B-Ionic and Kalk Proceedure

[SnowManSnow]

Hey guys.

I've been dosing with B-Ionic for quite a while now, and it really does a nice job keeping CA lvls up and so forth. I wondered if there would be any merrit in alternating between Kalk and the CA regent of the B-Ionic. Seeing as how the 2 products aren't the same wouldn't my tank be happier with a wider range of nutrients from both products? On kalk days I could just does ALK with the B-Ionic and use Kalk.

NE ideas? Why wouldn't this be a good idea?

B

 

[Anonymous]

I saw this posted somewhere else, i think it was on saltwaterfish.com (sorry if I am not allowed to post other sites?)

Search there.

From what i remember, the majority said it was not a good idea. It had something to do with the balance of the b-ionic product, and the kalk threw it off or something.

Wish I had a better answer, but you can go search there, I'm sure you can find it.

 

[Mihai]

There aren't any nutrients in either of them. In B-ionic you have what you have in Kalk + some salt (NaCl) + some impurities.

I don't see why you can't alternate as long as you leave one day between switching...

M.

 

[ChrisRD]

Kalkwasser and 2-part additives both provide balanced ratios of Ca and alk. They are basically interchangeable in terms of Ca/alk supplementation. Do not use kalkwasser in place of one of your 2-part components as this will lead to a Ca/alk imbalance.

It is possible to use them in combination. One example of when this might be done - say 100% of evaporation is being replace by saturated kalkwasser topoff and the kalk alone still can't provide enough Ca/alk to meet the system demands. In this case, simply dosing the 2-part components in equal volumes (in addition to the kalk use) would help make-up the remaining demand.

One possible benefit of this method over using the 2-part alone is reduced cost. Kalkwasser is generally cheaper than 2-part additives and this combined method would result in signficantly lower doseages of the 2-part.

Be cautious with kalkwasser dosing if you've got no experience with it. Used in excess it can cause disastrous pH increases.

 

[brandonberry]

Well said Chris. I think this idea must have got started when someone mistook Calcium Hydroxide (kalk) for Calcium Chloride. Either way, I don't see the point in substituting one part of the additive with something else, unless you accidently dumped over one of your bottles and had a spare of the other part. In that case, assuming you are able to determint the correct proportions, you could probably get away with substituting the calcium chloride for the calcium part or baking soda for the carbonate part. I guess it could be possible to end up with some other kind of imbalance other than just the well-known calcium v/s alkalinity scenario. If using just kalk, you also need to consider magnesium depletion which can, in time, without significant water changes, depress calcium and alkalinity. See this month's water change article in Advanced Aquarist.

 

[mopecula]

Like chris said. i use to use the two part bionic and also dose kalwasser. know i make my own two part and still dose the kalwasser no issues here.