wdebenedettojr
Well-Known Member
So when I worked at a fish store years ago we use to sell/recommend a ton of B-ionic for dosing calcium and alkalinity. I used it and had great success myself when I had my tank before college and throughout.
Fast forward about 10 years when I set my tank back up and my current set up I figured I would start using BRS additives as you can buy in bulk and are cheaper. The last few years I have had a challenge constantly changing how much my doser should be putting out of the BRS stuff. I figured maybe there was a problem with my doser, so i purchased a new one and same issue; more fluctuation then i would have liked. i was never having huge drops/increases in alk or Ca but imo there was a little to much deviation. I always had what i would consider good growth on my corals (sps/lps) but i thought to myself there has to be an easier way. I know as your tank becomes more stocked/filled you will need to obviously add more stuff to it which i am fine with but it was getting to the point BRS additives were getting expensive constantly replenishing.
So about 2 months ago I was on bulk reef supply about to buy more of their normal additives and I said to myself I want to go back to B-Ionic and see if there is a difference.
So to people that haven't used B-ionic before they recommend dosing the same amount of each chemical to achieve proper "balance". This stuff, if i remembered correctly, was more concentrated then the bulk reef supply additives that people use to mix on there own so I knew i was starting with less. Over the last 2 months I have had to adjust my doser a handful of times to get the right "amount" of each which was anticipated since new additives were going in. But the weird thing i noticed was that my corals, especially my sps, seemed to be responding in a positive way to what i feel was the knew additives. I should note, during that time, I didn't change anything else with my maintenance schedule or other additives. Within the last 2 months, my sps growth on most of my colonies has almost "kicked into overdrive" and are sprouting new branches way more often. Even new pieces that i have picked up are starting to sprout new branches.
Not sure if this is a fluke or if other people have experienced similar results. Either way I am not going to complain but I just figured i would share with everyone. If other people have experienced this please share as i am interested in hearing from others.
Fast forward about 10 years when I set my tank back up and my current set up I figured I would start using BRS additives as you can buy in bulk and are cheaper. The last few years I have had a challenge constantly changing how much my doser should be putting out of the BRS stuff. I figured maybe there was a problem with my doser, so i purchased a new one and same issue; more fluctuation then i would have liked. i was never having huge drops/increases in alk or Ca but imo there was a little to much deviation. I always had what i would consider good growth on my corals (sps/lps) but i thought to myself there has to be an easier way. I know as your tank becomes more stocked/filled you will need to obviously add more stuff to it which i am fine with but it was getting to the point BRS additives were getting expensive constantly replenishing.
So about 2 months ago I was on bulk reef supply about to buy more of their normal additives and I said to myself I want to go back to B-Ionic and see if there is a difference.
So to people that haven't used B-ionic before they recommend dosing the same amount of each chemical to achieve proper "balance". This stuff, if i remembered correctly, was more concentrated then the bulk reef supply additives that people use to mix on there own so I knew i was starting with less. Over the last 2 months I have had to adjust my doser a handful of times to get the right "amount" of each which was anticipated since new additives were going in. But the weird thing i noticed was that my corals, especially my sps, seemed to be responding in a positive way to what i feel was the knew additives. I should note, during that time, I didn't change anything else with my maintenance schedule or other additives. Within the last 2 months, my sps growth on most of my colonies has almost "kicked into overdrive" and are sprouting new branches way more often. Even new pieces that i have picked up are starting to sprout new branches.
Not sure if this is a fluke or if other people have experienced similar results. Either way I am not going to complain but I just figured i would share with everyone. If other people have experienced this please share as i am interested in hearing from others.
