Tropic-Marin's Bio-Calcium powder is, in a few words: "Simple, effective, affordable and EASY!"

It literally takes MORE effort to feed your fish than to use Bio-Calcium Powder. Keep your reef aquarium supplied with all 70 necessary trace elements in less than a minute. One of the most confusing issues surrounding Tropic-Marin Bio-Calcium powder is that you SHOULD NOT PRE-MIX it! People who have purchased Bio-Calcium have complained of precipitation, but this because they tried to pre-mix it in pure water. DON'T DO THAT!

It is designed for ease-of-use and it could NOT be easier to use. Do a rough calculation of the volume of water in your reef tank, measure out the spoonfulls you need and throw it in the sump. It longer to write this sentence than it takes to use Bio-Calcium. And it really works. Tropic-Marin Bio-Calcium contains all 70 trace elements in exactly the same proportion as they occur in seawater. It is really great stuff. Sometimes we think maybe it's almost TOO simple. Hardcore reefers will be skeptical that a product this simple to use just CAN'T be that good. But it is.

 OK, for you hardcore reefers that are convinced that a simple powder is JUST TOO EASY, Tropic-Marin's Bio-Calcium 3-part liquid is tailor-made for you. It comes in three 1000 ml bottles, Part A, B and C. This makes seem even more exotic than the plain 2-part liquid supplements on the market, and there is reason for it. The evil geniuses at Tropic-Marin have realized that, in order to optimize the distribution of all of the 70 trace elements known to exist in natural seawater, it makes more sense to divide the elements into three separate containers. The reason for this (as we have learned from the people at Tropic-Marin directly) is that many seawater elements can precipitate or chemically bond if added simultaneously, resulting in mineral molecules that become partially inert and unavailable to the corals. Tropic-Marin's Bio-Calcium 3-part liquid can be dispensed manually (it is strongly advised to wait 30 seconds or more between addition of each of the three, in order to achieve maximum dilution).

Here's where Tropic-Marin's maketing goes completely haywire. The "refill" is NOT liquid. It is a Powder.... Huh? The logic behind what they've done makes a lot of sense but it is by no means clear. The above Bio-Calcium 3-part liquid comes in 1000 ml bottles in liquid form. This is a somehat expensive way to buy it because you are paying for a lot of weight and bulk, 90% of which is pure water. Tropic-Marine came up with the idea of supplying a "refill" kit for the Bio-Calcium 3-part liquid. Their packaging is what creates most of the confusion in that it's labeled "liquid refill". When you buy the "liquid refill" kit, you three packets A,B, & C, each of which corresponds to each of the three original bottles. The packets are powder, which you mix with pure RO/DI water using the original 1000 ml bottle. Now you can economically refill your  Bio-Calcium 3-part liquid by simply re-ordering the "liquid refill kit".... which is actually a powder. 

 Somethng else important: You can order Bio-Calcium 3-part liquid "refill" withou having to order the original three bottle set. As long as you have 1000 ml bottles, you can order the "refill kit" and make up your own Bio-Calcium 3-part liquid.

But wait! There's more.....

Tropic-Marin (obviously very big on the use of hyphens EVERYWHERE) has yet another product called Alca-Balance that is really a pretty cool product. Don't ask us HOW it works. It just works.

Natural alkalinity and calcium concentrations are of special importance to ensure optimum growth and well-being of many invertebrates and calcareous algae in an aquarium. In many reef aquaria an increase of alkalinity and a decrease of calcium often occur. With Tropic-Marin Alca-Balance, the alkalinity can be easily reduced to 6° to 9° dKH while the calcium concentration can be raised to a natural level simultaneously.

Key features of ALCA-BALANCE:

• Smooth adaptation of the water conditions to optimal kH-values
• Easy to use in powdered form
• Two effects in one product
• No danger when overdosed
• No Nitrates, no phosphates

To add further to the confusion, Tropic-Marin offers Pro-Coral A- and K+ liquid supplements. What is this stuff and how does it fit into the already complicated mix? The answer in short: If you have a reef tank with a heavy stocking of growing corals, you likely need this supplement. Tropic-Marin Pro-Coral supplies ONLY the most rapidly depleted minerals when you have a reef tank heavily stocked with growing corals. Supplying Pro-Coral in small amounts, will replenish the aforementioned rapidly depleted minerals WITHOUT adding the major elements such as Calcium, Carbonates and Magnesium. This product helps to supply minerals your tank needs without altering the balance of pH or Alkalinity

OK. FInally at the end (although Tropic-Marin has many other supplements, we could could keep going on and on, these are the most important and most useful).

Tropic-Marin Bio-Magnesium powder supplies magnesium in optimal form, which is as essential for the growth and well being of reef building coralline algae as calcium. It is one of the major constituents of seawater and is directly involved in algae photosynthesis, i.e. the conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) and light into organic compounds.

The addition of plain magnesium salt, however, is not sufficient and interferes with the ionic balance of the tank water. Tropic Marin Bio-Magnesium creates a natural environment in the aquarium and delivers Magnesium in a natural biologically available ionically balanced form.