AFR got diluted with RO water....is it ruined?

HappyOne · Mar 11, 2024

I was away for a few days and asked my adult daughter to top off the ATO container and clean out the skimmer cup while I was away. Unfortunately, when I returned I discovered that she put water in the AFR dosing container instead. There was about 950 ml of AFR in there when I left on Friday and now there is about 1500ml of the mixed AFR + RO water in the container now.

Is it ruined or can I adjust my dosing to account for the dilution and keep using the mixture?

Hans-Werner · Mar 12, 2024

HappyOne said:
I was away for a few days and asked my adult daughter to top off the ATO container and clean out the skimmer cup while I was away. Unfortunately, when I returned I discovered that she put water in the AFR dosing container instead. There was about 950 ml of AFR in there when I left on Friday and now there is about 1500ml of the mixed AFR + RO water in the container now.

Is it ruined or can I adjust my dosing to account for the dilution and keep using the mixture?

You can use the AFR solution as long as it works. If excess bacteria start to grow in the container I guess you will stop dosing it by yourself. As long as everything looks normal or with little microbial growth you can still use it.

Since there is no sulfur and no nitrogen in the AFR solution no hydrogen sulfide can form and maybe lack of nitrogen may even limit bacterial growth. So use it as long as it looks acceptable.