A Simple Guide to Balling Light

I have written this guide to help those that are struggling to understand dosing with balling light, as the concept and using the dosing calculators available can be a bit confusing to some!!

This guide is based on the Fauna Marin Balling Light method, which is the method I choose to use. For the full details of mixing the balling light salts etc, details can be found here http://www.faunamarin.de/content/bal...ethode_eng.pdf.

I have written this guide to help those that are struggling to understand dosing with balling light, as the concept and using the dosing calculators available can be a bit confusing to some!!

First off, why use balling light? Well, the simple answer to that is for reef aquariums, we want our major parameters (Ca, Mg, kH) to be stable and steady with minimal fluctuations, along with the necessary trace elements in the correct amounts and ratio.

Balling light is the best method currently available to us, that allows us to easily dose daily to compensate each major parameter individually for daily losses, and with this, the trace elements are also added in the correct quantity and ratio hence keeping all necessary parameters as stable as possible.

In addition, with the availability of microprocessor controlled dosing pumps now widespread, these can be used to spread the addition of these individual solutions over the course of 24 hours, enabling even tighter control over the stability of our parameters.

Target parameters:
To me, it is important to remember the purpose of balling light – to keep your major parameters (and trace elements) as stable as possible.

With this in mind, in my opinion, there can only be one set of target parameters for your water, and that is the measured values of Ca, Mg, and kH from your fresh water change water. With balling light, you are still required to do regular water changes.

If you use some other target values, then each time you do a water change, your careful control of your key parameters is wasted, as the water change will then cause a sudden change in your tank parameters. How much of a change is determined by the volume of water change and the difference between the parameter values (tank water and water change water).

To determine the amount of this change, you can use the following simple formula:

Change = water change% x difference in value between tank water and water change water.

For example:
Fresh water change water values for Ca = 400ppm, tank water = 450ppm and water change % = 10%.

Change = 10% x (400-450)
Therefore in this case, the drop in Ca, would be 5ppm, just by virtue of the water change.

Also, it is important to remember that your tank water and water change water need to be the same salinity, as the salinity has an effect on the values.

So now we understand the why’s, we need to confront the how’s!!

The solutions used are as follows:

For Ca: Calcium Chloride Dihydrate (plus 25ml Trace B Heavy Metal complex & 25ml Trace B Strontium/Barium Complex)

For Mg: Magnesium Chloride Hexahydrate

For kH: Sodium Bicarbonate (plus 25ml Trace B Iodine/flour complex)

When mixed correctly, you will get the following concentrations of salts per litre of RO water:

Ca: 400g/ litre = 2.5ml/gram
Mg: 400g/litre = 2.5ml/gram
kH: 100g/ litre= 10ml/gram

From the balling calculators, this then translates into the following:

Ca: 1 ppm = 0.9175ml/ 100 litres tank water
Mg: 1ppm = 2.09ml/ 100 litres tank water
kH: 0.1kH = 3.052ml/ 100 litres of tank water

Rounding the above (this is acceptable as our test kits are not super accurate, and using the rounding will get us pretty close to where we want to be):

Ca: 1 ppm = 0.9ml/ 100 litres tank water
Mg: 1ppm = 2.1ml/ 100 litres tank water
kH: 0.1kH = 3.1ml/ 100 litres of tank water

This now makes it very simple to figure out how much to dose!!!

First, you need to determine your tanks uptake of Ca, Mg and kH. Do not add any Ca, Mg or kH supplements whilst you are doing this, or perform a water change!!

Take an initial measurement of these 3 parameters on Day 1.

Then several days later, measure these 3 parameters again. Note that if you only have a small loss per day, the variability of the test kits you use could have an effect on your estimated loss per day, and you may need to measure over a longer period. (eg. Mg test kit has an accuracy of approx 20ppm, so just measuring the same water again and again, could produce a result +/- 20ppm, without any loss!)

You should now have 2 measurements to determine your loss per day.

As an example, assuming a 500 litre tank:
Day 1: Ca = 450ppm, Mg = 1200ppm, kH = 8

Second Measurement 2 days later:
Ca = 430ppm, Mg = 1180ppm, kH = 7

So, loss over 2 days is as follows:
Ca = 450 – 430ppm = 20ppm
Mg = 1200 – 1180ppm = 20ppm
kH = 8 – 7 = 1kH

To calculate daily loss:
Ca = 20ppm/ 2days = 10ppm/day
Mg = 20ppm/ 2 days = 10ppm/day
kH = 1kH/ 2days = 0.5kH/day

From above:
Ca: 1 ppm = 0.9ml/ 100 litres tank water
Mg: 1ppm = 2.1ml/ 100 litres tank water
kH: 0.1kH = 3.1ml/ 100 litres of tank water

To calculate your daily dose:
Ca: 0.9ml x 5 (tank volume/100litres) x 10 (daily loss from above) = 45ml/day
Mg: 2.1ml x 5 (tank volume/100litres) x 10 (daily loss from above) = 105ml/day
kH = 3.1ml x 5 (tank volume/100litres) x 5 (daily loss from above) = 77.5ml/day


This will enable you to “focus in” on your target parameters, and with small adjustments over a few weeks, you should be able to maintain your parameters at the desired level.

Written by SimplyAquaria (OW)