What time to dose all for reef

[blakeu21]

So I want to start dosing all for reef in my water box 110 mixed reef that is lps dominant. I got a brs 1.1ml dosing pump and I have an apex system to control it. I was wondering what time should I be dosing from? Should I dose 24/7 or only when the lights are on? Also should I dose hourly or every 2 hours? I know that the answer is probably going to be depends on your tank but if you have any tips it would be much appreciated.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

In my 100 gallon system I dose 2 times a day a total of 16 ml with my doser, tank is fine, if I had a different doser I would choose to do it over a 24 hour cycle.

 

[blakeu21]

In my 100 gallon system I dose 2 times a day a total of 16 ml with my doser, tank is fine, if I had a different doser I would choose to do it over a 24 hour cycle.

Thanks this really helps

 

[Kzang]

So I want to start dosing all for reef in my water box 110 mixed reef that is lps dominant. I got a brs 1.1ml dosing pump and I have an apex system to control it. I was wondering what time should I be dosing from? Should I dose 24/7 or only when the lights are on? Also should I dose hourly or every 2 hours? I know that the answer is probably going to be depends on your tank but if you have any tips it would be much appreciated.

So I want to start dosing all for reef in my water box 110 mixed reef that is lps dominant. I got a brs 1.1ml dosing pump and I have an apex system to control it. I was wondering what time should I be dosing from? Should I dose 24/7 or only when the lights are on? Also should I dose hourly or every 2 hours? I know that the answer is probably going to be depends on your tank but if you have any tips it would be much appreciated.

I’m getting back into dosing after a calx reactor. I used to dose alkalinity during the day and calcium at night. Now I have a Ghl doser, I dose every hour with alk, and do calcium with 6 doses at night.

If you can, the more often you dose, the better it will be. But if you don’t have a full packed spa tank, bigger fewer doses will be fine.

 

[blakeu21]

I’m getting back into dosing after a calx reactor. I used to dose alkalinity during the day and calcium at night. Now I have a Ghl doser, I dose every hour with alk, and do calcium with 6 doses at night.

If you can, the more often you dose, the better it will be. But if you don’t have a full packed spa tank, bigger fewer doses will be fine.

I want to dose all for reef just to keep it simple but I don’t just did not know if like my tank consumes more in the day then at night and then I would have higher levels at night and not know about it

 

[Kzang]

I want to dose all for reef just to keep it simple but I don’t just did not know if like my tank consumes more in the day then at night and then I would have higher levels at night and not know about it

The corals uptake alkalinity and calcium 24/7, but a majority of it is during photo period.

Like right now I’m dosing 0.5 alk every hour. My alk goes down a little bit during the photo period, and during the night, it goes slightly up, so it basically evens out

 

[crazyfishmom]

So I want to start dosing all for reef in my water box 110 mixed reef that is lps dominant. I got a brs 1.1ml dosing pump and I have an apex system to control it. I was wondering what time should I be dosing from? Should I dose 24/7 or only when the lights are on? Also should I dose hourly or every 2 hours? I know that the answer is probably going to be depends on your tank but if you have any tips it would be much appreciated.

All for reef works a little differently that traditional two part dosing in that it uses calcium formate and it is released over time as bacteria break it down. I dose all at once in the mornings in my 210 gallon system and my alkalinity stays spot on between 9.0-9.2 in a 24 hrs period as measured by my trident. There may be a benefit to continued dosing during the day but calcium formate should not be stripped in our filtration systems, at least not significantly enough where multiple small doses might help. Just my two cents! Good luck, I absolutely love this product!

 

[blakeu21]

All for reef works a little differently that traditional two part dosing in that it uses calcium formate and it is released over time as bacteria break it down. I dose all at once in the mornings in my 210 gallon system and my alkalinity stays spot on between 9.0-9.2 in a 24 hrs period as measured by my trident. There may be a benefit to continued dosing during the day but calcium formate should not be stripped in our filtration systems, at least not significantly enough where multiple small doses might help. Just my two cents! Good luck, I absolutely love this product!

So would you recommend auto dosing all for reef all at once in the morning?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The time doesn't likely matter much, especially at low doses but I'd dose it in the AM.

Two reasons are will have a very small O2 and pH lowering effect in the hours after it is dosed, and alk will show up over a period of time after dosing, while alk is most often consumed more during the daytime.

 

[crazyfishmom]

So would you recommend auto dosing all for reef all at once in the morning?

I would. It is released slowly as bacteria process the calcium formate and this ensures stability during the photo period when consumption is highest.

 

[aaron186]

The time doesn't likely matter much, especially at low doses but I'd dose it in the AM.

Two reasons are will have a very small O2 and pH lowering effect in the hours after it is dosed, and alk will show up over a period of time after dosing, while alk is most often consumed more during the daytime.

Sorry to rehash an old thread. Does it matter how quickly it’s dosed? If I dose over 10 mins or 1 hour or 2 hours or whatever does it matter for this product?

