All-For-Reef Powder

[enb141]

No better option for and AIO nano IMO. Started with the liquid, moved to the DIY and now using the powder. Magnesium is consumed faster than alk & calcium, but I dose a couple times a month to raise it about 100. January is ICP time and I'm sure a few trace elements are going to be off, but no dosing method is perfect. I give AFR an A overall. The only flaw is it doesn't raise pH.

What's the size of your tank?

So what about us with 75 gallon tanks + 15 Gallon sump?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Have you also factored in the mg, alk and calcium the AFR is adding? The 100ppm mag dosing was just the extra mag the op was dosing on top of the AFR.

I understood that and did not add in the AFR mag, which I do not have a value for. But any amount in the AFR makes it less plausible that the deficiency was 100 ppm per month.

The actual alk and calcium in AFR do not figure in the calculation,

 

[Reef Psychology]

What's the size of your tank?

So what about us with 75 gallon tanks + 15 Gallon sump?

It depends on your corals I would guess. I'm dosing on a 45, 26, & 14; 15mL, 5.3mL and 4mL per day. Before the move a couple of years ago when I had to sell everything I was around 28mL/day. If your tank is primarily LPS and soft corals AFR will do fine in a 75. If it's all fast growing SPS it might turn expensive or reach the max dose per day (not necessarily a line in the sand though).

 

[enb141]

It depends on your corals I would guess. I'm dosing on a 45, 26, & 14; 15mL, 5.3mL and 4mL per day. Before the move a couple of years ago when I had to sell everything I was around 28mL/day. If your tank is primarily LPS and soft corals AFR will do fine in a 75. If it's all fast growing SPS it might turn expensive or reach the max dose per day (not necessarily a line in the sand though).

I see, so probably is not gonna be a good option for me (SPS only tank)

 

[Reef Psychology]

I see, so probably is not gonna be a good option for me (SPS only tank)

Depends. Ex. If you're using kalk and need something to make up the difference AFR can be excellent. 26mL/26g/Day is quite a bit, even for packed tanks. Even if it's more expensive than other methods, only having 1 doser with one mixture is very tempting.

What are you using now and what is your tanks consumption rate?

 

[Kasrift]

Just chiming in, I realize this is an old thread that is revived. I've been using all for reef's powder for nine months. For everyone mixing it, do yourself a favor and get a magnetic stirrer. They are like 15$ on Amazon. Second, warm the RO water in the microwave, it will make it dissolve WAY faster. I didn't discover this trick until way later.

Lastly, depending on consumption, either dilute the mixture more and dose more, or else consider cleaning your dosing lines everyone once in awhile otherwise they can get clogged. I had this happen and didn't realize my dosing pump was not working and came back from out of town with my alk in the 5s.

 

[Reef Psychology]

Just chiming in, I realize this is an old thread that is revived. I've been using all for reef's powder for nine months. For everyone mixing it,bdo yourself a favor and get a magnetic stirrer. They are like 15$ on Amazon. Second, warm the RO water in the microwave, it will make it dissolve WAY faster. I didn't discover this trick until way later.

Lastly, depending on consumption, either dilute the mixture more and dose more, or else consider cleaning your dosing lines everyone once in awhile otherwise they can get clogged. I had this happen and didn't realize my dosing pump was not working and came back from out of town with my alk in the 5s.

Good points. I've noticed if I preheat 450mL more than 25 seconds in the microwave the solution is a little foggy so I only heat it for 18 seconds. I clean out the tubing once every six months and use a little RODI on the pipe to clean off the crystals that form there. Other people say they let the outflow sit in the water, but there's going to be some diffusion. Also, you should stir your solution every few weeks as I think something is settling out of solution (iron maybe as it's red).

 

[Kasrift]

Good points. I've noticed if I preheat 450mL more than 25 seconds in the microwave the solution is a little foggy so I only heat it for 18 seconds. I clean out the tubing once every six months and use a little RODI on the pipe to clean off the crystals that form there. Other people say they let the outflow sit in the water, but there's going to be some diffusion. Also, you should stir your solution every few weeks as I think something is settling out of solution (iron maybe as it's red).

Agreed with stirring it every so often. I was reading another thread that mentioned mixing it per instructions for 1 liter and then adding one liter of plain RO water and double the dosage to keep your dosing lines cleaner. I've been doing that for a couple of months. Since I already knew my consumption, it was easy to double the water. I tested obsessively for a week straight, but everything stayed the same.

