Tropic Marin NP bacto balance & pro coral elements A and K

[ocboat]

I wanted to bump this up for a little clarification. Is anyone using NP-Bacto Balance along with All For Reef and is there any issues with the additional K+ elements? I would assume not based on the answers provided and the fact that I don't think that BB is dosed at even close to the same amount of AFR but just wanted to make sure before I start. My tank is a little unbalanced at the moment with phosphates testing at .01-.02 and nitrates at 10. Thanks.

 

[Superlightman]

Did someone get an answer to this, I would like to know also if it could be used with all for reef as all for reef contains already the K elements?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

All for reef contains trace elements that are also in A and K. I personally would not use both unless one of two things were true:

1. The AFR dose was very low so the amount of trace elements added was low
Or
2. I had good quality icp data suggesting the more trace elements were desired

 

[ReefHog]

Iv’e been using AFR along with NPBacto Balance for carbon dosing for two years now in my sps dominant reef. I get an icp test about three times a year and never noticed anything too high. A few do come back too low. Usually manganese, iron, and sometimes potassium which get used more in my tank. I should say that I slow drip kalkwasser over night which reduces the amount of AFR needed to maintain alk at about 8.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Iv’e been using AFR along with NPBacto Balance for carbon dosing for two years now in my sps dominant reef. I get an icp test about three times a year and never noticed anything too high. A few do come back too low. Usually manganese, iron, and sometimes potassium which get used more in my tank. I should say that I slow drip kalkwasser over night which reduces the amount of AFR needed to maintain alk at about 8.

The thing to keep in mind is that the dosing of trace elements tied to calcification, as in AFR, may by itself be too much trace elements in a pure hard coral tank and less than needed in a low hard coral tank where the main users such as macroalgae and soft corals are not accounted for.

 

[Superlightman]

@Hans-Werner maybe you can help us?

 

[ReefHog]

The thing to keep in mind is that the dosing of trace elements tied to calcification, as in AFR, may by itself be too much trace elements in a pure hard coral tank and less than needed in a low hard coral tank where the main users such as macroalgae and soft corals are not accounted for.

Agreed. Luckily I do keep enough Euphyllia and Zoas down in front which seems to keep my trace elements in range.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

@Hans-Werner maybe you can help us?

Is there a question that remains unanswered?

 

[Koty]

IME: Too much from the A and K elements may cause algae outbreaks. Primarily, I found that my Chaeto started growing rapidly, and then the hair algae joined the "trace element party". Corals and fish are not as sensitive to the lack of trace elements in the water column because they are supplemented by food. We should consider that trace elements may be a limiting factor in controlling algae growth.

 

[Superlightman]

@Hans-Werner maybe you can help us?

yes I want to be sure if the two are compatible,I think he mentioned somewhere they will not be to much traces but can't find it anymore

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Ok, if you don’t believe the answer I already gave.

 

[Superlightman]

Is there a question that remains unanswered?

it is just because he knows the quantities in the two products as he made them, so he will be able to say if they are really compatible or not.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

He already told us.

From Hans Werner:

Thank you very much for your trust in our products.

For a solution of Carbocalcium Powder with K+ and A- Elements please follow this instruction: For 1 l of Carbocalcium plus trace elements solution fill up 140 g of Carbocalcium Powder with RO water to 800 ml and dissolve as much powder as possible. Then add 100 ml of each K+ and A- Elements and dissolve the remaining Carbocalcium Powder completely, fill up to 1 l.

When dosed manually you also can add 10 ml of each K+ and A- Elements each 100 ml of Carbocalcium solution added.

This is effectively allowing you to create a concentrated version of 'All For Reef'.

Create a concentrated version of All For Reef by adding K+ and A- Elements to carbocalcium

I came across this on another forum. A member there claims to have got this email from Hans-Werner Balling regarding adding trace elements to Carbocalcium. He wrote: Thank you very much for your trust in our products. For a solution of Carbocalcium Powder with K+ and A- Elements please follow...

www.reef2reef.com

Did someone get an answer to this, I would like to know also if it could be used with all for reef as all for reef contains already the K elements?

 

[Hans-Werner]

@Hans-Werner maybe you can help us?

Yes, I think so. It's my pleasure. I will answer below.

IME: Too much from the A and K elements may cause algae outbreaks. Primarily, I found that my Chaeto started growing rapidly, and then the hair algae joined the "trace element party".

I think this cannot be viewed independent from other nutrient concentrations. Iron may be a limiting nutrient for green algal growth but nitrogen also. If iron or nitrogen are limiting green algal growth they will not grow.

Algal growth may be limited by either trace nutrient or macro nutrient concentration.

yes I want to be sure if the two are compatible,I think he mentioned somewhere they will not be to much traces but can't find it anymore

The concentrations of trace metals which are also in Tropic Marin NP-Bacto-Balance are rather low in our products we know from numerous ICP analyses from different tanks. The combined dosage of All-For-Reef and NP-Bacto-Balance will not exceed beneficial trace metals dosages or concentrations.

The trace metals in NP-Bacto-Balance compensate for increased consumption due to increased growth of bacteria and other organisms. All organisms need trace elements for their growth which they accumulate and use for their regular metabolic processes.

Finally, organisms, especially species that live in coastal habitats, are quite adaptable to different trace elements concentrations. Especially trace metals like manganese, copper, iron, cobalt or zinc vary in quite a wide range of concentrations. Millero (in his book Chemical Oceanography) gives an order of magnitude (tenfold) range for these trace metals and it may be even more in coastal environments. So, organisms are adaptable to different concentrations.

 

[Superlightman]

thanks for the additional information