Tropic Marin All-For-Reef: Any downsides to it?

[Reef.]

That’s true too, so do you notice any difference from using tropic Marin instead of Red Sea? In terms of coral growth, hmmm more/less algae?

No corals yet, to be fair the differences could be down to my new tank getting more mature, so hard to say it was the change in salt, but the main difference I noticed near enough straight away was the brown on the glass and sand went within days, I hardly ever need to glass clean and the sand is clear...as said that could be down to the tank just maturing rather than the salt.

 

[jaganshi066]

No corals yet, to be fair the differences could be down to my new tank getting more mature, so hard to say it was the change in salt, but the main difference I noticed near enough straight away was the brown on the glass and sand went within days, I hardly ever need to glass clean and the sand is clear...as said that could be down to the tank just maturing rather than the salt.

Thank you for all the information. I go through a lot not salt even though my tank isn’t too big so I don’t mind switching even though it’s a little more costly

 

[Reef.]

Thank you for all the information. I go through a lot not salt even though my tank isn’t too big so I don’t mind switching even though it’s a little more costly

The salt plays a very small role in good coral growth, all the major salt brands have people with amazing tanks using their salt, I would only change salt if you can’t accept the brown residue and also prefer a salt that mixes easier, if those are enough reasons for you to spend the extra money then go for it, if you are doing it because you think it will grow corals better then that is maybe not a reason to spend the extra IMO.

 

[Lou Ekus]

My tank is 100 gallon 3ft cube plus sump 12 years old how would you recommend I dose all for reef if I scrap my bubble magus calcium reactor.

If you are totally fixed on "scrapping" the calcium reactor, then you will need something to supplement the tanks needs. In a 100 gallon system, I would recommend using the Carbocalcium, with the Trace A and Trace K added to it. Then you can dose the Mg separately as needed. This works well in "larger" systems because it is more cost effective, and it gives you total control on the amount of Mg you are adding. This would be the same as All-For-Reef, only keeping the Mg separate.

 

[Dennis Cartier]

... or Tropic Marin could sell the powdered version in larger more affordable quantities. A 5 gallon bucket like salt comes in would make it viable for even the largest systems (if priced accordingly).

All-For-Reef works so well it is a pity that it's cost limits it's application.

Dennis

 

[Lou Ekus]

... or Tropic Marin could sell the powdered version in larger more affordable quantities. A 5 gallon bucket like salt comes in would make it viable for even the largest systems (if priced accordingly).

All-For-Reef works so well it is a pity that it's cost limits it's application.

Dennis

Once we have the AFR Powder available here in the US, we will be able to get it in 5 gallon buckets on special orders. However, the components dictate the cost, not the volume. So the 5 gallon bucket of AFR powder will be very expensive and probably not be more cost effective than mixing Carbocalcium with Trace A and K for larger systems.

 

[The Opinionated Reefer]

You can buy 15KG of All for reef powder in the UK for £229 uk currency! That's enough to make 100L of solution.

 

[Reef.]

Anyone know for sure when the alk increase from a dose has fully taken full affect? Trying to dial mine in at the minute, my first dose didn’t seem to kick in for a good few days.

 

[guysmiley]

You can buy 15KG of All for reef powder in the UK for £229 uk currency! That's enough to make 100L of solution.

thats exactly what i wanted to read ! our largest we get here in new zealand as far as im aware is 1600gm for $150 . so i would be right into sourcing larger quantities as it will be used on a 200g

 

[The Opinionated Reefer]

thats exactly what i wanted to read ! our largest we get here in new zealand as far as im aware is 1600gm for $150 . so i would be right into sourcing larger quantities as it will be used on a 200g

I would look for a generic source of calcium formate that you could buy in bulk. Then just dose trace elements.

 

[uhgster1]

Anyone know for sure when the alk increase from a dose has fully taken full affect? Trying to dial mine in at the minute, my first dose didn’t seem to kick in for a good few days.

It takes about 4-5 days.

 

[steven325]

I have been using all for reef for several months now. One dose everyday 5ml is enough to keep a stable 9.0 and 425cal. Until my corals get bigger an need more then I will adjust as necessary. I haven’t had any negative side effects. My echinata even popped pink strips since dosing.

