Tropic marine “Part C” BRS hybrid balling system

[Spschampion]

Hi, I have been using BRS brand soda ash and calcium carbonate on a dosing pump for quite some time. I have never really done much other then weekly/bi-weekly water changes for trace elements. I recently came across BRS addition of the tropic marine trace element supplementation/BRS hybrid program. I understand the addition of the trace elements to the alk and calcium supplements. However, It don’t really get the part “C” deal. I have watched their videos several times. I understand that dosing Soda ash and calcium carbonate results in a rise of salinity over time. I just have never seen this happen in my tank. Is the water changes enough to mitigate this problem. I am starting to question if the part “C” is really necessary. Maybe it’s just for people who don’t do water changes? Don’t know if anyone else uses this method and what their thoughts maybe on it. I just ordered a ATI ICP test. I am curious to see if I am actually lacking trace elements or if the water changes are enough to cover that as well. Thanx in advance, Pete

[Emerald525]

3 minutes ago, Spschampion said:

Hi, I have been using BRS brand soda ash and calcium carbonate on a dosing pump for quite some time. I have never really done much other then weekly/bi-weekly water changes for trace elements. I recently came across BRS addition of the tropic marine trace element supplementation/BRS hybrid program. I understand the addition of the trace elements to the alk and calcium supplements. However, It don’t really get the part “C” deal. I have watched their videos several times. I understand that dosing Soda ash and calcium carbonate results in a rise of salinity over time. I just have never seen this happen in my tank. Is the water changes enough to mitigate this problem. I am starting to question if the part “C” is really necessary. Maybe it’s just for people who don’t do water changes? Don’t know if anyone else uses this method and what their thoughts maybe on it. I just ordered a ATI ICP test. I am curious to see if I am actually lacking trace elements or if the water changes are enough to cover that as well. Thanx in advance, Pete

Great topic Pete . I will be following along.  Bottom line if your sps is looking great I personally wouldn’t fix it. I had great success with just dosing two part and water changes so yes I do believe that depending on how much water you are changing out you are likely replacing those elements. 
I also never had issues with corals and ph dropping . Having had an Apex it was just interesting to know this happened. I had a meeting at my house once of about 40 people and just with all the CO2 being present in a closed room was enough to make the apex alarm. 
 

I will be curious what other people’s experience is as well as I plan on dosing and tropic marine has done a great job of promoting their product. 

[Spschampion]

Hi Emerald525,

                           I recently did have a tank crash and am still currently recovering. The tank crash was due to unstable alk/swings. Took me awhile to figure it out. However, this crash caused me to start taking water chemistry into consideration. Seems like every time I have issues, it comes back to water chemistry. Just looking to do it “better”! 

[Emerald525]

19 minutes ago, Spschampion said:

Hi Emerald525,

                           I recently did have a tank crash and am still currently recovering. The tank crash was due to unstable alk/swings. Took me awhile to figure it out. However, this crash caused me to start taking water chemistry into consideration. Seems like every time I have issues, it comes back to water chemistry. Just looking to do it “better”! 

Definitely stability is key so the issues with water changes is you don’t get as good of control. I have seen more crashes with alk swings discoloration. Low alk doesn’t necessary cause death your corals won’t grow. I was using Red Sea coral pro and doing weekly water changes for about a year and was not testing but could tell since things weren’t growing I was not meeting the needs of the tank and sure enough it was around 6.

[reef-fisher]

I am not an expert, so do not take the following as cold hard facts, just my opinion and experience, which is limited. (I think I'll start all my posts with this caveat)

I too am using 2-part from BRS and I have not noticed a salinity increase in an 80ish gallon frag system. My guess is that the water changes do some of the work, and the rest I assume is my testing ability...my eyes can only read a general idea of salinity...down to .001 at best. I would guess that over time the salinity may rise, but only time will tell.

From what I can tell, the addition of 'Part C' is only necessary on well established and high consumption tanks that are heavily stocked with sps/lps. In one of the BRS videos, Ryan explained (I have not read it to follow up) that Tropic Marin suggests NOT using their product on newer systems, but an established system more than a year old, and then only when the demand presents itself. This leads me to a couple follow up questions that I aim sure you were expecting.

How old is your tank? What is in it? How many gallons? What is your water change regimen? 

I think answering these will get you a better response from someone with more knowledge. For example, if you have a 3 yr old 120 gal tank packed with a solid mixed reef, and rarely do water changes, then yes, Part C may help you with your trace elements. On the contrary, if you have an auto water change system or are on top of larger water changes, then you may have sufficient trace elements. Consumption and replacement values will be key. I do not know if there is some sort of calculator to estimate the consumption of trace elements based on replacement of Alk and Cal without testing for all of them independently, or an ICP test. 

I think an ICP test is an excellent idea and I look forward to when I feel one is necessary for me, if nothing else, just for fun. 

[Spschampion]

Hi, thought I would answer the asked questions. My tank is 2.5 years old. It is a mixed reef but still SPS dominated. I do 10% water changes every other week. I use roughly 35 Ml a day of BRS soda ash and calcium carbonate before the crash. Now, it’s about 16 ML. I uste to do weekly 10% water changes but I struggled with low nutrient based issues. I will say that at that time the corals were happier. For now, I don’t want to change anything until I see the ICP results. Then I’ll make some changes if necessary and do another ICP test after the changes have had some time to take effect. Looking forward to seeing results!