machines it will be easier. It is the same instruction as ESV b-ionic. :)
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Interesting. I thought what led folks away from this old school method was the widespread introduction of dosing pumps? ESV also links the recommended light settings to their BOLUS dosing?
 
I thought the reason I went away from the bolus was that 1 affordable dosing pumps, 2 smaller doses of kh through the night was supposed to decrease the amount of trace elements precipitated. I originally went away from kalk because the precipitation would cause pumps to lock up. But with better designed pumps that circulate water over their impeller magnet seems to be a non-issue now.
 
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