All For Reef results, what to do now?

[SaltLifeMom]

Hello all,
I have a 25 gallon Waterbox Penninsula that has been running for 2 years. I generally test once a week and every two weeks or so I do a 10% water change. I started to notice my calcium dropping and an ICP test I had done after some unexplained LPS losses (Duncan and a Favia rapidly died), I learned that my trace elements were really low. So, I started dosing All for Reef. I've watched as many YouTube videos as I could find, read as much as I could (I don't dose anything, and was just nervous to cause harm), I started dosing 2 ml/day in the a.m. before lights come on. My issue is... I'm no good with chemistry or understanding what to do with the data. If anyone could guide me from here, I'd appreciate it... do I stay with the 2ml/day? Do I need to increase or do more or add a Balling? I see my calcium going up and then alk down and vice versa but that's about as much as my small brain understands :D If it helps, I do run carbon and GFO in a hang on reactor with nitrate consistantly at 12 and phosphate consistantly at between 0.08 -0.1 and all corals look great.

4/20/25: Calcium 480, Mag 1500 Alk 9.6
4/26/2025: Calcium 400, mag 1500, Alk 9.6
5/3/2025: Calcium 470, Mag 1500, Alk 8

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

If you want alk above 8 dKH you’ll need to dose more, but not much more. If you want 7-8 dKH, I might let it go longer and see where alk stabilizes. If it drops below your target, raise the dose. Base all dose decisions on alkalinity.

 

[rishma]

I have the same tank. It takes about 15 ml of AFR to raise the alkalinity by 1 dKH.

I’ll note that I frequently have issues with calcium test kit accuracy, and I don’t even bother testing anymore. I just dose based on alkalinity as Randy suggests. I would expect your 400 ppm test on 4/26 might have been incorrect. I suggest you bother with magnesium testing either.

 

[SaltLifeMom]

Okay, thank you both. That helps a lot. I was curious as to why my alk is sort of swinging, and wondered if it had to do with the windows being open all week and ph getting a little bump - but I don't know if that's related. I'll focus on alk... I use Salifert test kits for alk, calc and mag and sometimes find the calcium difficult to get right. I like alk at 9 but everything is happy in the tank so I'm fine to keep it at 2 ml/day and see how it stabilizes out. Should I continue to test weekly and see if alk gets more consistent?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Okay, thank you both. That helps a lot. I was curious as to why my alk is sort of swinging, and wondered if it had to do with the windows being open all week and ph getting a little bump - but I don't know if that's related. I'll focus on alk... I use Salifert test kits for alk, calc and mag and sometimes find the calcium difficult to get right. I like alk at 9 but everything is happy in the tank so I'm fine to keep it at 2 ml/day and see how it stabilizes out. Should I continue to test weekly and see if alk gets more consistent?

Yes, weekly sounds good. :)

 

[SaltLifeMom]

Randy, what if alk keeps jumping around?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Randy, what if alk keeps jumping around?

If you add the same amount every day, it won’t jump around. It could be stable or rising or falling, but jumping up and down with each test suggests a test error, not a real change (assuming you dose at the same time each day and test at the same time each day).

 

[SaltLifeMom]

I have it on a doser, so it's dosing first thing in a.m. but you're right, I'm testing at different times. I'll be more careful with that. Thank you!

 

[PRB83]

I have it on a doser, so it's dosing first thing in a.m. but you're right, I'm testing at different times. I'll be more careful with that. Thank you!

If it's possible with your dosing pump, I think it would be beneficial to spread your dosing out throughout the day. I dose 0.9ml four times a day in my 20 gallon. 3.6ml total a day.

It won't make a big difference in the grand scheme of things, but it may help keep your levels a little more consistent.

 

[rishma]

If it's possible with your dosing pump, I think it would be beneficial to spread your dosing out throughout the day. I dose 0.9ml four times a day in my 20 gallon. 3.6ml total a day.

It won't make a big difference in the grand scheme of things, but it may help keep your levels a little more consistent.

Since the alkalinity from AFR takes time to metabolize, I’m not sure it’s as necessary to dose multiple times throughout the day. I don’t think it’s a bad idea either, but I dose once a day before the lights come on, and my alkalinity stays fairly stable.

 

[KGscv]

I have it on a doser, so it's dosing first thing in a.m. but you're right, I'm testing at different times. I'll be more careful with that. Thank you!

I had the same issue before where my alk doesnt go up. Your lines might be clogging due to low dose. I fixed it by doubling the rodi and doubling my dose. It prevents it from clogging the dosing line. I think im doing 900ml rodi to 80g afr

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I dont recommend dilution. It can cause a number of problems.