Fauna Marin BALLING LIGHT discussion thread
 

The purpose of this thread is to educate reefers in the advantages of employing the highly respected Fauna Marin balling method. We will also be answering all questions as well as Claude the owner and developer popping in to answer the more in depth questions.

So to start what the hell is the Balling light method?.

The Balling light method has been used in Europe now for quite some years and has been developed to create a more easy balling system, and 80% of German reefers now employ this method over the calcium reactor.

The balling system.

So we all (or most of us) have a calcium reactor what does this do? Well not a lot really other than add DKH (carbonate hardness) to your water and of course a level of calcium, but never to the degree a system really needs, its deployment of these crucial elements is also very crude and difficult to balance.

So the Balling method goes a whole lot further and has been said once established a lot easier to use and maintain in terms of cost and efficiency. This method does not just add calcium at an average rate over time but also adds all the mineral trace elements your system could need, once you have calculated your systems draw requirements on the minerals. So you are adding all the mineral nutrients in a controlled manner not just dosing DKH.

This then goes one step further, the minerals used in the balling method are lab pure, so you only get what you require, no hitch hiker minerals not required. This also eliminates the needs for CO2 bottles, regulators, drip feeders etc etc, all you need is a 3-4 buckets and a 3 stage dosing station, and of course the balling salts.

Here is a copied part of the manual that explains a bit more

The classic balling-method is meanwhile one of the most popular methods for providing your reef-tank with calcium. Fauna have adjusted this method to today's needs and have created the balling-lightmethod. Balling-light works without calculating and the need for wasteful gram-precise mixing of chemicals.

For this method, you need four different chemicals. We will not confuse you with exact chemical formulas, but show you a simple but effective way of providing your animals with calcium and other minerals.

Balling-light means adding the needed minerals like calcium, magnesium and
carbonates separately and to the exact requirement of your tank. For that, three different solutions are prepared and added to the tank. As the requirement of each tank is different, it has to be tested in the course
of a week to work out what your system requires.

The whole manual can be read in the next post

Instruction:

You need three solutions in three separate 10-liter (2,5 gallons) containers:

1. can:
2 kilogram Calcium Chloride-Dihydrate in 5 liter reverse-osmosis water

2. can:
2 kilogram Magnesium Chloride-Hexahydrate in 5 liter reverse-osmosis water
250 gram Magnesium Sulfate-Heptahydrate

3. can:
500 gram sodium hydrogen carbonate in 5 liter reverse-osmosis water
Now, all three cans can be connected to a GHL ProfiLux dosing station with built in controller or if you have a ProfiLux computer then just the 3 station doser.

Each solution has to be dosed according to the size of the tank. At the beginning, CA, MG and alkalinity have to be checked daily.and the dosing quantity has to be adjusted at the controller. The ProfiLux dosing station controller is very suitable for that, as each channel can be adjusted individually and the solutions can be dosed twice a day at 5 minutes intervals.
You can do this also by hand.

After two weeks, ones personal need will be detected and adjusted. The quantities in each can can now be calculated and varied by you. Through Balling-light a small quantity of sodium chloride will arise in your tank.

To avoid accumulation it should be compensated by periodical water change
(10% each week). Also, always check the salinity of your water and adjust it if necessary. Essential trace elements needed for the growth of corals can be dosed automatically. Therefore we have developed the Ultra Trace B solutions. Add to can 1 (to the Calcium Chloride-Dihydrate) 25ml of the strontiumcomplex and 25ml of the heavy-metall-complex. To can 2 (to the magnesium) you add 25ml of the Iodine-Fluorine Complex.

And that is it.

We look forward to your questions

http://www.faunamarin.de/images/ball...hydrat_eng.jpg
http://www.faunamarin.de/images/ball...hydrat_eng.jpg
http://www.faunamarin.de/images/ball...hydrat_eng.jpg
http://www.faunamarin.de/images/ball...rbonat_eng.jpg

High-purity chemicals
The necessity of supplementing depleted minerals and micronutrients (trace elements) to reef tanks is due to enhanced growth rates of corals and marine algae in reef tanks, thus its importance is not to be underestimated. FAUNA MARIN provides a complete product line for the easy supplementation of calcium,magnesium, carbonates, as well as essential trace elements. FAUNA MARIN sticks to its principles: best results obtained by purest chemicals.

BALLING SALTS
Purest salts for the supplementation of calcium and magnesium in reef tanks as a practical alternative or in assistance to the Calcium reactor.
1. Calciumchloride-dihydrate
2. Magnesiumchloride-hexahydrate
3. Magnesiumsulfate-heptahydrate
4. Sodiumbicarbonate

CA reactor, for me at least, is basically turn it on and walk away.

For the Balling method what's the cost of a 3 stage dosing unit and suitable controller, to get the same level of automation?

You will get a massively different and higher level of automation with this system as explained above.

You have two choices the first being the profiLux stand alone doser pictured here. this has a built in controller

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...SA_500x300.jpg

The picture shows the fully configured 4 pump version. These units are available in 1-2-3-4 pump versions. And the 1-2-3 can all have pumps added at anytime by removing the blank plate.

Cost of 3 stage with built in controller as shown above is $469.00

Or you can go for the other option which has proven so popular

GHL 3 stage dosing pump
GHL profiLux aquatic controller
GHL Temp probe
pH probe
RS232 cable

MRSP $659

This is so popular becuase it also gives you the GHL profiLux also, which then expands you possibilites even further

Can't see the pic (get the RC linking error) but the cost does seem rather comparable to a CA reactor system.

looked around and found this thread with a pic. What really got my attn was the screen shots from the computer interface.

Yes the screen shots are of the ProfiLux aquatic controller software so if you went for option 2 then you would have all this to play with as well

Balling method
ph
temp
Tunze stream control up to 8 pumps
dimmable lighting
salinity (upgrade)
redox (upgrade)
and on and on and on :)

The ProfiLux plus II aquatic computer controller is a completely different walk in the park so if you want info on this please email at sales@aqua-digital.com

The cost has been worked out with the stand alone dosers to be very comparable, it was an important step to produce a highly functional and reliable 100% German built system that people could rely on. This system is new to North America and it will take some time for users to see the benefit, so pricing this method right is key for obtaining user recognition

Can they control other power heads or do they have to be Tunze?
Is dimming the lights not hard on the ballast and bulbs?
Interested not sure I want to spend $600 for this though.

Just tunze

decent T 5 bulbs handle dimming well.

You can always go for the stand alone doser if a full control system is not what you are looking for its just an option.

But GHL profilux is not just dimming and pump control

ph control
temp control
redox control
salinity control
level control
oxygen control
humidity control
tunze control
lighting control
weather pattern modelling
day night moon modelling
Thunder storm effcts
internet access
dosing pump control

Phew and that just scratching the surface :lol:

Will it dim a hamilton 250 HQI okay without doing any damage?
Might get one of these for my 60 cube.

No

there is no dimming available for HQi ballasts, if it was the profilux could do it but no HQi ballasts are made dimmable with independant control.

OK thanks was not sure about that.
Really appreciate all the info.