All-For-Reef - Tropic Marin... no more adding separate calcium, magnesium, alkalinity, etc...?

[salty150]

So, I am trying to understand All-For-Reef by Tropic Marin...

It seems to be getting 5-star reviews from virtually everyone.

So... you just get all of your levels where you want them - and then you just have to add All-For-Reef on a schedule, etc. ... and no more adding separate calcium, magnesium, alkalinity, etc...?

 

[Tamberav]

I have seen some people still have to add magnesium sometimes but magnesium test kits suck so could just be that.

For the most part is is supposed to be one thing to add. Seems to work pretty well. Just costly on large tanks.

Esv 2 part is nice too.

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Ish.... You may have to micro-adjust because it is based off of alkalinity. So if your corals are gobbling up calcium and your alkalinity is at its max then you have to add calcium. It is not for everybody and there is a transition stage. Also it does not add PH, so you may have to figure that one out separately if you are low.

 

[A Young Reefer]

I personally didn’t like it, the main drawback was the delayed nature of calcium formate.
meaning that once you dose, any change in alkalinity will only be registered on your test kit after 48 hours of dosing (bacteria needs to break it down etc..). And if anything starts to go wrong if for example you overdose you will only discover once it’s too late. Another issue I faced was that I had difficulty dialling in the dosing, I even encountered variations from batch to batch in parameters and in quality of the solution/powder itself.
I would say give it a try if it works for you then great you will like it a lot.
I had amazing results when it worked.

 

[areefer01]

I have seen some people still have to add magnesium sometimes but magnesium test kits suck so could just be that.

Sometimes one has to manually add Alk or Ca, or MG depending on corals, livestock, and numbers. Easy to do really. I've had to do Ca a few times if truth be told.

For the most part is is supposed to be one thing to add. Seems to work pretty well. Just costly on large tanks.

Not as costly as it once was upon first launch (liquid only). Tropic Marin released the DIY component recipe and it reduced the cost several fold. Later they released the powder form which most use with larger displays. Ordering the 1600g container makes it even that much more economical (in my opinion).

It really comes down to the hobbyist desired chemistry levels and end daily dosing numbers to determine the cost effectiveness vs. say the traditional 2 part (ESV or other). I think I peaked at 120 ml / day with TM AFR which meant a 1600g container would last me 3 months plus or minus a few days. Seemed reasonable to me coming from a single dosing head.

I guess cost is subjective in the end but if someone is looking at it I would do some basic math to see how it fits. Then compare it to other 2 or 3 part solutions and see if it works.

Esv 2 part is nice too.

ESV 2 part is a solid product. I have it as well which is what I use to manually correct if my values get low. Sometimes corals do a growth spurt or something happens that I need to do a slight ALK or Ca bump. ESV makes great product(s).
Hope your day is great!

 

[A Young Reefer]

I personally didn’t like it, the main drawback was the delayed nature of calcium formate.
meaning that once you dose, any change in alkalinity will only be registered on your test kit after 48 hours of dosing (bacteria needs to break it down etc..). And if anything starts to go wrong if for example you overdose you will only discover once it’s too late. Another issue I faced was that I had difficulty dialling in the dosing, I even encountered variations from batch to batch in parameters and in quality of the solution/powder itself.
I would say give it a try if it works for you then great you will like it a lot.
I had amazing results when it worked.

just to be clear I am not trying to bash TM, it’s my honest review. I am a big fan of their products and I am currently using the balling set for dosing and I love it.

 

[areefer01]

So, I am trying to understand All-For-Reef by Tropic Marin...

Infomercial 1:


Infomercial 2:


Infomercial 3:

It seems to be getting 5-star reviews from virtually everyone.

It has a pretty large following. Probably one of the main reasons is that TM's initial release was liquid form which they then released the components we can buy from them to make our own reducing the cost. Not really common in the reefing industry.

Some say it is a good product but not better than others. Who is to say one vs the other. I think in the end it is up to the hobbyist to decide what they want to achieve by using what product if the demand is higher than say what a normal scheduled water change may provide.

So... you just get all of your levels where you want them - and then you just have to add All-For-Reef on a schedule, etc. ... and no more adding separate calcium, magnesium, alkalinity, etc...?

More or less yes. Instructions / guide below if it helps for clarity.

Tropic Marin | Aquarium | Produktinformationen

Tropic Mairn - The aquatic life science company. Wir stellen hochwertige Salze, Additive und Wassertests vorwiegend für Meerwasseraquarien her. Korallen, Fische und Wirbellose in Ihrem Aquarium fühlen sich mit unseren Produkten wohl.

www.tropic-marin-smartinfo.com

 

[Oldreefer44]

I have used it since it came out with no issues and good ICP results. I use kalkwasser as my primary source and AFR as a supplementary source for trace elements and as a way of keeping Alk stable. This also resolves the PH issue.

 

[Tamberav]

ya, the Ph thing is why I use ESV.

I do have a can of the powder All for reef left but too lazy to mix it up. Might use it on a nano.

Two dosing heads for ESV doesn't really matter to me vs one. I never saw that as a game changer or anything.

There was a 1 bottle solution long before TM but I guess it didn't get the marketing so it never became popular.