All for reef dosing

[Rip Current]

I’m switching from The BRS / Tropic Marin Hybrid Balling method to All for reef.
What would be a good starting dose to maintain an alkalinity of 8.1?
I’m currently dosing 280 mL of soda ash per day per Brs’s mixing instructions.
Total water volume is 35 gallons.

 

[areefer01]

If your water chemistry is at your desired level then follow the instructions. You can reduce it a bit to see how your display reacts then adjust to normal dosing once you are comfortable.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Same dose as each part of the two part is a good starting point as the potency is very similar.

 

[Rip Current]

My daily dose is 280 mls per day
that far exceeds TM’s 25mls per 26 gallon max.

 

[MrGisonni]

I am at 6.6 mls daily over four doses in my stocked 30 gallon mixed reef. My alk stays fairly stable between 8.3- 8.8 tested weekly. FWIW

 

[Patx]

Find alk consomation/day
Dose accordingly: 2,5ml AFR in 20gallons raise alk by 2dkh
Could take 24/48hrs to notice it.

 

[Silverking]

I dose 50 ml a day in my 75 mixed reef.

 

[areefer01]

My daily dose is 260 mls per day
that far exceeds TM’s 25mls per 26 gallon max.

I can't speak for what RHF suggested but maybe the question you asked wasn't clear.

I posted the instructions above on how to use it. Get the water chemistry to what you want. Then follow the instructions and start dosing. It is really that simple. If you need to correct today then use either of the products you have to manually adjust. When I started TM AFR I was using ESV 2 part. I was able to use either of the components to make corrections until my daily AFR dose was working as intended.

What is your Alk, Ca, and Mg currently at?

 

[thedon986]

I’m having trouble connecting how you could be dosing 260ml of soda ash in 35 gallons per day. Is the solution you mixed up just way less potent?

Edit: This is the equivalent of raising the alkalinity by 10 points in that volume of water. This can’t be correct.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

My daily dose is 260 mls per day
that far exceeds TM’s 25mls per 26 gallon max.

Nevertheless, if you intend a straight replacement, that is what it would take.m, but see below.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

My daily dose is 260 mls per day
that far exceeds TM’s 25mls per 26 gallon max.

Which is a ridiculous dose of more than 10 dKH per day.

How much of what exactly are you dosing?

 

[Mikeltee]

Bro... I'm dosing 6ml in a 40gal. Lol

 

[Mikeltee]

I can't speak for what RHF suggested but maybe the question you asked wasn't clear.

I posted the instructions above on how to use it. Get the water chemistry to what you want. Then follow the instructions and start dosing. It is really that simple. If you need to correct today then use either of the products you have to manually adjust. When I started TM AFR I was using ESV 2 part. I was able to use either of the components to make corrections until my daily AFR dose was working as intended.

What is your Alk, Ca, and Mg currently at?

How long did you dose ESV before relying on AFR? I'm about 3 weeks in and still trying to find an equilibrium. It's a new tank and I keep adding frags too. I also use Kalk with ATO so my 2-part is 3:1 Ca:Alk. I'd just rather dose AFR and not worry about it.

in your opinion, what is an exceptable time frame of maintaining stability before swapping over to AFR?

 

[rennjidk]

I’m having trouble connecting how you could be dosing 260ml of soda ash in 35 gallons per day. Is the solution you mixed up just way less potent?

Edit: This is the equivalent of raising the alkalinity by 10 points in that volume of water. This can’t be correct.

High dKH makes corals grow faster, ya noob! Get on the bandwagon! /s

 

[Mikeltee]

High dKH makes corals grow faster, ya noob! Get on the bandwagon! /s

Is this fact? I see many people just stick to 8. With dosing alk and a little bit of ESV, I've been at 9.8-10.6 but I can't seem to hold it stable. I did leave the reagent out for the first couple of weeks until I read that it needs to be refrigerated. I should probably purchase a new bottle as well as a different test kit to compare results. One thing I've learned today is that marine animals don't like alk swings, and I plan to avoid that going forward.

 

[rennjidk]

Is this fact? I see many people just stick to 8. With dosing alk and a little bit of ESV, I've been at 9.8-10.6 but I can't seem to hold it stable. I did leave the reagent out for the first couple of weeks until I read that it needs to be refrigerated. I should probably purchase a new bottle as well as a different test kit to compare results. One thing I've learned today is that marine animals don't like alk swings, and I plan to avoid that going forward.

It was a joke, lol. "/s" is text/Internet for sarcasm. Obviously dosing an extra 10 dKH a day isn't going to end well.

 

[Rip Current]

Which is a ridiculous dose of more than 10 dKH per day.

How much of what exactly are you dosing?

280 mls BRS soda ash 1 1/2 cup per gallon of ro di water 0 tds
And I drip kalk at night to replace evap

 

[Rip Current]

Which is a ridiculous dose of more than 10 dKH per day.

How much of what exactly are you dosing?

2

I can't speak for what RHF suggested but maybe the question you asked wasn't clear.

I posted the instructions above on how to use it. Get the water chemistry to what you want. Then follow the instructions and start dosing. It is really that simple. If you need to correct today then use either of the products you have to manually adjust. When I started TM AFR I was using ESV 2 part. I was able to use either of the components to make corrections until my daily AFR dose was working as intended.

What is your Alk, Ca, and Mg currently at?

i understand the directions but my very high alk consumption is going to make the switch to AFR very tricky without crashing the alk.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I don't see it making AFR tricky (just very expensive), but I also think something may be wrong. If you are really using that much alk, it will take a similar amount of AFR to maintain it (except that pH will drop and that drop will reduce demand).

Do you know for sure you are dosing that amount, or is it just from a pump rating and a timer?

I have never heard of a tank using even half as much alk per day as that suggests (> 10 dKH per day).

How much calcium are you dosing per day?

Maybe it is real, since the tank is very packed with fast growing corals. But it is at the very outer edge of the envelope.

Are you sure there is no abiotic precipitation in the system somewhere, using up the alk and calcium?

 

[areefer01]

How long did you dose ESV before relying on AFR? I'm about 3 weeks in and still trying to find an equilibrium. It's a new tank and I keep adding frags too. I also use Kalk with ATO so my 2-part is 3:1 Ca:Alk. I'd just rather dose AFR and not worry about it.

in your opinion, what is an exceptable time frame of maintaining stability before swapping over to AFR?

To be honest I don't remember. If I had to guess a couple weeks. My ALK is in the lower 8 range. I use Tropic Marin Pro Reef salt which has a similar value. Basically I calculated AFR's daily dose off that, lowered it a little bit, and started dosing. I started lower to see how the tank would response. I used my Hanna ALK checker every couple of days. I only had to make a few slight modifications with ALK so used the ESV 2 part and called it a day.

My daily dose peaked at 110/ml per day but has since dropped to 80/ml day. This is the sweet spot at the month keeping parameters where I want them. Mixed reef, 210 gallons, couple of large SPS colonies. I'm not sure why it peaked like that and then lowered but it may be related to my high phosphates. I was up to 1.68 ppm.

Honestly - I just went slow, tested every other day for a bit, and that was it.