All For Reef Question

Ericg1989

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Hey guys,

I’m having a slight issue with my all for reef and balancing my major three.

i have a mixed reef nano (30g) that’s been set up for 8 months. It’s been doing well (bar a mis dose of 250 ml of all for reef 4 months ago which was rectified with a 90% water change ). To be honest since then I’ve noticed my major three have been a bit out of whack.

I’ve recently had a massive explosion of coralline too! All corals are doing great bar two hammers which are alive but are so retracted and have been for months! Other Euphylia are thriving. Acros have been doing great.

Alk is at 152ppm
Cal is 400
Mag is 1200

I’m wondering if I lower my alk to about 125/130ppm would that help bring the balance of calc and mag up. I’ve taken the all for reef dosing off line and within two days it’s now down to 145ppm. Should I keep this going until
It’s where I want it? Or is this dangerous for the corals and I should do it slower.


ideally I’d like them at 420 and 1280 which is water my water change water is at. But the following day they will have dropped back to where they sit in my system. Is the excess precipitating based off the alk levels?
 

arking_mark

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For most practical purposes, your Alk/Ca will drop together almost equally. So stopping AFR will probably not have your desired effect.

Your Alkalinity looks fine to me.

If you want to raise Ca and Mag, I'd just dose those components till you get to your desired level.
 
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Ericg1989

Ericg1989

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For most practical purposes, your Alk/Ca will drop together almost equally. So stopping AFR will probably not have your desired effect.

Your Alkalinity looks fine to me.

If you want to raise Ca and Mag, I'd just dose those components till you get to your desired level.

I got some bio magnesium from tropic Marin to try get that up. It would go up to 1280 after a couple of days of dosing but the second I stopped hoping the all for reef would then maintain it, it would drop straight back down to 1200. Not sure what could cause that? Is it cause the calcium balance is off too?
 

arking_mark

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I got some bio magnesium from tropic Marin to try get that up. It would go up to 1280 after a couple of days of dosing but the second I stopped hoping the all for reef would then maintain it, it would drop straight back down to 1200. Not sure what could cause that? Is it cause the calcium balance is off too?

Great question. I'm not sure what would consume Mag so quickly in a tank. AFR does provide what they consider balanced magnesium.
 

Spare time

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I got some bio magnesium from tropic Marin to try get that up. It would go up to 1280 after a couple of days of dosing but the second I stopped hoping the all for reef would then maintain it, it would drop straight back down to 1200. Not sure what could cause that? Is it cause the calcium balance is off too?


Mag test kits are not as accurate as you think. Just raise it to a ballpark range between 1300-1400 and keep it in there. Where your magnesium levels are is not that important so long as it's in the right ballpark
 

fishface NJ

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I got some bio magnesium from tropic Marin to try get that up. It would go up to 1280 after a couple of days of dosing but the second I stopped hoping the all for reef would then maintain it, it would drop straight back down to 1200. Not sure what could cause that? Is it cause the calcium balance is off too?
What mag test are you using? As @Spare time said they are not always accurate.
 

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