 

[Wolters_88]

Once we have the AFR Powder available here in the US, we will be able to get it in 5 gallon buckets on special orders. However, the components dictate the cost, not the volume. So the 5 gallon bucket of AFR powder will be very expensive and probably not be more cost effective than mixing Carbocalcium with Trace A and K for larger systems.

You have made this so hard to actually get any of your products it’s to the point you are prolly going to lose all your customers since they will be looking for alternatives at this point.

 

[Dennis Cartier]

Once we have the AFR Powder available here in the US, we will be able to get it in 5 gallon buckets on special orders. However, the components dictate the cost, not the volume. So the 5 gallon bucket of AFR powder will be very expensive and probably not be more cost effective than mixing Carbocalcium with Trace A and K for larger systems.

Your response about the expected costs made me curious, so I ran the numbers for my local situation.

Note these are in Canadian dollars. YMMV

Import 15Kg from Europe $396 + ??? shipping, this would make 100L
Purchase 10 kits for DIY mixing (to make 100L), $1,749
Purchase 100, 1L pre-made solutions, $5,499

The powdered version is not yet available locally with pricing, so I can't compare a local purchase of that just yet.

Dennis

 

[Lou Ekus]

Your response about the expected costs made me curious, so I ran the numbers for my local situation.

Note these are in Canadian dollars. YMMV

Import 15Kg from Europe $396 + ??? shipping, this would make 100L
Purchase 10 kits for DIY mixing (to make 100L), $1,749
Purchase 100, 1L pre-made solutions, $5,499

The powdered version is not yet available locally with pricing, so I can't compare a local purchase of that just yet.

Dennis

I was comparing it to Carbocalcium mixed with the Trace K&A. Not the AFR solution. I'm also not sure yet what the US pricing will be on the 15 kg bucket size.

 

[maleks.reef]

I’m on the second bottle of it, 34g tank so it’s not bad for me. Corals perked up from the start, I use TM Pro salt. Only using 5ml daily for now.

Hi. How did you know how much to dose daily? Im thinking of using all for reef too but i do not have a Ca and Mag test kit yey, would it be possible to figure out the dosage without having those 2 kits? My tank is 4 months old only with 90% sofites and 10% lps. I want to use AFR only because water changes are not a good option for me currently.

 

[maleks.reef]

I started with 1/4 of recommended dose (I always start with 1/4 of recommend anything in my tank - if not less). Increased to get levels I needed over a few weeks. Never did more than 2x a week testing for Alk.

Directly in display section of tank.

Did you only test for alk when figuring out how much you need to dose AFR?

 

[Quietman]

Did you only test for alk when figuring out how much you need to dose AFR?

No...I still test but only every two weeks now. I only test for Ca maybe once every 2 months. I have a low demand tank (softie and some LPS) and use a higher alk salt mix (HWMarine Reefer) and everything is very stable. I only need to add a few ml a day to keep alk at 9.

 

[Reef.]

Hi. How did you know how much to dose daily? Im thinking of using all for reef too but i do not have a Ca and Mag test kit yey, would it be possible to figure out the dosage without having those 2 kits? My tank is 4 months old only with 90% sofites and 10% lps. I want to use AFR only because water changes are not a good option for me currently.

you would need at least an alk test kit, you can get the other two kits later.
You first need to get your alk stable, probably best to aim for your salt alk lvl to start with, so if your salt has alk of say 8, aim for 8 for now, if your tank alk is only 7.5 you'll need to add something like baking soda to bring the alk up to 8, then you test every 24 hours to see how much your tank is using, if the alk drops down to say 7.7 from 8, it's using 0.3 alk a day so you will need to dose 0.3kh of All For Reef to get it back to 8, easy as that, there is a All for Reef dosing calculator on the AFR site, and a baking soda calculator is easy enough to find online.

 

[maleks.reef]

No...I still test but only every two weeks now. I only test for Ca maybe once every 2 months. I have a low demand tank (softie and some LPS) and use a higher alk salt mix (HWMarine Reefer) and everything is very stable. I only need to add a few ml a day to keep alk at 9.

and how often do you do WCs?