All For Reef and dynamic dosing

[BAMatter]

Hi all- question regarding best method of dosing AFR. Current setup- Waterbox 60.2. SPS dominant, system about 10 months old, and starting to sponge up calcium. Dosing kalk through a stirrer overnight evap x 2, minus 1-2 ATO pump topoffs. I have a KH Carer monitoring alk every 3 hours.

The KH Carer has the ability to adjust alk dosing based on last reading, but I’ve read that AFR has a delayed response to showing results on tests. Is that correct? If so, is it better to just do equal parts alk dosing 24/7?

look like I get crazy alk increases overnight dosing alk, so it doesn’t seem like I need to adjust alk dosing schedules for am/pm different amounts. But the main inquiry here, is if I put dynamic dosing on based off last alk reading, is it essentially a moving target because of the delayed response from AFR?

Thanks!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Automated dosing based on alk testing is complicated by AFR and its lack of detectability when first dosed. For this reason, I don’t think AFR is a good choice when using that method.

 

[BAMatter]

Automated dosing based on alk testing is complicated by AFR and its lack of detectability when first dosed. For this reason, I don’t think AFR is a good choice when using that method.

Ok, thank you. So I’ll continue with my original plan to dose equal parts and test to observe trends. Has there been a conclusion as to how long it take to detect AFR when dosed?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Ok, thank you. So I’ll continue with my original plan to dose equal parts and test to observe trends. Has there been a conclusion as to how long it take to detect AFR when dosed?

I've not seen any data, but in an established tank using it, I'd expect the value to be in the range of hours.