Does anyone dose B-Ionic 2 part unequally?

Gho5t

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 14, 2021
Messages
102
Reaction score
144
Location
Los Angeles
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
For the last year I've been dosing B-Ionic 2 part using a DOS and a Trident, however both part 1 and part 2 were set to trigger off the ALK reading so they dosed the same. Lately, my CA has been rising. It used to sit at a steady 460 and now it's creeped up to 532. My ALK is sitting at 9.7 so I could reduce the overall dosage, but I was wondering if I should just separate the dosage triggers and let part 2 get dosed from the CA reading.

In the past I've had bad results dosing B-Ionic with different amounts... I couldn't get the levels to stabilize until I put them in sync. However now that they're drifting, I'm wondering if I should change things up...

Thoughts?
 

neonreef3d

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 3, 2021
Messages
852
Reaction score
821
Location
Los Angeles
Rating - 100%
2   0   0
just dose it equally, and reduce it, retest and see what needs adjustment; then adjust using brightwell aquatics cal, or alk 8.3

I had the same exact issue, except my corals were sucking up ALk. I have a sps tank..
 

X-37B

Fight The Good Fight
View Badges
Joined
Sep 10, 2018
Messages
9,141
Reaction score
15,873
Location
The Outer Limits
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
For the last year I've been dosing B-Ionic 2 part using a DOS and a Trident, however both part 1 and part 2 were set to trigger off the ALK reading so they dosed the same. Lately, my CA has been rising. It used to sit at a steady 460 and now it's creeped up to 532. My ALK is sitting at 9.7 so I could reduce the overall dosage, but I was wondering if I should just separate the dosage triggers and let part 2 get dosed from the CA reading.

In the past I've had bad results dosing B-Ionic with different amounts... I couldn't get the levels to stabilize until I put them in sync. However now that they're drifting, I'm wondering if I should change things up...

Thoughts?
I have never had an issue in over 6 years of use. I have dosed it in uneaqual amounts to keep levels in the correct range. Then back to equal, just do it slow.
I run it on three systems currently.
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

Reef Chemist
View Badges
Joined
Sep 5, 2014
Messages
67,160
Reaction score
63,512
Location
Arlington, Massachusetts, United States
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
It's certainly fine to slow or stop the calcium part until calcium drops to your target.

IMO, this scenario is most often is not due to actual uneven demand, but issues relating more to water changes or dosing with pumps not really matching even when it is intended to.

In any case, alk can be perturbed by other processes or additives (such as rising nitrate depleting alk), and to maintain alk, you might be overdosing calcium long term.
 
OP
OP
Gho5t

Gho5t

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 14, 2021
Messages
102
Reaction score
144
Location
Los Angeles
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Thanks for all the feedback. I've stopped dosing CA for the moment and will take a look at the DOS as Randy might be on to something with the amounts being dosed being out of alignment.
 

Caring for your picky eaters: What do you feed your finicky fish?

  • Live foods

    Votes: 4 20.0%
  • Frozen meaty foods

    Votes: 16 80.0%
  • Soft pellets

    Votes: 4 20.0%
  • Masstick (or comparable)

    Votes: 1 5.0%
  • Other

    Votes: 2 10.0%
Back
Top