 

[Sophie"s mom]

All for reef works a little differently that traditional two part dosing in that it uses calcium formate and it is released over time as bacteria break it down. I dose all at once in the mornings in my 210 gallon system and my alkalinity stays spot on between 9.0-9.2 in a 24 hrs period as measured by my trident. There may be a benefit to continued dosing during the day but calcium formate should not be stripped in our filtration systems, at least not significantly enough where multiple small doses might help. Just my two cents! Good luck, I absolutely love this product!

I have a question about this. I currently use Two Little Fishes C-Balance because my tank uses WAY MORE Alk than it does Calcium. Is this normal? I really want to switch to AFR but am concerned that it will be too much on the calcium side.

 

[Reef Puncher]

Sorry to rehash an old thread. Does it matter how quickly it’s dosed? If I dose over 10 mins or 1 hour or 2 hours or whatever does it matter for this product?

it doesnt matter. ive dosed it all at once then i swapped to a auto doser and it puts it out like 5ml, 5ml, 5ml, over a few hour window in early day. all my numbers test fine.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Sorry to rehash an old thread. Does it matter how quickly it’s dosed? If I dose over 10 mins or 1 hour or 2 hours or whatever does it matter for this product?

Not really, no.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I have a question about this. I currently use Two Little Fishes C-Balance because my tank uses WAY MORE Alk than it does Calcium. Is this normal? I really want to switch to AFR but am concerned that it will be too much on the calcium side.

No, unless the demand is very low and factors like water changes are messing with demand.

When you say way more, what does that mean?

 

[areefer01]

Sorry to rehash an old thread. Does it matter how quickly it’s dosed? If I dose over 10 mins or 1 hour or 2 hours or whatever does it matter for this product?

I believe RHF answered this earlier in the thread. Small dose it probably doesn't matter but do so in the morning. I personally dose 90 ml/day and spread it out starting at 0900 and ending at 1700. I've never considered dosing all 90 ml at once let alone shorten the window so cannot comment on it.

I guess I could shorten the window starting at the same time and ending when my lights peak but since everything is doing well, and I've done it this way for so long, not considered it.

 

[crazyfishmom]

I have a question about this. I currently use Two Little Fishes C-Balance because my tank uses WAY MORE Alk than it does Calcium. Is this normal? I really want to switch to AFR but am concerned that it will be too much on the calcium side.

Can you comment on how much alkalinity and how much calcium it consumes? Just trying to better understand your situation to better help. I haven’t experienced an imbalance in any of my tanks with AFR.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

No, unless the demand is very low and factors like water changes are messing with demand.

When you say way more, what does that mean?

I am dosing about 50 ml for alk daily, while for calcium I only need to dose that same amount every 3 or 4 days. I do have a ton of coralline algae, just so you know that .

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I am dosing about 50 ml for alk daily, while for calcium I only need to dose that same amount every 3 or 4 days. I do have a ton of coralline algae, just so you know that .

This is in a 90 gallon tank?

Assuming so, 50 ml of C-balance adds about 0.8 dKh per day. Match calcium demand would be about 5 ppm per day of calcium.

That's not so low that I'd expect minor processes to dominate.

That leaves water changes and accumulating nitrate as possible sinks for alk (or additions of calcium).

To explain away 0.6 dKh of alk demand by rising nitrate, it would need to add about 13 ppm per day. That sounds excessive, and if that is not happening, nitrate is not the cause. No sulfur denitrator, right?

That leaves water changes as the only other in tank process to cause such a mismatch.

Do you do water changes, and if so, how often, how much, and with what?

Outside of tank processes could include test errors, mismeasurement, forgetting to dilute the calcium part when diluting the alk part, dosing pumps not delivering what was expected, or faulty product potency.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

This is in a 90 gallon tank?

Assuming so, 50 ml of C-balance adds about 0.8 dKh per day. Match calcium demand would be about 5 ppm per day of calcium.

That's not so low that I'd expect minor processes to dominate.

That leaves water changes and accumulating nitrate as possible sinks for alk (or additions of calcium).

To explain away 0.6 dKh of alk demand by rising nitrate, it would need to add about 13 ppm per day. That sounds excessive, and if that is not happening, nitrate is not the cause. No sulfur denitrator, right?

That leaves water changes as the only other in tank process to cause such a mismatch.

Do you do water changes, and if so, how often, how much, and with what?

Outside of tank processes could include test errors, mismeasurement, forgetting to dilute the calcium part when diluting the alk part, dosing pumps not delivering what was expected, or faulty product potency.

Thank you for your help with this Randy. Yes it is a 90 gallon, I do 15 gallon water changes every other weekend. I use instant Ocean reef crystals salt. The tests are done with Hanna . Also, I currently dose manually. I just purchased a dose but have not set it up yet. I am doing a water change tomorrow. I will test all Sunday and let you know what all parameters are.