All in One Supplement

[W_Law]

Good Day All, i am a newbie to the saltwater world, not new to aquariums. Decided to take a dive into the saltwater world a few months ago and loving it. I have brought my experiences from fresh water tanks and used those best practices towards my saltwater aquarium until this crossroad. I have been dosing All for Reef (Tropic Marin) for a few months (daily). I would like to switch it up another brand. What are your recommendations or should i stick with All for Reef…..

 

[Yates273]

How does your tank look? Is there a reason you want to try something else? What Tropic Marine are you using the powder or the liquid? If all looks good and you’re happy why change?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Why do you want to switch? Is it not keeping the alk stable? What are you trying to accomplish? AFR is great stuff IMO

 

[W_Law]

I am currently going having a dinoflagellates outbreak, and i wanted to stop dosing for a few days. I just see the opportunity to try something new, i believe i am experiencing old tank syndrome. I have been dosing All for Reef daily and on water change day i at MicroBater 7. As for the dinoflagellates i am going to do a black out for 3 days and add a UV light in my return chamber.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

There are only a few all in one brands, and switching it will not help dinos, or likely, anything else.

I use AFR.

 

[Science/G]

Stick with AFR IMHO

 

[rtparty]

Old tank syndrome on a couple month old tank? Nah.

You are dealing with new tank syndrome though. Our systems take time to mature and balance out. If you started with dry rock and dry sand, plan at least 1 year of uglies and issues to overcome.

Best thing you can do right now is find some ultra live sand or rock from the ocean or a super established, healthy system. Then wait it out. Do you have corals? Pic of the tank?

 

[W_Law]

Tank has been up and running for 1 year 6 months, Waterbox AIO 25 gallon. It went through the ugly stage months ago, then all of a sudden this breakout came out no where. No matter how much i siphon my sand it creeps back within hours. Discussed with my local fish store guy and Dino’s is what was discussed. The reason of switching products is switch up what i am doing with dosing? Am i feeding the Dino’s? Has the tank become complacent to what i am doing.
Parameters:
Alk 9.1
Ph 7.8
Nitrite 0.009
Nitrate 4.03
Phosphate 0.24

 

[Yates273]

Your phosphates are pretty high
Do you have a picture of your tank?

 

[W_Law]

My phosphates are consistently high, they normally stay in that range 18-25, i have backed of feeding (LRS) and have changed what i am feeding (PE flakes). Attached is what i am dealing with at this moment…

 

[Yates273]

That’s cyano algae not Dino’s

 

[Yates273]

You can try to add more flow towards the front of the tank. Cyano is a more common algae in reef tanks. I ended up using chemiclean to rid my tank of Cyano but before you do that exhaust all other options. There are clean up crews that eat Cyano

 

[W_Law]

I have added clean up crews in the past and no one seems to survive. I added a UV stereoizer in the return area of the AIO, and i am going to black to tank out till weds, see if that works

 

[rtparty]

It looks to be a mix of Cyanobacteria and sand dwelling dinos. A UV sterilizer in the rear chambers won’t work for either. Look up the Sand Sweeper. It gets great reviews for dealing with sand dinos

 

[MonsoonMan&RainChild]

I have read that having ultra low nitrates while having elevated phosphates is a recipe for Cyanobacteria. I also read on reef bum I think about dosing nitrates to help correct this N:P ratio. You could also explore using GFO to bring phosphates down.

Here’s the reef bum article I mentioned:

Dosing Nitrates to Eliminate Cyano? - ReefBum

In theory, adding nitrates via an additive will make it possible for bacteria to consume phosphate and drive it down, a possible solution for eliminating cyano.

www.reefbum.com

 

[Pistondog]

Tank has been up and running for 1 year 6 months, Waterbox AIO 25 gallon. It went through the ugly stage months ago, then all of a sudden this breakout came out no where. No matter how much i siphon my sand it creeps back within hours. Discussed with my local fish store guy and Dino’s is what was discussed. The reason of switching products is switch up what i am doing with dosing? Am i feeding the Dino’s? Has the tank become complacent to what i am doing.
Parameters:
Alk 9.1
Ph 7.8
Nitrite 0.009
Nitrate 4.03
Phosphate 0.24

Numbers look good, ph on low side.
Afr is a good system. I recently swithed back to b ionic 2 part for ease of balancing calcium and alk on my main tank.
I have 2 waterbox 10s and supplement each with an airstone and powerhead. I think adequate aeration is tough in aio with no sump drop or skimmer.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Do not chase numbers or adjust numbers without cause. If changing water regularly, you may not have a need for any supplements but test kits will confirm. Hanna is a good brand