Tanks based on Aquaforest Products:

[hpimichael02]

Sweet! I use all Aquaforest products. I haven't looked back since! [emoji12][emoji4]

Yea I leaving instant ocean and brightwell both companies I have used since day one of when I started the hobby years ago.

 

[120reefkeeper]

Yea I leaving instant ocean and brightwell both companies I have used since day one of when I started the hobby years ago.

I am a former Reef crystals guy myself.

Boy did I make the right choice!! What a difference! This tank in particular has only been set up for 1 year and has been of the full Aquaforest Probiotic method for 10 months. Best move I've ever made and I've been reefing for many years also. [emoji4]

 

[jsker]

Just a quick cell pick of my [emoji817] % All Aquaforest tank! [emoji4]

And that is one sweet tank.

 

[tangerine3486]

Just a quick cell pick of my [emoji817] % All Aquaforest tank! [emoji4]

Tank looks amazing! What aquaforest products do you use?

 

[120reefkeeper]

Tank looks amazing! What aquaforest products do you use?

I use the complete Aquaforest probiotic method.

Aquaforest Probiotic salt

Pro bio s

Np Pro

AF amino mix

AF build

AF coral E

AF coral V

Components 1,2,3

Phosphate Minus

Garlic oil

And Aquaforest coral food

Thanks for the compliment! [emoji4]

 

[120reefkeeper]

And that is one sweet tank.

Thank you [emoji4].

 

[tangerine3486]

I use the complete Aquaforest probiotic method.

Aquaforest Probiotic salt

Pro bio s

Np Pro

AF amino mix

AF build

AF coral E

AF coral V

Components 1,2,3

Phosphate Minus

Garlic oil

And Aquaforest coral food

Thanks for the compliment! [emoji4]

Thanks for the info. Assuming it goes well, I'll slowly start to use more and more Aquaforest stuff.

 

[120reefkeeper]

Thanks for the info. Assuming it goes well, I'll slowly start to use more and more Aquaforest stuff.

Yep slow and steady wins the race! I'm excited for you!

 

[domination2580]

Thanks for the info. Assuming it goes well, I'll slowly start to use more and more Aquaforest stuff.

I'm in the same boat, started the reef salt already, working on getting the coral food and garlic and such from brs...as well as trying to figure out how to dose the components

 

[tangerine3486]

Me too! ready for my tank to just take off!

 

[120reefkeeper]

Just snapped a quick pic at feeding time..... look at that PE! Wow!

 

[120reefkeeper]

I'm in the same boat, started the reef salt already, working on getting the coral food and garlic and such from brs...as well as trying to figure out how to dose the components

The guide is very helpful to start. Then you need to adjust things to your tank depending on your consumption level. It takes a little bit to get it dialed in but man once you do!! Look out! Your gonna have some fragging to do lol [emoji23].

http://aquaforest.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Aquaforest_Products-Guide_EN_RGB.pdf

 

[domination2580]

The guide is very helpful to start. Then you need to adjust things to your tank depending on your consumption level. It takes a little bit to get it dialed in but man once you do!! Look out! Your gonna have some fragging to do lol [emoji23].

http://aquaforest.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Aquaforest_Products-Guide_EN_RGB.pdf

I'm for sure up for some fragging....still trying to understand the amount needed to dose though......if you just test and add some of the alk to raise it but don't know how much it will raise you are taking the risk to possibly overshoot and kill coral....

 

[120reefkeeper]

I'm for sure up for some fragging....still trying to understand the amount needed to dose though......if you just test and add some of the alk to raise it but don't know how much it will raise you are taking the risk to possibly overshoot and kill coral....

The components 1, 2, 3 are made for maintaining the levels not really for raising them up a lot.

It's always better to start slow and be conservative .

In the guide it suggests to start with 50ml per day of each per 27 gallons of water. This is a good starting point. My suggestion would be to get your big three levels set first. Before worrying about calcium and even alkalinity get your magnesium set around 1300 to 1400ppm. Then get your alkalinity and calcium balanced. I use this calculator to help. http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

Once your big three levels are set then your ready to start dosing the components 1,2,3. At the 50ml per day per 27gallons of water.

So let's say our tank is exactly 27gallons.

What your trying to do is to match your daily consumption.

So after your levels are set then you test.

Example

Calcium 420ppm
Alk 7.8dkh
Mag 1350 ppm

What you want to watch is the alkalinity. This is what you use to set all of your dosing levels.

Day 2 you test

Example

Calcium 415ppm
Alk 7.6 dkh
Mag 1350ppm

Ok so you see that in 24 hours your alkalinity dropped .2 dkh and your calcium went down a little also. The calcium will drop slower but don't worry about that for now. We are watching the alkalinity.

Day 3

Example

Calcium 415ppm
Alk 7.4dkh
Mag 1350ppm

Ah we dropped another.2dkh

So now we see that out consumption is .2dkh per day

Ok so now we know what we need to match. When we dose we need to match .2dkh per day of dosing.


So now we go ahead and get our levels back to where we want them or had them. Using that dosing calculator to help us.

Ok our levels are now back to day one levels.

