TM NP Bacto Balance and ORP

[Jamie814]

I've been dosing 10ml of Bacto Balance via a DOS into my 500 gallon system at lights on 7-8am as advised by TM and I have noticed that my ORP spikes around this same time then falls the rest of the day. So I thought I would experiment and change the dosing to 10ml evenly over the entire day and behold my ORP then stays much more stable.

The only other dosing is a calcium reactor 24/7 drip

Anyone have a clue as to why this is? @Randy Holmes-Farley @Hans-Werner Bacto Balance affects ORP this much?

Side note: The Bacto Balance did a great job of bringing my N&P in line though within 3 weeks of starting dosing.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Trace elements can raise or lower orp, depending on how they are formulated. For example, ferric iron Fe+++ raises orp and ferrous iron Fe++ lowers it.

Try sticking the ORP probe directly in the bottle and see what it reads.

A pH drop also raises ORP.

 

[Jamie814]

Try sticking the ORP probe directly in the bottle and see what it reads.

I'll have to try that tomorrow when I'm back at my tank.
I have no idea what's in the stuff, but it works as advertised, I wouldn't think 10ml in over 500 gallons would move ORP as much as it does.