(fast upbeat music)
- Hey, it's Thomas here
and today we're gonna be checking out
Tropic Marin's original balling set for dosing
calcium and alkalinity,
as well as sodium chloride free sea salt.
Which I know I just said salt free salt
but it will all make sense when I explain it.
If you're looking for an easy
pharmaceutical grade two-part system
that mixes up clear and is stable
and can be mixed up in larger batches
and stored indefinitely without the worry of precipitation,
that also directly addresses the salinity creep up
that is synonymous with two-part additives,
all while being one of the most economical options
for maintaining calcium alkalinity
and trace element levels in your tank,
then check out Tropic Marin's original balling set.
One of the simplest and most popular ways
to keep the calcium and alkalinity levels
in our reef tanks in check,
is with a two-part additive system
that typically consists of calcium chloride
and sodium bicarbonate dosed in equal parts,
super easy to use and very affordable
especially when you're buying dry components
that you mix up yourself with RDI water at home.
The one thing that most reefers don't realize,
is that by adding two-part to their aquarium
not only are they raising their calcium and alkalinity
but very slowly over time,
the access sodium and chloride will raise
the overall salinity of the reef tank.
It is very gradual and it's not something
you would typically notice for months,
but it is something you do have to correct for.
Tropic Marin's Original Balling Set does just that.
Not only are you getting
a pharmaceutical grade two-part system,
but you also get a third part
containing major and minor trace elements
that addresses the salinity creep up
you get when using two-part additives.
So you can lower your salinity back down
without losing all of those needed trace elements
in the process.
But before we get any further into that,
let's take a look at what you get in the set.
All three boxes are one kilogram or 2.2 pounds each
and we'll mix up around 3.5 gallons of two-part solution
with part C mixing up even more than that,
which is great for the $39 price tag of the set,
and actually works out to be
one of the most affordable options for dosing two-part.
Once mixed, 30 milliliters
or one fluid ounce of each solution
raises the calcium concentration of 10 US gallons
or 35 liters of water by 15 milligrams per liter calcium,
and 2.2 degrees of hardness alkalinity.
Like any dry additive,
all three components need to be mixed
into their own individual containers of RDI water.
They dissolve quickly and easily and are crystal clear
which is something Tropic Marin is known for,
and likely thanks to the pharmaceutical grade components
that they use,
they're also very stable
and the mixed solutions can be stored indefinitely,
which will be music to the ears of reefers
who prefer to mix up large batches one time
rather than many small batches.
Like I mentioned earlier, two-part additives
contain calcium chloride and sodium bicarbonate.
So when you take away the calcium and the carbonate,
you're left with sodium and chloride, which is salt.
So after months of accumulation from dosing,
your salinity will rise up
and you'll need to bring it back down.
One of the easiest and safest ways to lower the salinity
in your reef tank is by doing water changes
with your newly prepared salt water
mixed at a lower salinity.
Which is really no big deal, but here's the rub.
When you mix your salt water at a lower salinity,
it won't contain the right ratio
of major and minor trace elements
and will bring down those elements over time.
And that is where part C comes in
and what makes Tropic Marin's balling set
a complete solution.
Part C of the bowling set is all
of the major and minor trace elements
that you'd find in Tropic Marin's Pro-Reef salt mix
but without the sodium chloride,
calcium and carbonate components
and that is what they mean by sodium chloride free sea salt.
Which makes sense.
I mean, now that it's been explained.
Because at first it really just sounds like an oxymoron.
And so adding part C in equal amounts will keep
all of the major and minor trace elements in balance
and prevent those correctional lower salinity water changes
from dropping them below the optimal ranges
making this particular approach to two-part,
one of the best options out there.
So the burning question you're probably asking yourself is,
do you need to switch over to Tropic Marin's balling set
in order to take advantage of part C
or can you work part C
into your current two-part dosing system
to take advantage of that solution
to the salinity creep issue?
And the answer is, you absolutely can use part C
with your current two-part dosing system.
But you do need to make sure
that you take into account any difference in concentration.
For example,
BRS two-part is twice as concentrated as Tropic Marin.
So you need to use more of part C to keep up.
You're gonna actually go a step further than that
and add extra trace elements to your two-part system
to basically keep up with those more mature reefs
that have larger coral colonies
or higher demand systems that are just packed with coral
since the part C in this system's really just designed
to prevent any loss of trace elements
from those salinity correction water changes
and you can check out this video right here
where Ryan goes through how you can do just that
using the BRS Tropic Marin balling hybrid method.
It's absolutely awesome
and gives you a little bit of extra savings
using the BRS pharma.
So yeah, have a watch and,
give your corals everything they need.
With a two-part system that's gonna address a glaring issue
that most people just don't even think about.
So, have a watch.
(gentle music)