Calcium & Alkalinity Supplementation, Tropic Marin’s Carbon Dosing System. Lou Ekus MACNA 2022

MACNA speaker events are BACK! Today, we're kicking off MACNA 2022 speaker events with a workshop presented by Lou Ekus of Tropic Marin, all about how Tropic Marin approaches calcium and alkalinity supplementation and carbon dosing in our reef tanks. Let BRStv bring MACNA to you and check it out here!
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The purpose and content of this video is to provide general information regarding the products and their applications as presented in the video. Aperture LLC. And its officers, directors, employees and agents disclaim all express or implied warranties, in any way, related to the products and their application as presented in this video, make no representation or warranty regarding the products and the application as presented in this video and shall not be liable for any direct or indirect losses or damages of any type, including but not limited to punitive damages, or from personal injury or death resulting from or in any manner related to the video, and the products in and contents of the video. The viewer expressly agrees that aquatic sales solutions, inc. And its officers, directors, employees and agents shall not be liable for any damages or losses related to the products in and content of the video and hereby agrees to hold the foregoing harmless from any such losses or damages.

[@TattooedDancer91]

The nicest man to walk this planet. Boy, has he helped me many times.

[@rolisreefranch]

True! He has responded personally to my emails regarding products and even forwarded one on to Hans Wehrner Balling.

[@Richs_reef]

Yeah he is a treasure

[@michaelhenkle2251]

Lou does a great job here explaining the science succinctly.

[@dusk1947]

Thank you MACNA for continuing to hosting such wonderful and informative discussions. And thank you BRS for making these resources available to those of us who were not in attendance, or as a reference months and years later

[@wallacepretorius7785]

Agree with you 100% I admire how they came foward, approached it, how they handled it and how it's sorted out openly and honest. I would love too see some people do the same since their tanks are always pulling apart but nothing from them

[@johnturner2813]

I freaking love this guy man he gives you the exact information you need explained with perfection

[@rolbar9406]

Product name....N P plus.....friki

[@eillyacostandinides3344]

I think gd created him to help humanity understand corals. Your purpose in life is to save corals and hobbiests. Tha k you lou

[@1GolfJones]

Thanks for posting Lou's talk, when it comes to reef chemistry, Ekus is thee man.

[@nim6us]

Thanks for posting these talks, so helpful! Another great presentation from Lou as well.👍

[@bigwavecoralsllp]

I’m running All For Reef on both of my aquariums with perfect levels of Alk, cal, and mag. I agree that the trace elements are a game changer for many.

[@jondahl9826]

Thank you, BRS, for bringing Macna talks to us who couldn't be there.

[@oryfoxer]

What a great talk, I picked up some all-for-reef and some carbon np-balance

[@Fish_Ventura]

Thank you Lou! This was the easiest to understand yet

[@aquadise1007]

Cool man, always reply my email when i ask him about Tropic Marin products. Thank you Mr. Lou Ekus.

[@jamespecoraro2666]

this guy is great, since macna moved away from chicago i miss speaking with him every year!

[@kuchipatch0411]

Very educational session. Thank you, Lou!

[@stephenfakayode5275]

Really informative!!!.....Thanks

[@sunnygoold9449]

Epic - Lou is so great at this.

[@karennation3580]

Most informative video I think I ever watched! He is an awesome speaker too! Love the little bit of humor!.This convinced me! I am definitely 100 percent positively going to buy some All for reef today! I am super stoked about it too! When I saw you were going to speak about carbon dosing I thought it was going to be about AFR having that benefit! I read a review somewhere where someone said that it does and be careful with it if you dont have a need for carbon dosing! is that not true? He said it was a mild effect on lowering nitrates and phosphates! I am having an algae problem and think its working to suck u my phosphates though!

[@joshuavild6999]

Best coral color I’ve ever had is when I was carbon dosing using syn-biotic salt in conjunction with all for reef mineral supplements. Downfall, the dynamic nutrient consumption that left me overtime starving my corals of phosphate nitrate. I hope that phos-feed and amino-organic fixes these issues. My corals need the food to survive and I couldn’t feed enough to keep them happy!

[@louekus]

Hi Joshua, There are many ways to keep your PO4 and NO3 up in the detectable/usable range. Certainly the new Phos-Feed is one of them. But there are many long standing traditional ways. Shoot me an email, and I will try to help.

[@joshuavild6999]

I use those methods but I have since switched salts to pro reef negating any carbon dosing in the tank. I was dumping 300ml of nitrate and phosphate in the tank a day and costs went through the roof. I do miss the effects carbon dosing had on my corals though. I don’t think I’d be able to pull those colors again without carbon dosing! But, Im hoping phos-feed will bring out those colors without having to carbon dose.

[@louekus]

@@joshuavild6999 Like I said, there are other ways. Email me if you can.

[@tomg5405]

@@joshuavild6999 feed more your fish

[@joshuavild6999]

Depending on the source of feed, the phosphate content varies. I didn’t check my source of food. It was quite low in phos so no matter how much I fed the tank, it wasn’t getting the nutrients it needed. I overlooked such a simple concept. Changed feed and bam I have high phos readings without the need to supplement n03 p04.

[@stanleysidiq2215]

Will other videos of conference be uploaded too?

