All for reef question ‍♂️

[Kammetal]

So i started using Tropic Marin All For Reef. So far it is looking good coraline growth really took off. Im dosing it to 120g mixed LPS/ Softie reef @ 20ml a day ( calculated probably 100g after water displacement) . My issue is im reading 8.0 DKH. Do i continue dosing the All for reef daily at 20ml? or do is stop and wait for it to drop?

 

[biom]

Not sure what the issue is? 8kH is ok. Just continue dosing but have an eye on calcium levels.

 

[Dr4gula.f32]

All For Reef won't raise your DKH, it'll only maintain it. You should dose something like red sea foundation b alk to raise alk where you want it, then use AFR to maintain that level.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

All For Reef won't raise your DKH, it'll only maintain it. You should dose something like red sea foundation b alk to raise alk where you want it, then use AFR to maintain that level.

Why do you think it won't raise alk if you dose more than is needed to offset demand for alk?

It doesn't happen instantly, but it will raise alk (how could it not?)

 

[LxHowler]

All For Reef won't raise your DKH, it'll only maintain it. You should dose something like red sea foundation b alk to raise alk where you want it, then use AFR to maintain that level.

All for reef will definitely boost alk if you dose too much, talking from experience.

if dosing 20 ml daily is holding you stable at 8dkh and you don’t want to raise I would continue doing so and keep an eye on your levels. If they start to rise then hold off on dosing until they return to 8.

how long have you been dosing for? It can take a little bit of time to take effect sometimes

 

[Trixter227]

All For Reef won't raise your DKH, it'll only maintain it. You should dose something like red sea foundation b alk to raise alk where you want it, then use AFR to maintain that level.

100% will spike your DKH if you let it. 2.9ml daily in a 50g did it for me. Especially when you first start doseing.

 

[iamacat]

All For Reef won't raise your DKH, it'll only maintain it. You should dose something like red sea foundation b alk to raise alk where you want it, then use AFR to maintain that level.

You must be speaking of trying to keep an elevated dKH over 10.
Three years using the powder and it’s the alk that dictated the dosing. That is to maintain it in the 7-9 range. All for Reef is for stability, if you want to be a coral farmer you would not be using it

 

[I never finish anythi]

Why do you think it won't raise alk if you dose more than is needed to offset demand for alk?

It doesn't happen instantly, but it will raise alk (how could it not?)

Correct. I overdose AFR and my dkh was 20. So yea it definitely does lol

 

[Kammetal]

All for reef will definitely boost alk if you dose too much, talking from experience.

if dosing 20 ml daily is holding you stable at 8dkh and you don’t want to raise I would continue doing so and keep an eye on your levels. If they start to rise then hold off on dosing until they return to 8.

how long have you been dosing for? It can take a little bit of time to take effect sometimes

I have been dosing for a week Dkh has gone from 7-8

 

[Kammetal]

So what i am getting here is i should wait? to dose any further my dkh went from 7-8 in the first week i tested last night i was at a 8

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

pick a target DKH and adjust dose until stabilized.

 

[hunterallen40]

I have been dosing for a week Dkh has gone from 7-8

I think people are wanting to know what your goal alkalinity is?

 

[Kammetal]

I think people are wanting to know what your goal alkalinity is?

When it comes to water chemistry i am a newb. I would assume 7-9 dkh for my mixed reef?

 

[iamacat]

When it comes to water chemistry i am a newb. I would assume 7-9 dkh for my mixed reef?

Are you manually dosing or do you have a dosing pump?

you can very easily dial the AFR into that range and even maintain a consistent 0.5 range by dosing at intervals through the day

 

[hunterallen40]

When it comes to water chemistry i am a newb. I would assume 7-9 dkh for my mixed reef?

This is definitely a contentious issue, so this is strictly my opinion... But anywhere in the 7-9 dKh range is acceptable.

I personally keep my system at 8, and am happy with the results I have at 8 dKh (should be noted I use a calcium reactor + kalkwasser instead of AFR, though).

It's considered best practice to pick a specific number and pin the dKH to that number.

 

[Trixter227]

When it comes to water chemistry i am a newb. I would assume 7-9 dkh for my mixed reef?

Careful with higher dkh 9+ with low nutrients. Can cause issues with starving corals

 

[X-37B]

This is definitely a contentious issue, so this is strictly my opinion... But anywhere in the 7-9 dKh range is acceptable.

I personally keep my system at 8, and am happy with the results I have at 8 dKh (should be noted I use a calcium reactor + kalkwasser instead of AFR, though).

It's considered best practice to pick a specific number and pin the dKH to that number.

Well said on best practice! Pick a number and keep it stable.
Same goes for all other numbers.
Pick you desired range and focus on keeping them in check.

This is the "only" way to run a reef. It does not mater the practice, equipment, or chemistry.
Most make it way harder than needed.

I run 2 systems with 2 part and one with a carx.

My alk range is 6.5-7.5 target 7.

 

[Kammetal]

Well said on best practice! Pick a number and keep it stable.
Same goes for all other numbers.
Pick you desired range and focus on keeping them in check.

This is the "only" way to run a reef. It does not mater the practice, equipment, or chemistry.
Most make it way harder than needed.

I run 2 systems with 2 part and one with a carx.

My alk range is 6.5-7.5 target 7.

So i guess my best bet is to keep at 7dkh

unfortunately im dosing by hand. I will stop dosing for now and see where im at in a couple days maybe i should even cut the dosage to 10ml?

 

[n2585722]

So i guess my best bet is to keep at 7dkh

unfortunately im dosing by hand. I will stop dosing for now and see where im at in a couple days maybe i should even cut the dosage to 10ml?

I would not stop completely. Start dosing less. i keep mine above 8dkh. I am trying for 8.5 but around an average between 8.3 and 8.4 but I have to dose All For Reef and some KH Buffer. I do use dosing pumps dosed 4 times a day. I do use dynamic dosing with both that is changed by the alkalinity readings from my KH Carer, but the change is not a large change. I change the high and low point settings for All For Reef dosing according to calcium and the KH buffer high and low points for the alkalinity. I change the invalid/stale settings at near midpoint between the high and low point. Here are the two dosing schedules. I mix my All For Reef at half strength because of the flow rate of the dosing pumps and doing it 4 times a day. Also there is a graph of alkalinity readings. There is a time in the graph that the Kamoer server was sending 0 for the reading to the Hydros so that is the gap. Of coarse I was getting the max dosage during that time so the level did increase some but sine I do not have but a small change it did not cause an issue. The high spikes were when I was testing with a fresh mix of Reef Crystals and it was measuring 12dkh which I guess is not uncommon with Reef Crystals. The Alkalinity has a daily swing like pH does but is opposite of the pH swing.

 

[hunterallen40]

So i guess my best bet is to keep at 7dkh

unfortunately im dosing by hand. I will stop dosing for now and see where im at in a couple days maybe i should even cut the dosage to 10ml?

I personally recommend you keep things above 7 to leave a little room for error. BRS recommends 9.0, which is a decent middle ground.

Some people run as high as 12, and are happy with results there.

A lot of SPS folks run lower dKh, including myself, but this is by no means a requirement (some SPS guys swear by 10+ dKh).

I recommend you find a successful tank, and just pick that tanks parameters as your own.

Here's a few for inspiration.

BRS: 9 dKh, 450 ca, 1350 mg
WWC: 8.6 dKh, 480 ca, 1440 mg
Reef Moonshiner method: 8.0 dKh, 420 ca, 1350 mg


There's a lot of different mixes for these parameters, so do some research and pick one. Learn one philosophy, and follow it.