Example same as day one

Calcium 420ppm
Alkalinity 7.8dkh
Magnesium 1350ppm

So in the guide it says that 50ml of component 2 raises alkalinity 1.3dkh some quick math tells us that 10ml will raise it .26dkh

So let's say you had a 27 gallon tank and you followed the guide and dosed 50ml per day of each component. You did the measurements above and you were still dropping 0.2dkh per day. Then you would need to increase your dosing to approximately 60ml per day . 50ml is the baseline and the 10ml increase due to consumption in order to keep your alkalinity stable at 7.8dkh.

Then you match that 60ml dosing of component +2

So components 1,2,and 3 are all now at 60ml per day.

Test test test. [emoji4]

Hope this makes sense. If I can help clarify anything just let me know.

 

[HolisticBear]

Hope this makes sense. If I can help clarify anything just let me know.

With traditional two part, you always dose equal parts of both solution. Does that also apply to the balling method and component 1,2,3?

I grok that you first start from good Ca, Mg, Alk parameters, then establish the baseline dose for all components by locking in alkalinity, then what? Do you have to worry about over or under dosing component 3 when component 2 is correct?

 

[120reefkeeper]

With traditional two part, you always dose equal parts of both solution. Does that also apply to the balling method and component 1,2,3?

I grok that you first start from good Ca, Mg, Alk parameters, then establish the baseline dose for all components by locking in alkalinity, then what? Do you have to worry about over or under dosing component 3 when component 2 is correct?

Your exactly right it does apply to the balling method and component 1,2,3.

The over and under your talking about will be very minimal if any and probably has to do more with your doser than the actual components in my expierence.

Example.

In my system I dose 96ml of component 1 , 98ml of component 2, and 96ml of component 3.


Sometimes I have to adjust them a little here and there but not a lot. Usually if I add a new coral or do some fragging then the corals can get upset fort a few days and slow down the consumption.

If I need to I can either dial back a little.... maybe a few ml or increase a few ml if I notice my alk declining.

I test my alkalinity everyday the same time of day. I use the Hanna alkalinity checker.

Everything is based off that darn alkalinity lol. If it moves a little I don't get excited... I usually wait a day or 2 and if need be then make a small adjustment.

 

[domination2580]

The components 1, 2, 3 are made for maintaining the levels not really for raising them up a lot.

It's always better to start slow and be conservative .

In the guide it suggests to start with 50ml per day of each per 27 gallons of water. This is a good starting point. My suggestion would be to get your big three levels set first. Before worrying about calcium and even alkalinity get your magnesium set around 1300 to 1400ppm. Then get your alkalinity and calcium balanced. I use this calculator to help. http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

Once your big three levels are set then your ready to start dosing the components 1,2,3. At the 50ml per day per 27gallons of water.

So let's say our tank is exactly 27gallons.

What your trying to do is to match your daily consumption.

So after your levels are set then you test.

Example

Calcium 420ppm
Alk 7.8dkh
Mag 1350 ppm

What you want to watch is the alkalinity. This is what you use to set all of your dosing levels.

Day 2 you test

Example

Calcium 415ppm
Alk 7.6 dkh
Mag 1350ppm

Ok so you see that in 24 hours your alkalinity dropped .2 dkh and your calcium went down a little also. The calcium will drop slower but don't worry about that for now. We are watching the alkalinity.

Day 3

Example

Calcium 415ppm
Alk 7.4dkh
Mag 1350ppm

Ah we dropped another.2dkh

So now we see that out consumption is .2dkh per day

Ok so now we know what we need to match. When we dose we need to match .2dkh per day of dosing.


So now we go ahead and get our levels back to where we want them or had them. Using that dosing calculator to help us.

Ok our levels are now back to day one levels.

Example same as day one

Calcium 420ppm
Alkalinity 7.8dkh
Magnesium 1350ppm

So in the guide it says that 50ml of component 2 raises alkalinity 1.3dkh some quick math tells us that 10ml will raise it .26dkh

So let's say you had a 27 gallon tank and you followed the guide and dosed 50ml per day of each component. You did the measurements above and you were still dropping 0.2dkh per day. Then you would need to increase your dosing to approximately 60ml per day . 50ml is the baseline and the 10ml increase due to consumption in order to keep your alkalinity stable at 7.8dkh.

Then you match that 60ml dosing of component +2

So components 1,2,and 3 are all now at 60ml per day.

Test test test. [emoji4]

Hope this makes sense. If I can help clarify anything just let me know.

That's what I was looking for! The math behind it...but does that pertain to making the components yourself? Such as mixing it all yourself?

 

[120reefkeeper]

Making the components yourself is easy also.

I started out with buying the premixed jugs.

Those hold 5000ml of each component

So you follow this recipe and multiply all of it including the water X 5

 

[domination2580]

Making the components yourself is easy also.

I started out with buying the premixed jugs.

Those hold 5000ml of each component

So you follow this recipe and multiply all of it including the water X 5

Why multiply by 5?

 

[120reefkeeper]

So in the above example in jug #1

Component 1
Af calcium 250grams
Af magnesium 50grams
Component A Strong 25ml
Component B Strong 25ml
Mix all of this with 5000ml of RoDi water
You have now made your component +1 mix. [emoji4]

It's the same for the others just multiple the ingredients X5 with 5000ml of water.