All-for-Reef Dosing Question(s)

reefinatl

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Ok. My target alkalinity is 9. That's what my salt mixes at, and everything in my tank seems to do well there, so thats the number I'm shooting for.

I have dosed All for Reef 3 times now, testing and recording my alk numbers BEFORE each dose (Hanna checker), and at the same time each morning. TM recommends 3.8ml for my water volume but, wanting to err on the side of caution, I'm starting at 2.5ml.

Day 1 - 8.7dkh before dosing
Day 2 - 8.8dkh before dosing
Day 3 - 8.9dkh before dosing

Based on my numbers so far, it seems that 2.5ml is raising my alk by .1 each day, and before dosing, I was getting a decrease of .1 or more each day. So it looks like I need to cut my dose so I don't end up way over shooting my target of 9.0dkh... but how much should I dial it back?
If you were using .1 now you are gaining. 1 than cutting the dose in half should keep you steady. I'm green with dosing but that's what the math says.
 

attiland

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If you were using .1 now you are gaining. 1 than cutting the dose in half should keep you steady. I'm green with dosing but that's what the math says.
Hand dosing this will be hard. I don’t think you can rally measure 0.5 ml. I would add more RO water to the solution.
 
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Based on my testing over the last few days, I expected my alk to be at 9 this morning (been going up .1 each day since I started dosing, and was at 8.9 yesterday). Not only did it not go up .1, but it dropped .1 ... So my plan is to stick with the 2.5ml dose for a while longer until I see an actual trend.
 

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I have a few nano reef tanks that I've just been maintaining by doing regular water changes. I've run into the issue of my nitrate and phosphate bottoming out due to the frequent water changes. I need to keep the numbers up (LPS and softies), so my plan is to change water LESS, but then I'll need to do some sort of dosing as my alk drops pretty constantly .15 a day.

I have All-for-Reef, I have a Kamoer X1 Pro 2 and I have no clue where to start as far as the amount. If I was using 2-part, I could just use a calculator to figure how much to use for my water volume and alk needs. But, the AfR calculator is only based on water volume... No clue what sort of numbers they are based on. Is it all just trial and error and adjusting as you go? Are the recommended doses designed to hold? Raise? Lower?

They recommend 3.8ml for 20g of water volume. Should I start lower and just work up based on my actual numbers (shooting for the 9-ish range for alk)? Start with the recommended amount and adjust down if needed? Just wondering how I should approach it.
I use my Kamoer x1 micro, to dose .3ml 4 times daily to my 10 gallon (7gal after rock and filtration/equipment). So a total of 1.2ml daily.
 

HomebroodExotics

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Based on my testing over the last few days, I expected my alk to be at 9 this morning (been going up .1 each day since I started dosing, and was at 8.9 yesterday). Not only did it not go up .1, but it dropped .1 ... So my plan is to stick with the 2.5ml dose for a while longer until I see an actual trend.
Yes I prefer not to make any changes until I test at least twice. There’s always a chance you botched the testing somehow.
 
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Hooz

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After a week, I was still seeing a pretty consistent .1 alk increase with a 2.5ml daily dose. Now that I am at 9dkh (where I want to be), I reduced the dose to 1.25ml/day to see if it would hold stable at 9. Once I get the manual dosing dialed-in, I'll setup my Kamoer to do it for me.

Does anyone have issues with the tubing getting clogged dosing All for Reef? This is my first automatic doser, so I'm trying to make a list of all the things I should watch for.
 

ctopherl

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I have a few nano reef tanks that I've just been maintaining by doing regular water changes. I've run into the issue of my nitrate and phosphate bottoming out due to the frequent water changes. I need to keep the numbers up (LPS and softies), so my plan is to change water LESS, but then I'll need to do some sort of dosing as my alk drops pretty constantly .15 a day.

I have All-for-Reef, I have a Kamoer X1 Pro 2 and I have no clue where to start as far as the amount. If I was using 2-part, I could just use a calculator to figure how much to use for my water volume and alk needs. But, the AfR calculator is only based on water volume... No clue what sort of numbers they are based on. Is it all just trial and error and adjusting as you go? Are the recommended doses designed to hold? Raise? Lower?

They recommend 3.8ml for 20g of water volume. Should I start lower and just work up based on my actual numbers (shooting for the 9-ish range for alk)? Start with the recommended amount and adjust down if needed? Just wondering how I should approach it.

  • Use a calculator online
  • Figure out what numbers you want to target. If everything is happy in your tank, then current numbers are probably good.
  • Try dosing manually according to instructions/calculator results for 1-2 weeks until you dial in how much per day is needed to maintain the levels you want. Testing often here is probably a good idea.
  • Configure doser to dose the amount needed
  • Keep testing regularly for another week or two to verify it's doing what you expect
 

Barnabie Mejia

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After a week, I was still seeing a pretty consistent .1 alk increase with a 2.5ml daily dose. Now that I am at 9dkh (where I want to be), I reduced the dose to 1.25ml/day to see if it would hold stable at 9. Once I get the manual dosing dialed-in, I'll setup my Kamoer to do it for me.

Does anyone have issues with the tubing getting clogged dosing All for Reef? This is my first automatic doser, so I'm trying to make a list of all the things I should watch for.
You wont have any issues with the lines clogging, I have been doing this for months now with no issues. I would give you this piece of advice, I tested everyday for 3 weeks to see the trend.... it won't hurt to test the ALK more often. and to be honest I have not tested the Calcium and Mag since I started dosing the AFR. my tank holds steady at 9.3-9.4.

I have adjusted my dose a couple times but that was only from testing the water a week after adding new coral to the tank. If no coral have been added I test every Sunday at 7pm on the dot. The AFR in conjunction with TM Pro Reef Salt has made my tank super stable....
 
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Hooz

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You wont have any issues with the lines clogging, I have been doing this for months now with no issues. I would give you this piece of advice, I tested everyday for 3 weeks to see the trend.... it won't hurt to test the ALK more often. and to be honest I have not tested the Calcium and Mag since I started dosing the AFR. my tank holds steady at 9.3-9.4.

I have adjusted my dose a couple times but that was only from testing the water a week after adding new coral to the tank. If no coral have been added I test every Sunday at 7pm on the dot. The AFR in conjunction with TM Pro Reef Salt has made my tank super stable....
I'm testing every day at 8am, right before I dose. I have been for the last 2 weeks, and I'll keep doing it until I get things dialed in manually, and then with the doser. I test everything else weekly.

Looks like I'll need to order more reagent! :D
 

Barnabie Mejia

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I'm testing every day at 8am, right before I dose. I have been for the last 2 weeks, and I'll keep doing it until I get things dialed in manually, and then with the doser. I test everything else weekly.

Looks like I'll need to order more reagent! :D
I would just put it on the doser already and spread the dose out throughout the day (even though you are dosing 2.5ml you can still spread it out), it will make it more stable and you will get true readings instead of testing when the dose "wears off" per say....

I say this because in my 20g frag tank I was doing what you are, and when I put it on a dosing head, I had a fluctuation in the testing results and I had to wait about another week for it to stabilize. once you have ANY tank stable, you will really see things take off, and its AMAZING!
 
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