[@andibandi1190]

Can you do some of the Carbon Dosing with dosing pumps?

[@stephanehofman]

@louekus it should be interesting to compare Balling method (and A4R) to calcium reactor + trace elements (pro coral mineral for example) . Not economically, but purely in terms of water chemistry.

[@itziksrugo5293]

Regarding the second part, it was said that the coral consumes the bacteria that swim in the water, but the bacteria live in colonies and maybe very little swims in the water, so how does it work?

[@TheDesertraptor]

So I'm already doing the balling method using Reef Anabolics trace with Randy's 2 part

[@louekus]

That is not really Balling. But a close approximation no the less.

[@photographyinflight4183]

I'm already hungry, and I just ate an hour ago. What the heck?

[@BensCanyonAT4]

so where does All-For-Reef fall on the scale of Plus-NP to Eliminate-NP? In other words, how much is it going to lower phos? I want to use AFR but my phos is already very low 0.01-0.02. Mature established tank

[@louekus]

All-For-Reef is not specifically a carbon dosing product like the NP products you are mentioning. No need to consider your PO4 concentration when considering using All-For-Reef.

[@seancolinclark]

Wow... This turned me off of the Balling method more than any other video.

[@louekus]

Hi Sean, Not sure why it turned you off the Balling method so much. Balling is still great if you need to tweak the ratio of Ca to alkalinity on a regular basis. More control of that than any of the other methods. Down side is more dosing pumps needed. At the same time, all the other methods kind of go to school on Balling for technique.

[@nashe9]

Part 1 1:11 Part 2 32:40

[@rolbar9406]

np plus does not raise phosphate.....it lowers phosphate....because it is an organic composition.....people have many problems with this product.....if in short.....and with your salt tropic marin pro ....a lot of problems....this is what happens when you want to make cheap but sell expensive.....Turkey as an example.....same problem with reef activ product...

[@louekus]

If you are having issues with the proper use and implimentation of these products, and you are not getting the results we suggest you will see, then please cll our office so I can help you use the products correctly. There are so many factors that can influence results. It is almost never a clear cut 1 for 1 explanation or solution. I am always avaialbel to chat during east coast business hours.

[@jungleboys3220]

What about Tropic Marin salt that ruined so make people's tanks.

[@wallacepretorius7785]

Did it ruin your tank?

[@TattooedDancer91]

It didn't. People just blamed the salt for their issues... Testing showed no ill effects. Despite that, people can still get a replacement of their salt if they so wish. TM for the win!

[@CartersToyBox357]

Hahaha what a talk….. hey guys let’s talk about some of these products I wanna sell you over and over and over. You don’t even need supplementation till you have a ton of coral. But they don’t tell you that

[@louekus]

That's fine if you would like to see it that way. On the other hand, the parameters are what they are, independent of how many corals you have. If your system is showing depletion of Ca or alkalinity, then you need to do something for supplementation. This simply explains the Tropic Marin products to do that if you need to. If you are not needing supplementation, then you don't need these products. Most tanks, with good coral growth, no matter how many or few corals you have, will eventually need some supplementation.

[@CartersToyBox357]

@@louekus if people started there talk saying this will not apply to you for a long time unless you add a lot of corals to the tank, I’d be happier about the promotion of your products. You have very good high quality products!! But wen I first started all I heard was people talking and teaching alkalinity and calcium need to be this number.. and you have to dose to keep corals happy and I had terrible success haha. People pushing chemicals and dosing and equipment led me in a bad direction in my first year or so. Just wish people would be more honest and tell new hobbiest this is not necessary at first simply work on good husbandry and ecology and HERBAVORES and to keep your nutrients from bottoming out so your corals do not die. But the truth don’t make money hahaha

[@louekus]

@@CartersToyBox357 I appreciate what you are saying. That being said, this was a branded Tropic Marin workshop. This was not a general session lecture. The people in attendance came to get more information about Tropic Marin products. If you watch my introduction, you will see I reference that exact thing. This workshop was not "pushing chemicals", it was giving the information about our products so people can use then correctly. Your particular tank system might not need these products, or maybe it does. But to come to a workshop, that is a branded Tropic Marin workshop, and then complain that we are just trying to push product and make money is misunderstanding the point of the workshop to begin with. I won't be able to change your opinion. So I will end here and not get into an infinite back and forth. Maybe next time, stick to the MACNA general session lectures. We are all very careful to be brand neutral when doing those.

[@MiddleAgedMike]

Not sure what you mean as a “ton” of coral. I started needing to supplement my tank only a few months (2-3) after I start adding coral. Water changes couldn’t keep up. Maintaining clean water and proper chemistry is good husbandry and leads to more success, not less. This talk just lays out different options to accommodate different needs. And he actually explains why one method or tool should be used over another.

[@louekus]

@@CartersToyBox357 It is not true that this will only apply after a long period of time. Depending on the system, the animal population and the way the system is maintained and managed, a system could need these supplementation much earlier. So saying that it will not be needed for a long time is inaccurate. In the end, it depends on what your system parameters are doing. And that is what I said. This was specifically a "Tropic Marin Product presentation" and I stated that in my introduction. If you were looking for a general reef chemistry lecture, I did that in 2019 at MACNA.