Fauna Marin BALLING LIGHT discussion thread

[Aqua-Digital]

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