All For Reef to kalk conversion?

[mrpontiac80]

Forgive me if asked before as I have not seen it.

I currently dose all for reef and have for quite some time with great results. I’m thinking I’d like to switch to kalk as the main additive and use all for reef as a backup or secondary additive if or when needed.

Short of stopping the AFR dosage and testing to see how much the the tank uses of calcium and alkalinity, does anyone know how one would transition correctly over to kalk?

I currently use 65ml per day of AFR and could probably bump it up a little as I am seeing my test result numbers slowly decreasing from where I maintain them.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

AFR is 6,000 dKH and saturated limewater (kalkwasser) at 25 deg C is about 114 dKH, so AFR is 53 times as potent as saturated limewater.

 

[mrpontiac80]

AFR is 6,000 dKH and saturated limewater (kalkwasser) at 25 deg C is about 114 dKH, so AFR is 53 times as potent as saturated limewater.

Thank you for the response Randy,
So if I wanted to switch over to kalk, I could start with approximately 3,445 ml a day or in a nutshell, a little less than a gallon per day of kalk… is that correct?

 

[mrpontiac80]

Do you see any issues just stopping AFR and switching to kalk? I have never used it before and just do not want to disrupt the tank.

 

[Rob Biederman]

Forgive me if asked before as I have not seen it.

I currently dose all for reef and have for quite some time with great results. I’m thinking I’d like to switch to kalk as the main additive and use all for reef as a backup or secondary additive if or when needed.

Short of stopping the AFR dosage and testing to see how much the the tank uses of calcium and alkalinity, does anyone know how one would transition correctly over to kalk?

I currently use 65ml per day of AFR and could probably bump it up a little as I am seeing my test result numbers slowly decreasing from where I maintain them.

Can I ask why you are moving away from all for reef? I use it is why I am asking

 

[mrpontiac80]

Can I ask why you are moving away from all for reef? I use it is why I am asking

The price is one reason. To my understanding kalkwasser is super cheap in comparison.

Also, the pH boost.
And quite honestly, I feel like I should have much more growth than I do. My tank is full of life and I call that a success, but my friend that uses kalkwasser has much better growth than I do. Also, I participate in a couple of coral grow out contests, and although mine are doing well and are showing growth, I have nowhere near the growth rate that some others do over the year.

I’m thinking I’d like to see if it is all it’s cracked up to be. Having said that, I am extremely pleased with all for reef and the ease of using it and what I would like to do is have kalk as my primary additive, and once it can do no more use AFR as a top off.

Edit. The tank is 180 gallons and a year old so my AFR consumption is just going to go up.

 

[Troylee]

Do you see any issues just stopping AFR and switching to kalk? I have never used it before and just do not want to disrupt the tank.

Just the lack of trace elements in kalk vs all for reef.. both is a good combo but takes some playing to get dosing correct.

 

[areefer01]

The price is one reason. To my understanding kalkwasser is super cheap in comparison.

What version of the product are you using (TM AFR)? Pre-made liquid or powder? Also how much are you dosing a day? I am currently dosing 80 ml/day and went through this exercise to get yearly cost using the 1600 g powder container.

Also, the pH boost.
And quite honestly, I feel like I should have much more growth than I do. My tank is full of life and I call that a success, but my friend that uses kalkwasser has much better growth than I do. Also, I participate in a couple of coral grow out contests, and although mine are doing well and are showing growth, I have nowhere near the growth rate that some others do over the year.

There is more going on here with regards to growth rate than product(s) used. With that in mind if you want to try something different by all means. Kalkwasser can raise pH. For many Kalkwasser is the only product used.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The pH rise will likely increase alk demand somewhat and so you may need more than that conversion, but its a fine place to start.

A trace element supplement might be useful and that would be another additive.

 

[mrpontiac80]

What version of the product are you using (TM AFR)? Pre-made liquid or powder? Also how much are you dosing a day? I am currently dosing 80 ml/day and went through this exercise to get yearly cost using the 1600 g powder container.




There is more going on here with regards to growth rate than product(s) used. With that in mind if you want to try something different by all means. Kalkwasser can raise pH. For many Kalkwasser is the only product used.

I use the powder. I currently am dosing 65 ML a day but I need to increase the dosage and that is usually about 3 to 5 ml per adjustment.

 

[KC2020]

I use the powder.

Which is cheaper to use than any other 2 part and adds needed trace elements that most 2 part don't have.

Just saying.

 

[mrpontiac80]

Which is cheaper to use than any other 2 part and adds needed trace elements that most 2 part don't have.

Just saying.

Don’t get me wrong I love AFR. However, for the year and a half that I’ve been using it I still run low on several trace elements if you believe the ICP results.
I do believe that a better pH may produce better results in the tank, although I cannot complain too much because my tank currently averages a high of about 8.25. But as someone who has been in the hobby, for only a little over three years I feel like it’s something, I may or may not like, but it is worth trying since so many people swear by it.
As far as cost goes, I would obviously have to sit down and figure the math, but I feel like using limewater, or kalk would be cheaper

 

[KC2020]

I've been keeping reef tanks 40+ years, so what would I know, but I run saturated limewater at night to maintain pH and dose AFR over my 10 hour photoperiod.

The trace elements in AFT are not meant to keep up with the needs of your reef. They are a supplement but can't be a total replenishment because each reef has different demands.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Which is cheaper to use than any other 2 part and adds needed trace elements that most 2 part don't have.

Just saying.

Just not true, IMO.

Show the the cheapest place to buy AFR powder and I'll compare it to some two part additives.

 

[Acros]

@mrpontiac80 When I cold turkey transitioned from AFR to ESV B-Ionic, my tank had a mini bleaching event within 2-3 days. I stayed course, and the tank recovered within 1-2 weeks. I had no issues transitioning from ESV B-Ionic to DIY 3-part balling methods. This makes me think that abruptly stopping AFR messes with the bacteria balance in our tank. It makes some sense, considering that AFR is metabolized by bacteria. I suggest making the transition to Kalkwasser gradually over a week or two.

 

[mrpontiac80]

I am bringing up this old thread because I’m ready to try this.

I currently dose 75 ml per day of AFR spread out over 5x at 15 ml each from noon to 4 pm. This currently keeps dkh about 8.5. My ph averages 8.2 in the peak of light cycle and drops to 7.8 or so over night.

I have a doser and a 6 gallon jug I’m going to use. Maybe not the best method but I’m thinking of dosing kalk every hour in addition to continuing AFR. My only question now is how much of a dose per hour should I start with?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Start very low if AFR is already meeting alk demand. You won’t get much pH boost keeping the AFR

 

[mrpontiac80]

Start very low if AFR is already meeting alk demand. You won’t get much pH boost keeping the AFR

But what is very low? I don’t know if I should start 400 ml per hr or what?

 

[Yooper Reef]

Following along. Are you going to use a kalk stirrer and continuous doser? What’s your exact delivery method of the kalk going to be?

 

[mrpontiac80]

Following along. Are you going to use a kalk stirrer and continuous doser? What’s your exact delivery method of the kalk going to be?

Like I said above, it’s probably not the best method but a friend does it this way with zero issues.
I want a avast stirrer in the future but for right now, I’m setting up a 6 gallon water storage jug with acrylic dose tube and using a hydros doser to dose 1x per hour into the sump.