Red Sea foundation program the same as balling light?
- Thread starter jimv
- Start date
They are similar but not quite the same, reef foundation like any other Ca, Mg and Alk program can be dosed automatically but you need to do some testing for the first few weeks to get your levels right and then calculate the required dosage to keep them stable, dosing as much as the tank consumes so that they don't vary much. It can be a little finicky but it's worth getting it right! 
The main difference I think is in what goes into the products, while Red Sea make it fairly comprehensive in terms of the minor and major trace elements they add to the reef foundation series, it's not quite the same extent as some of the balling products. For instance I use the Fauna Marine Balling Light system, only the calcium and carbonate mix at the moment though as it's a trial before I move on to dosing it all and I know that they pretty much have everything in there in the correct ratio's, the instructions and methodology behind it is also far more extensive and accurate that what I read and seen about the reef foundation program. I can also tell you that the FM range is much more pure and is all made in scientific labs with hugely high accuracy's! Not saying that Red Sea isn't but I doubt it's to the same quality as what FM get it to
For you, I would go about testing your parameters and seeing what kind of usage your tank has for Ca, Mg and Alk before buying any dosing products as you don't have a large amount of corals yet or sps corals yet so I would think there wouldn't be much requirement for it, especially if you are doing regular water changes Have a look at it all and let me know what you think
The main difference I think is in what goes into the products, while Red Sea make it fairly comprehensive in terms of the minor and major trace elements they add to the reef foundation series, it's not quite the same extent as some of the balling products. For instance I use the Fauna Marine Balling Light system, only the calcium and carbonate mix at the moment though as it's a trial before I move on to dosing it all and I know that they pretty much have everything in there in the correct ratio's, the instructions and methodology behind it is also far more extensive and accurate that what I read and seen about the reef foundation program. I can also tell you that the FM range is much more pure and is all made in scientific labs with hugely high accuracy's! Not saying that Red Sea isn't but I doubt it's to the same quality as what FM get it to
For you, I would go about testing your parameters and seeing what kind of usage your tank has for Ca, Mg and Alk before buying any dosing products as you don't have a large amount of corals yet or sps corals yet so I would think there wouldn't be much requirement for it, especially if you are doing regular water changes
Have a look at it all and let me know what you think 
jimv
Member
I am currently dosing kalk in my ATO with weekly 10-15% water changes red sea coral pro salt. I keep a log and before I was dosing kalk my parameters were:
Cal 520
KH 7
Mag 1320
PH 7.9
Now that I am dosing kalk my parameters are:
Cal 420
KH 10
Mag 1140
PH 8.2
I probably don't need to do anything in addition. I noticed red sea had an introductory offer and that peaked my interest in the product.
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Cal 520
KH 7
Mag 1320
PH 7.9
Now that I am dosing kalk my parameters are:
Cal 420
KH 10
Mag 1140
PH 8.2
I probably don't need to do anything in addition. I noticed red sea had an introductory offer and that peaked my interest in the product.
Sent from my XT1049 using Tapatalk
Lexinverts
Member
Jim, I'd be worried about your Magnesium being too low. I would supplement Magnesium too until it is 1300+. With low Magnesium, your Ca and KH are more prone to swings. My understanding is that sometimes when dosing with limewater/Kalkwasser/etc... you can cause your Magnesium to precipitate, and this can result in swings in Ca and Alkalinity.
deputydog95
Member
I use Ocean's Blend, A & B. I love it. The product works great and the best part, it's cheap compared to Kent, Red Sea, etc etc...
I dose with a bubble magus triple doser and my parameters stay rock solid.
I dose with a bubble magus triple doser and my parameters stay rock solid.
deputydog95
Member
It looks almost just like bubble magus doser. Probably same manufacturer, just rebranded.
I love my bubble magus. Plug and play. Very easy.
You can do the bulk reef pumps on timers, but that's a lot more work and once you buy 3, with the timers, it's not really that good a deal.
I love my bubble magus. Plug and play. Very easy.
You can do the bulk reef pumps on timers, but that's a lot more work and once you buy 3, with the timers, it's not really that good a deal.
Another sweet and cheap as doser is the Kamoer 3 and 4 channel dosers! Mine is a 3 channel doser and it's fantastic, does the job and really easy to use straight out of the box. Kamoer are actually a medical dosing unit company that expanded their range to included aquarium pumps and they've done it really well
As Lexinverts has said I would be bumping up your Mg a little as if the three aren't in a reasonable balance they can throw each other out. I would move off Kalk through the ATO too, it's a little too unreliable and can vary a bit much for my liking, if you wanted to continue dosing kalk and adding Mg occasionally I would look at a kalk reactor (they are bloody expensive though) or I would get a 3-channel doser and use Ca, Alk and something else (I use acropower) and dose Mg manually as it doesn't seem like it would be used in high amounts in your tank as you don't have a heavy coral stock
As Lexinverts has said I would be bumping up your Mg a little as if the three aren't in a reasonable balance they can throw each other out. I would move off Kalk through the ATO too, it's a little too unreliable and can vary a bit much for my liking, if you wanted to continue dosing kalk and adding Mg occasionally I would look at a kalk reactor (they are bloody expensive though) or I would get a 3-channel doser and use Ca, Alk and something else (I use acropower) and dose Mg manually as it doesn't seem like it would be used in high amounts in your tank as you don't have a heavy coral stock