All For Reef? Dosing help!

[Apheoxx]

Hello! I am new to dosing and feel like it may be time to start dosing I’m using about 12 ppm of calcium right now per day, but my ALK is staying around 9 DkH. For reference, my CAL was 482 a week ago and I just measured 398 with this past water change.

I plan on testing in 24 more hours just to see what the numbers are (in case of measurement error). I have a LPS dominant tank, specifically Euphyllia that is in the larger side and I am thinking of starting to dose All For Reef.

I would use Kalk but I am not too fond of the lack of precision and the reliance on a dosing pump and the inconsistency that this would bring. With that said, I was wondering if anyone had experience and if they could guide me to the road of success. Thank you!

 

[Lavey29]

So you are seeing no alk depletion between water changes? Does not really make sense that only calcium is dropping.

 

[Apheoxx]

So you are seeing no alk depletion between water changes? Does not really make sense that only calcium is dropping.

It doesn’t make sense. My dKH is rising and PH is 8.2 but CAL dropped wildly. Also nitrates are around 10 and there is no readable PO4, I believe I should feed more or start dosing AB+.

 

[Lavey29]

Your calcium is ok at 398. Little higher would be better. 0 phosphate is bad though. Typically what is needed for alk dosing is the same for cal. I dose 18ml for both. Sometimes these numbers may vary slightly depending on tank conditions.

What is your tank size and current parameters complete? How stocked is the tank with corals and fish? When you get to the point where weekly water changes do not maintain alk and cal levels then dosing is required.

I think you need to test again over a week period.

 

[Apheoxx]

Your calcium is ok at 398. Little higher would be better. 0 phosphate is bad though. Typically what is needed for alk dosing is the same for cal. I dose 18ml for both. Sometimes these numbers may vary slightly depending on tank conditions.

What is your tank size and current parameters complete? How stocked is the tank with corals and fish? When you get to the point where weekly water changes do not maintain alk and cal levels then dosing is required.

I think you need to test again over a week period.

My tank only has 4 fish and a handful of invertebrates. I will give you my most recent measurements (via Hanna Checkers). Temp - 79, SAL - 1.024, PH 8.2, ALK - 9, CAL - 398, NO3 - 10.2, PO4 - 0.00. I currently do not test for magnesium as I do not believe it is imperative at my stage. I have a 60 gallon aquarium with a sump packed with ulva.

I do have a tad bit of nuisance algae but my tang and urchins makes pretty quick work of it. I have recently scrubbed most of the uglies away and my ulva has since taken the wheel. I do worry about the drop in nutrients, but I could always dial back the photo period. I really don’t want to dose nitrates or phosphates because that is a pretty dangerous game. At one point I did add Red Sea AB+ to my tank and it exploded my nutrients and I believe contributed to the overall crash of my last tank (a green hair algae apocalypse). Granted, I did not have the experience or a sump/protein skimmer/facilities to hand such nutrients and I really didn’t know what I was doing.

The upside to this is that I seen some large growth with my hammer coral. I feel as if there has to be some phosphate in the tank, even if it reads zero. My old tank (aka the apocalypse) has 0 nitrates and 0 phosphates and I could have fed an army of tangs GHA, it was literally the worst case that I’ve seen. So between my ulva, coral, and some nuisance algae/film algae, I feel like there is phosphates present but being soaked up, pretty much just sitting there as phosphorus.

Thank you!

 

[Lavey29]

My tank only has 4 fish and a handful of invertebrates. I will give you my most recent measurements (via Hanna Checkers). Temp - 79, SAL - 1.024, PH 8.2, ALK - 9, CAL - 398, NO3 - 10.2, PO4 - 0.00. I currently do not test for magnesium as I do not believe it is imperative at my stage. I have a 60 gallon aquarium with a sump packed with ulva.

I do have a tad bit of nuisance algae but my tang and urchins makes pretty quick work of it. I have recently scrubbed most of the uglies away and my ulva has since taken the wheel. I do worry about the drop in nutrients, but I could always dial back the photo period. I really don’t want to dose nitrates or phosphates because that is a pretty dangerous game. At one point I did add Red Sea AB+ to my tank and it exploded my nutrients and I believe contributed to the overall crash of my last tank (a green hair algae apocalypse). Granted, I did not have the experience or a sump/protein skimmer/facilities to hand such nutrients and I really didn’t know what I was doing.

The upside to this is that I seen some large growth with my hammer coral. I feel as if there has to be some phosphate in the tank, even if it reads zero. My old tank (aka the apocalypse) has 0 nitrates and 0 phosphates and I could have fed an army of tangs GHA, it was literally the worst case that I’ve seen. So between my ulva, coral, and some nuisance algae/film algae, I feel like there is phosphates present but being soaked up, pretty much just sitting there as phosphorus.

