Dosing Brightwell BoroChrom

[sbidny]

I'm desperately trying to understand Brightwell BoroChrom dosing. Maybe I'm just being a boron moron, but the dosing instructions don't make any sense to me.

"Gradually increasing the boron concentration (by no more than ~1 ppm each day) will yield greatest stability of water chemistry and is strongly recommended."

Okay, this makes sense.

"Each ml (~20 drops) of BoroChrōm will increase the concentration of boron ("") in 1 US-gallon (3.785 L) of water by approximately 1.5 ppm (~0.075 ppm per drop)."

Yep, still with you.

"If the initial in the aquarium is below 1.5 ppm, add this product at the maximum rate of 1 ml per 100 US-gallons daily until the boron concentration measures between 4 - 7 ppm..."

Whoa, Nelly. If I want to raise boron by 1 ppm in a 100 gallon aquarium, do I dose 67 ml in one day, or do I dose 1 ml per day for 67 days? Seems crazy to me that I would have to dose for 67 days just to come up by 1 ppm.

I have contacted Brightwell about this, but I wanted to see if someone could sanity check my reading of the directions while I await a reply. Has anyone else used this product? What did you do when dosing it? Thanks!

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Full instructions:

Read instructions completely before use. Shake container before each application. The natural seawater concentration of boron is ~4.54 ppm; maintaining the boron concentration in reef aquaria within a range of 4 - 6 ppm is recommended. Enhanced red coloration in coral tissue may be observed when maintaining an elevated boron concentration, however attention should be paid to alkalinity and pH when using BoroChrōm for this purpose. Gradually increasing the boron concentration (by no more than ~1 ppm each day) will yield greatest stability of water chemistry and is strongly recommended. A maximum sustained boron concentration of 8 ppm is recommended. Changes in coloration may take 1 - 4 weeks to appear, and each colony will respond differently (some may not change color noticeably, depending upon base coloration, duration of dosing, and sustained boron concentration in system); results will vary.


Determine the boron concentration in the aquarium system using an accurate test kit before supplementing. Each ml (~20 drops) of BoroChrōm will increase the concentration of boron ("") in 1 US-gallon (3.785 L) of water by approximately 1.5 ppm (~0.075 ppm per drop). If the initial in the aquarium is below 1.5 ppm, add this product at the maximum rate of 1 ml per 100 US-gallons daily until the boron concentration measures between 4 - 7 ppm, then dose daily or weekly as needed (see below). Always try to maintain the within a range of +/-2 ppm. To determine the dosing rate of this product once the desired has been acquired, measure the daily rate of boron uptake (i.e. the decrease in boron) in your aquarium by measuring the at the same time each day over a one- to two-week period. To determine the daily dosing rate (preferable to weekly dosing) for boron maintenance: estimate the volume of water in the entire aquarium system; divide the daily decrease in by 1.5; multiply this number by the volume of water in the system to get the daily dosage required (ml) to maintain a stable . Daily dosing maintains a more stable (and more natural environment) than dosing weekly, in which the spikes just after dosing and then gradually decreases throughout the course of the week.

 

[HuduVudu]

Just a quick question ... Is there a reason that you are dosing this? This seems like a very very esoteric element to be dosing.

 

[sbidny]

Sure. My newest 300 gallon tank is about a year and half old, and I have almost no coralline algae growth, despite introducing it through various means. Lighting (4x Radion XR30s, soon to be 6x), alk (8.4 dKH), and calcium (420 ppm) should all be sufficient for growth.

PO4 (0.02 ppm) and NO3 (5-10 ppm) are both fairly low, although I have a little hair algae growth, so it could be that they’re a bit higher and inhibiting growth. My chaeto refugium has yet to take off, so I have started dosing a small amount of carbon (vinegar) to address this, and it does seem to be working.

I sent away for a series of four ICP tests to compare the results, and my boron levels appear to be low. Being a major element of seawater and measuring above 1 ppm, my understanding is that ICP-OES should be reasonably accurate for this element.

One of the benefits I have read about boron and the BoroChrom product is that it can support coralline algae growth. I was hoping to use a small amount to raise the boron up to 4.5 to 5 ppm to see if there’s any improvement. But the dosing regiment of this product is throwing me. I don’t have any desire to go much above natural seawater, which I believe is around 4.54 ppm. If I don’t see an improvement in a couple of months and after another ICP test, I will likely cease use of the product.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I don't think there is any evidence that boron is needed in reef tanks for corallinwe or most other organisms, but if it is sub normal, dosing it won't cause issues.

Their directions limiting the rise to 1 ppm per day are nonsense, IMO. There is zero reason to raise boron slowly like that (although there is also little reason to want to raise it fast).

Based on their directions,

"Each ml (~20 drops) of BoroChrōm will increase the concentration of boron ("") in 1 US-gallon (3.785 L) of water by approximately 1.5 ppm (~0.075 ppm per drop)."

If you want to boost boron by 5 ppm in 100 gallons, then you would dose 5/1.5 mL *100 gallons = 333 mL.

You can spread that out over multiple days if you want.

 

[sbidny]

Brightwell got back to me sooner than expected. response from Jack Kent:

“ Thanks Steven:

You aren’t the Boron moron, we are Thanks for pointing this out. This is an old label and we need to re-write it. What it should have said is don’t raise the boron concentration more that 1.5 ppm per day. When I rewrite it, I will probably opt for a slower raising, something like .75, slower is better.

Just use the gallon ratio and ignore the 100 gallons please.

Best Regards

Jack Kent
CEO”

So there we have it. Good to know.

 

[sbidny]

I don't think there is any evidence that boron is needed in reef tanks for corallinwe or most other organisms, but if it is sub normal, dosing it won't cause issues.

Their directions limiting the rise to 1 ppm per day are nonsense, IMO. There is zero reason to raise boron slowly like that (although there is also little reason to want to raise it fast).

Based on their directions,

"Each ml (~20 drops) of BoroChrōm will increase the concentration of boron ("") in 1 US-gallon (3.785 L) of water by approximately 1.5 ppm (~0.075 ppm per drop)."

If you want to boost boron by 5 ppm in 100 gallons, then you would dose 5/1.5 mL *100 gallons = 333 mL.

You can spread that out over multiple days if you want.

Thanks, Randy! I’m not convinced it will help, but as you said, if it’s lower than natural seawater, I’m hoping it won’t hurt, other than the cost of the product. Others have offered anecdotal evidence of an improvement using the product, but of course that comes with a large helping of salt, not knowing what other changes were made at the same time.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

FWIW, Jack was saddled with lots of chemical inaccuracies when he took over Brightwell from Chris Brightwell. Hopefully he will eventually get them straightened out.