All for reef dosing

[Jgill70]

Hello all, I have an all for reef question. I have a waterbox 60.2 marine x and am dosing all for reef. I tested today and my alk was 6.0 and calcium was 413, I added all and calcium supplements to bring them up to 7.8 alk and 450 calcium. I am currently dosing 14ml of all for reef daily. My tank and sump volume in my estimation is about 48 gallons. Should I be adding more all for reef?

 

[Hairyteeth]

I think to get an awnswer you would need daily testing with current dosing over a week or two to show trends to find out what is Necessary.
Tank volume and one test result won’t be able to determine what is right

 

[n2585722]

How long have you been dosing All For Reef? I takes a while for it to start making a difference since it takes bacteria to breakdown All For Reef into calcium and alkalinity buffer.

 

[Jgill70]

How long have you been dosing All For Reef? I takes a while for it to start making a difference since it takes bacteria to breakdown All For Reef into calcium and alkalinity buffer.

About six weeks

 

[Hobineros]

Do you have a ton of coral or purple algae? I have about 40 corals and 3 clams. and i only dose 4ml a day into my 265. It fluctuates but thats where im at today. Keeps it at 9dkh and 425ish cal. But yes, what hairy teeth said.. need to test daily to figure out ur actual consumption and then replace it. To be honest, i only test my alk because it drops faster than the calcium does and i made the mistake once of upping my alk with afr... well my calcium was like 600. Lol. So now i adjust alk with brs mixture and the calcium is always fine.
Edit: ive been using afr for 3 years now. Love it.

 

[n2585722]

About six weeks

I have been using it for over a year and I am at 10ml a day on a 42 gallon tank. The calcium seems to be fairly stable but I have to add alkalinity buffer and I use a KH Carer for that. It adds about 5ml a day of buffer to keep the alkalinity at 8.5dkh. I use Randy's recipe using the baked baking soda for the alkalinity buffer.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

About six weeks

Then yes, dose more.

 

[fishRus]

How long have you been dosing All For Reef? I takes a while for it to start making a difference since it takes bacteria to breakdown All For Reef into calcium and alkalinity buffer.

What? it doesn’t say anything about that in the directions
I just started using it I put 20 ml in my 100gal system and I tested after a couple hours and it didn’t raise alk or calcium so I added 20 more ml and it still didn’t have any effect my corals looked happy because of the trace elements I think.
So are you say I could have a spike in alk and calcium when bacteria breaks it down?

 

[ClownSchool]

Do you have a ton of coral or purple algae? I have about 40 corals and 3 clams. and i only dose 4ml a day into my 265. It fluctuates but thats where im at today. Keeps it at 9dkh and 425ish cal. But yes, what hairy teeth said.. need to test daily to figure out ur actual consumption and then replace it. To be honest, i only test my alk because it drops faster than the calcium does and i made the mistake once of upping my alk with afr... well my calcium was like 600. Lol. So now i adjust alk with brs mixture and the calcium is always fine.
Edit: ive been using afr for 3 years now. Love it.

Do you use the liquid, or concentrate powder?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What? it doesn’t say anything about that in the directions
I just started using it I put 20 ml in my 100gal system and I tested after a couple hours and it didn’t raise alk or calcium so I added 20 more ml and it still didn’t have any effect my corals looked happy because of the trace elements I think.
So are you say I could have a spike in alk and calcium when bacteria breaks it down?

There is a delay in alk of a few h, maybe longer the first few times. There’s no delay in calcium.

The starting dose is also very low.

 

[fishRus]

Do you use the liquid, or concentrate powder?

I mixed up 2 liters of powder as per directions

 

[n2585722]

I mixed up 2 liters of powder as per directions

The recipe I have is 900ml of water to 160 grams ( 6 measuring spoons ) of powder. I use mine half strength since I use a dosing pump to dose it. I have a 42 gallon tank and dose 29 ml a day but at half strength so that would be 14.5ml a day of full strength All For Reef. Not sure what size your tank is but 40ml may not be a concern especially if you used 2 liters of water to six measuring spoons of powder.

 

[ClownSchool]

Is it really a big difference using a two-part like ESV + magnesium versus AFR?

 

[biom]

... I have about 40 corals and 3 clams. and i only dose 4ml a day into my 265. It fluctuates but thats where im at today. Keeps it at 9dkh and 425ish cal. ...

That is very strange for 265 gallon tank with 3 calms and 40 corals. in 4 ml AFR there is very small amount of calcium

 

[fishRus]

I mixed up 2 liters of powder as per directions

The recipe I have is 900ml of water to 160 grams ( 6 measuring spoons ) of powder. I use mine half strength since I use a dosing pump to dose it. I have a 42 gallon tank and dose 29 ml a day but at half strength so that would be 14.5ml a day of full strength All For Reef. Not sure what size your tank is but 40ml may not be a concern especially if you used 2 liters of water to six measuring spoons of powder.

I put 12 scoops in 2 liters of water pretty much full strength
the directions say dose 5 ml for 26 gal I have 105 gal counting sump and tank
I have a mixed tank a few SPS ,mostly LPS and a few softies some Zoas and mushrooms lots of coralline alg
I was using BRS 2part plus magnesium and minor and trace elements I got the All for Reef because I thought it would be more cost effective but if I have to dose 100 ml a day it won’t be

 

[fishRus]

There is a delay in alk of a few h, maybe longer the first few times. There’s no delay in calcium.

The starting dose is also very low.

I ended up adding 60 ml yesterday and tested this morning am at 8.9 dkh 425 calcium and 1350 mag now I just have to see how much I have to add to maintain those numbers
thanks everyone for ur help

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Is it really a big difference using a two-part like ESV + magnesium versus AFR?

The main difference is that you dose one solution vs two and the pH is lower using AFR.

I do not know that ESV needs more magnesium any more than AFR does.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I put 12 scoops in 2 liters of water pretty much full strength
the directions say dose 5 ml for 26 gal I have 105 gal counting sump and tank
I have a mixed tank a few SPS ,mostly LPS and a few softies some Zoas and mushrooms lots of coralline alg
I was using BRS 2part plus magnesium and minor and trace elements I got the All for Reef because I thought it would be more cost effective but if I have to dose 100 ml a day it won’t be

AFR is one of the more expensive choices for alk/calcium supplementation.

 

[ClownSchool]

The main difference is that you dose one solution vs two and the pH is lower using AFR.

I do not know that ESV needs more magnesium any more than AFR does.

Because, I currently use ESV with a two-pump Neptune Dose, but struggle with low pH (it ranges from ~7.75 to ~8).
So, I’m considering changing over to Dose AFR and Kalkwasser to see if that would help.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Because, I currently use ESV with a two-pump Neptune Dose, but struggle with low pH (it ranges from ~7.8 to ~8).
So, I’m considering changing over to Dose AFR and Kalkwasser to see if that would help.

Why AFR? AFR will not help. It will lower pH a bit relative to what you are doing now.

A two part using hydroxide or kalkwasser will raise pH above where you are.