Thank you!

You're numbers are not to bad. Perhaps feeding some more pellets food will raise phosphate slightly. .05 to .1 is the range so your corals don't starve. Coral nutrition like AB plus can spike phosphate if over dosed. I use it once a week currently and have a similar size system to yours. A few more fish would help you also because fish fertilizer is best for corals.

You need to determine your alk consumption between water changes to determine your dosing requirements. If weekly water changes are not keeping alk and cal consistent with little fluctuations then dosing is needed. I reached a point where I was hand dosing small amount of alk daily. Calcium was not being used much between water changes. The more corals I added coupled with coraline growth saw my alk and cal consumption increase so I started a daily doser of small amounts over a 24 hour schedule. 18ml for both now. Magnesium decreases also but at much smaller levels so a hand dose of 15ml once a week suffices. I have lots of LPS and softs and about 20 SPS frags now all thriving.

Check your alk consumption daily after a water change and that will give you an estimate for your dosing needs if required.

 

[Apheoxx]

You're numbers are not to bad. Perhaps feeding some more pellets food will raise phosphate slightly. .05 to .1 is the range so your corals don't starve. Coral nutrition like AB plus can spike phosphate if over dosed. I use it once a week currently and have a similar size system to yours. A few more fish would help you also because fish fertilizer is best for corals.

You need to determine your alk consumption between water changes to determine your dosing requirements. If weekly water changes are not keeping alk and cal consistent with little fluctuations then dosing is needed. I reached a point where I was hand dosing small amount of alk daily. Calcium was not being used much between water changes. The more corals I added coupled with coraline growth saw my alk and cal consumption increase so I started a daily doser of small amounts over a 24 hour schedule. 18ml for both now. Magnesium decreases also but at much smaller levels so a hand dose of 15ml once a week suffices. I have lots of LPS and softs and about 20 SPS frags now all thriving.

Check your alk consumption daily after a water change and that will give you an estimate for your dosing needs if required.

I really appreciate all of your help! I just retested calcium and it was 451 (facepalm). So it’s only a 30 point drop since last week. So the consumption is definitely increasing. I just need to figure some stuff out!

 

[Lavey29]

I really appreciate all of your help! I just retested calcium and it was 451 (facepalm). So it’s only a 30 point drop since last week. So the consumption is definitely increasing. I just need to figure some stuff out!

Then you should see alk consumption also

 

[Apheoxx]

Then you should see alk consumption also

I think they are not consuming ALK at the rate that they are consuming CAL.

 

[JCM]

I agree with most everything @Lavey29 is saying. Definitely don't dose all for reef until you're seeing a consistent steady decrease in alk. Calcium can safely swing more than alk so base your dosing off of alk consumption rather than calcium (unless you're controlling them separately which you're not with all for reef).

 

[Lavey29]

I think they are not consuming ALK at the rate that they are consuming CAL.

You may want to research that because it is not something that seems to be common unless you have other things out of normal range like magnesium or strontium.

 

[Apheoxx]

You may want to research that because it is not something that seems to be common unless you have other things out of normal range like magnesium or strontium.

Thank you! I appreciate your knowledge my friend.

 

[Shooter6]

1st sounds like a couple water changes over a week are needed. Doing this will help get not only the big 3 parameters in line but also trace elements. Try to get 30-40% of the water changes through multiple smaller changes. Then start daily testing your parameters. Kalk and all for reef are not good for making changes in the alk,cal,mag. They are best used to maintain them.

On My current system which is over 1200g total volume I dose the following.

4gal of kalk slurry per day on a continuous drip.
150ml redsea alk
150ml redsea cal
250ml redsea mag
These are spread across 24 hourly doses staggered 15min apart.
240ml of all for reef 10ml per hr.

 

[Lavey29]

1st sounds like a couple water changes over a week are needed. Doing this will help get not only the big 3 parameters in line but also trace elements. Try to get 30-40% of the water changes through multiple smaller changes. Then start daily testing your parameters. Kalk and all for reef are not good for making changes in the alk,cal,mag. They are best used to maintain them.

On My current system which is over 1200g total volume I dose the following.

4gal of kalk slurry per day on a continuous drip.
150ml redsea alk
150ml redsea cal
250ml redsea mag
These are spread across 24 hourly doses staggered 15min apart.
240ml of all for reef 10ml per hr.

Do you have shamu in there?

 

[Shooter6]

Do you have shamu in there?

No I have a 400g display, 320g display, 300g sump, 4 50g frag tanks all plumbed together. Actually my fish load is way under what I need but covid issues has slowed my stocking list being filled. I'm stuck using mollies for right now lol.