I sàw in other posts on this thread that some people add magnesium. I am in the same boat and does extra magnesium every couple of days. I think coraline algae consumes a ton of it from what I read somewhere. I am in a constant state of it growing and then getting eaten by my urchin.

 

[Reef Psychology]

Agreed with stirring it every so often. I was reading another thread that mentioned mixing it per instructions for 1 liter and then adding one liter of plain RO water and double the dosage to keep your dosing lines cleaner. I've been doing that for a couple of months. Since I already knew my consumption, it was easy to double the water. I tested obsessively for a week straight, but everything stayed the same.

I sàw in other posts on this thread that some people add magnesium. I am in the same boat and does extra magnesium every couple of days. I think coraline algae consumes a ton of it from what I read somewhere. I am in a constant state of it growing and then getting eaten by my urchin.

Same here. Mag is depleting faster than alk and calcium, but Randy says it shouldn't be that high. I did some math (which is dangerous) and I exaggerated. I'm dosing around 20-35ppm mag per month to stay @ 1400ppm taking into account my Tropic Marin Pro mixes at 1300ppm and I have to raise it.

How much extra mag are you having to dose?

 

[Kasrift]

I try to stay at the same 1400 and am also using tropic Marin (I use bio actif salt which has the same parameters as TM Pro with the added bio actif additive). I dose 5ml every other or every third day of Aquavitro Ions. This is in a 32 gallon Fluval Flex that is heavily stocked with 41 Lps, 13 softies, and 31 sps. As mentioned, my coraline algae is constantly regrowing as my tuxedo can clear the back wall in a few days.

 

[Reef Psychology]

No where as stocked as you, but my mag drop is consistent on all three tanks. I dose around 20mL-25mL of Brightwell Magnesion a month by hand in 26g lightly stocked tank (15 mostly SPS). The other two I don't remember off the top of my head.

 

[enb141]

Depends. Ex. If you're using kalk and need something to make up the difference AFR can be excellent. 26mL/26g/Day is quite a bit, even for packed tanks. Even if it's more expensive than other methods, only having 1 doser with one mixture is very tempting.

What are you using now and what is your tanks consumption rate?

Is not stoked yet but I was thinking to use a DIY calcium reactor.

Even without any corals, there's some consumption of elements.

I haven't check the consumption, but about every 3 months I add alkalinity and about every 6 months I add magnesium / calcium.

Right now I don't know the current values of Calcium, Alkalinity and Magnesium .

 

[Reef Psychology]

Is not stoked yet but I was thinking to use a DIY calcium reactor.

Even without any corals, there's some consumption of elements.

I haven't check the consumption, but about every 3 months I add alkalinity and about every 6 months I add magnesium / calcium.

Right now I don't know the current values of Calcium, Alkalinity and Magnesium .

You're in the planning stages. That's great! Better now than when something becomes critical.

Regular water changes and hand dosing a two part are all you need right now. The good thing about AFR is when/if you get to the point when it isn't enough you wont be out anything because chances are high you'll need a doser anyway. It's a win/win.

I have little experience with calcium reactors, so I'll let others chime in on that.

 

[enb141]

You're in the planning stages. That's great! Better now than when something becomes critical.

Regular water changes and hand dosing a two part are all you need right now. The good thing about AFR is when/if you get to the point when it isn't enough you wont be out anything because chances are high you'll need a doser anyway. It's a win/win.

I have little experience with calcium reactors, so I'll let others chime in on that.

I know, also I was thinking using a doser but for 3 parts I would need 3 dosers, I'm already dosing my planted tank with 3 pumps but for my reef I think cost effective would be to use a DIY calcium reactor, which I already have all the parts, I just need time and patience to build it, so meanwhile I read about this new powder so that's why I'm here asking questions about it.

 

[fishnchips17]

Just chiming in, I realize this is an old thread that is revived. I've been using all for reef's powder for nine months. For everyone mixing it, do yourself a favor and get a magnetic stirrer. They are like 15$ on Amazon. Second, warm the RO water in the microwave, it will make it dissolve WAY faster. I didn't discover this trick until way later.

Lastly, depending on consumption, either dilute the mixture more and dose more, or else consider cleaning your dosing lines everyone once in awhile otherwise they can get clogged. I had this happen and didn't realize my dosing pump was not working and came back from out of town with my alk in the 5s.

Great advice, but I wouldn't recommend diluting AFR because I read in one of the threads here that AFR needs to be a certain concentration to prevent bacteria growth...

I also agree with everyone else that my mag is being consumed faster and have to be dosed additionally when using AFR.