Additions to All for Reef?

[Bengals888]

Hi,

I purchased the Tropic Marine All for Reef.
Starting at 16G long nano tank in a few weeks.

Would these 2 suffice to keep things balance?
I would not dose unless something is very low. Just to have on hand.

Original Balling Component Part B - Alkalinity
Tropic Marin Bio-Magnesium

 

[twentyleagues]

I use all for reef and honestly I dont need to dose anything else. I did use a bit of a and b to get the values I wanted before I started afr and while I was learning how much was needed. Its not a bad thing to have these on hand if things get out of whack.

 

[Bengals888]

Great. Thanks.

 

[Outlaw Corals]

Hi,

I purchased the Tropic Marine All for Reef.
Starting at 16G long nano tank in a few weeks.

Would these 2 suffice to keep things balance?
I would not dose unless something is very low. Just to have on hand.

Original Balling Component Part B - Alkalinity
Tropic Marin Bio-Magnesium

What about part A calcium ?

 

[twentyleagues]

What about part A calcium ?

I would get a and b forget magnesium unless your salt is low on it in a fresh mix and you want it higher. I still have almost a full bottle of calcium and 3/4 of a bottle of alk from my start of afr back in march. In july I had an increase in alk consumption that outpaced my afr dose so I added a bit of alk and upped my afr for a couple days calcium and mag were still well within my set range. I think having the windows open more increased my ph and got a bit of growth from it. Then it got hot again and I shut the windows more often and saw my alk rising a bit so I backed off afr again. I have found testing alk every 3 days works in my reef the biggest swing I saw was .5 dkh didnt have any noticeable effects on any corals.

 

[Seansea]

I test for alk with AFR. Then adjust other parameters accordingly. I add 1 teaspoon of sodium carbonate , 3 drops of isol mt and 5 drops of manganese to my 5g Ato to supplement AFR. I have an algae scrubber so alot of traces get chewed up fast so Afr can't keep up. The sodium carbonate is to make the use of AFR a little cheaper otherwise with alot of stony growth you will chew it up fast. I also icp every 3 months

 

[Bengals888]

I thought All for Reef has the calcium so you would not need Part A, just Part B.

 

[Gribbles]

All for Reef has calcium and alkalinity. It has all your reef needs

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I thought All for Reef has the calcium so you would not need Part A, just Part B.

That is correct. There’s no scenario where more calcium should be needed unless you add alk some other way, or water changes lower it.

 

[twentyleagues]

I thought All for Reef has the calcium so you would not need Part A, just Part B.

The only reason you need the calcium part is to get the calcium with in the range you want it before you start afr. Ideally the same for the alk part. Possibly as you learn how much afr your tank needs to maintain stability. I got my calcium up to 460ish before I started afr and have not had to mess with it since when I test it (rarely once a week maybe). It is always at least 450 salifert and redsea. Alk I try to keep it 8.8-9 hannah, redsea, salifert, I test most often with hannah but when I test calc I'll break out one of the other tests just to cross check.