B-Ionic 2 Part, released in 1995, always had on its label (and still does) that you should add the entire dose in the morning just before or at the same time the photoperiod starts, when system pH is at its lowest. The alkalinity component consists of a blend of both carbonate and bicarbonate salts (along with other major, minor, and trace elements including the halogens in amounts sufficient to balance proportionally with the sodium and chloride that accumulates with use). The product was formulated with a carbonate:bicarbonate ratio sufficient to jump start an increase in pH immediately upon addition yet not as severe an increase as dumping in sodium carbonate or saturated kalkwasser at the start of the photoperiod. For systems that ran at high pH which usually meant heavy kalkwasser use or a large reverse daylight macro algae refugium, we released B-Ionic Calcium Bicarbonate system where the alk component consisted of all bicarbonate. Over the years sales slowly dropped to the point where we discontinued it because keeping a higher system pH became more the norm in the hobby. Many systems run successfully on just B-Ionic 2 part being added in one dose just before or at the same time lights come on. See Mike Paletta’s book Ultimate Marine Aquariums..many were using B-Ionic as one daily dose as was my “Bare Bones Reef” which appears in it. When more precise dosing pumps became available, some reef aquarists started dosing the amount they were adding in one dose but spread out slowly over the full 24 hours. The result was more stable alkalinity which resulted in some improvement in growth, but the original one dose at beginning of photoperiod method still works fine for many systems.

Amazing talk, fascinating!

As always great episode Adam.  I appreciate the professional quality of the sound and info given.  I have already set up my system tonight to give the bolus method a try starting tomorrow.

Great content!
I have been doing something similar with a bolus but with Carbonate instead of Bicarbonate for the past 3 years. My pH rises from 8.0 to 8.2 within 30 min then the lights rase the pH up to 8.35 throughout the day. Growing SPS well no issues.

Thanks

Tomorrow will be my first bolus and solus

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

Lots of interesting information on this topic, would this method benefit mainly coral farmers rather than a hobbiest main display tank? Especially with lowering the light period intensity & shortening it all together then I’d miss either the lights on in the morning before work or I’d miss the evening lights when home from work or could you just lower the intensity & just run a blue period for a few hours in the evening ? Also switching over to this balling method could you just switch cold Turkey straight over, if yes, any major issues to look out for & how to correct? I’m also starting up a new tank to transfer , would I be better in switching to this method on the new tank & just move live stock over once cycled?

Thanks Adam for the live . 🇬🇧

You guys talked about not being able to mix this method but always referred to using someone else’s products to do the bolus. But would you be able to do the bolus method with bcarb but use a little kalk at night?  You guys said you’ve tested every combination possible over the years, would like to hear stories about the failed methods! Great talk. Thanks for sharing!!

Anyway you can boost audio on your end? Maybe before upload? I do listen over heavy equipment smile😅.

Hi Adam I think I’m ready to change onto F/M balling would you go onto light first or straight onto Bolus 🤔🤷🏻‍♂️

Do you do water changes with this method?

You three need to do this again, walk through the HTU, and not justify each point.  I’m 1 day in and my tank is glowing, it’s insane.  A proper how to would be good.  I had to cobble together between HTU, videos, groups.  This is truly game changing if one day is anything to go by.

What does this equate to in Kh value? What levels are people aiming for?
I have to keep both KH and Mag levels topped up. Both seem to drop quite steadily. If one goes low PH drops..

I changed my lighting schedule in preparation to try this method and found a significant change to my pH peak. I'm going to see if this trend continues before switching, but I'm wondering if the change to the lighting schedule is the major factor in the increased pH and not the Bolus dose?

Hi Adam I’m dosing 38ml reef zlements PLUS Alk 8.4 ph  8.2 to 8.47

Great live Adam. Appreciate the content. Thumbs up 👍🏼 to help the channel grow. Thank you also to Fauna Marin. Claude is a beast. Interesting method, but not sure this will work better than keeping it stable. I see the logic though. Definitely worth looking into and testing more.

This method doesn't do anything for pH at all.

The method isn’t new  
Been around for ever
Read some books

This may well work. But there are so many wrong basic chemistry statements in this interview that it looses all credibility. Sorry, not my favorite episode.