DIY All-For-Reef Recipe from Tropic Marin! Thanks Zack!

[WhiskyFish]

Couldn’t find any AFR so I Just mixed up my first DIY batch the other day. I ended up just making it half strength. I have a nano so I’m not dosing much and figured it would be more accurate with my doser. I was all ready doing that with the pre made stuff and confirmed with Tropic Marin that you could dilute it.

Another thing I did since it’s hot here in the south east right now, I mixed it outside. Only took a couple hours with a magnetic stirrer and it looks good. I also haven’t got any of the orange dust.

For anyone interested in using the magnetic stirrer this one on amazon works well and is cheap. The flask is from river supply company and is decent quality for a great price. I also picked up a 100ml graduated cylinder to measure the liquid components and used a gram scale I had for the dry ones. Also if you are into CBD, they have great oil at a killer price to meet the $50 for free shipping

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What did they say regarding dilution? Was there a maximum they recommended?

I'm looking to do the same, fed up with my dosing line constantly blocking, would hope that this would resolve it. Have you run into any issues with your solution?

 

[User1]

What did they say regarding dilution? Was there a maximum they recommended?

I'm looking to do the same, fed up with my dosing line constantly blocking, would hope that this would resolve it. Have you run into any issues with your solution?

I've personally not run into any issues dosing. Overall I have to say the DIY solution is amazing. My system isn't high demand though and I'm dosing 43 ml TM AFR / day.

 

[intricate_reefer]

What did they say regarding dilution? Was there a maximum they recommended?

I'm looking to do the same, fed up with my dosing line constantly blocking, would hope that this would resolve it. Have you run into any issues with your solution?

They didn’t tell me a maximum dilution but when I emailed them I asked about 1/4 strength, so 1 part to 3 parts RODI and they said it wasn’t an issue. I mainly did it because my nano wasn’t using much and figured it would make it more accurate with the dosing pump I was using. My tank is now more heavily stocked and I’m using it at half strength. Never had any issues either way.

 

[Shooter6]

What did they say regarding dilution? Was there a maximum they recommended?

I'm looking to do the same, fed up with my dosing line constantly blocking, would hope that this would resolve it. Have you run into any issues with your solution?

Well i got emails from Germany AND also emails and ph calls from the us representative. The German reps said they think there was a possibility the alk precipitated out but have no idea why.

U.s. rep thinks its possible that also is the case. I mixed up 3000ml of the questionable products ( what was used to make the batch that went bad) and added 4000ml of new product mix. I also replaced all the lines.
Ive been raising alk back up slowly from 6.4 to currently 7.8. Eventual goal is back to 8.7.
We found cal and mag had not dropped.
A positive is that the drop had minimal to no effect on any corals. I lost 1 new frag, which possibly was caused by this but that is 1 out of 46 new frags and over 100 colonies!
As of right now i still highly recommend this as to me its a liquid calcium reactor!

 

[GMay]

Heads up. If you dilute the product or DIY you will likely get some microbial growth. I had a fungus grow in mine when I diluted it 1:1. Being a resea biologist I am not surprised.

 

[Shooter6]

Heads up. If you dilute the product or DIY you will likely get some microbial growth. I had a fungus grow in mine when I diluted it 1:1. Being a resea biologist I am not surprised.

Qhy did you dilute it? As a side note they explained that it can get benificial bacterial growth in it.
Pictures of the fungus growth? Identified fungus?

 

[Shooter6]

Qhy did you dilute it? As a side note they explained that it can get benificial bacterial growth in it.
Pictures of the fungus growth? Identified fungus?

Are you saying using the diy recipe from the manufacturer, will likely have a fungus growth that the premixed and bought product would not? Have you spoken to the reps about this?

 

[GMay]

I diluted the manufacturer's product, not the DIY. I diluted it to give me a little more control on the dose. I now use the DIY method and am very happy with it. I have been using this mix and the manufacture products for at least two years.

No idea what the fungus was, it was black but I didn't take any pictures. This is my tank just now.

 

[Shooter6]

I diluted the manufacturer's product, not the DIY. I diluted it to give me a little more control on the dose. I now use the DIY method and am very happy with it. I have been using this mix and the manufacture products for at least two years.

No idea what the fungus was, it was black but I didn't take any pictures. This is my tank just now.

So the fungus could have been a contamination, that got into the mix, not the mix itself, or caused by the dilution either. Tank looks good.

 

[Shooter6]

I saw mention of red dust. I have never experienced that. The same person said it took a couple hrs to mix. I do the 750ml rodi to each part making 1000ml. That takes 5-10 min at room temp water. I mix 3gal at a time doing this. The magnetic stirrer should speed that up

 

[Shooter6]

Since you stated your a research biologists, its to bad you didnt use your skill set and the equipment available to identify the fungus strain.

 

[intricate_reefer]

I have gotten no fungus growth in diluted off the shelf product or the DIY version. If you have good RODI water I don’t see how that could be the cause but I’m no biologist lol.

 

[Mrmiles]

AFR powder will be a great option for you guys with higher demand. Saw it promoted on TM YouTube channel.

 

[Hydrored]

AFR powder will be a great option for you guys with higher demand. Saw it promoted on TM YouTube channel.

I loved all for reef prior to going to a calcium reactor, I always felt the corals did best. Once I went to a 210 gallon tank and more sticks the cost is insane, hopefully it will be priced decent and readily available. Will be nice for people with larger tanks to get a semi affordable option that you don’t have to mess with other than adding water

 

[The Opinionated Reefer]

AFR powder will be a great option for you guys with higher demand. Saw it promoted on TM YouTube channel.

You mean Carbocalcium powder?

 

[The Opinionated Reefer]

How many of you guys are well above the maximum recommended dose? I have had to increase my dosage from 70ml per day to 90ml in the last few weeks and it still seems to consume alk faster than it can keep up.

 

[Hydrored]

You mean Carbocalcium powder?

All-For-Reef Powder - Tropic Marin®

Ultra-concentrated, crystalline powder for the creation of an all-round solution for supplying all the key minerals and trace elements in newly installed and average reef aquariums.

www.tropic-marin-smartinfo.com

It’s not available here yet

 

[The Opinionated Reefer]

All-For-Reef Powder - Tropic Marin®

Ultra-concentrated, crystalline powder for the creation of an all-round solution for supplying all the key minerals and trace elements in newly installed and average reef aquariums.

www.tropic-marin-smartinfo.com

It’s not available here yet

excellent

 

[User1]

Out of curiosity has anyone sent off an ICP test a month or two after starting TM AFR? Specifically ATI?

ATI's recommendation noted Bromine is elevated. This is also one of the components and/or trace elements in TM AFR. I did not see this elevated in previous tests so pretty sure it is a direct relationship.

 

[Bulk Reef Supply]

I ran All-For-Reef (standard stuff, not the DIY version) on my 75 gallon tank for roughly 3 months last year. Towards the end, I submitted an ICP test via the CoralVue kit. Nothing really noteworthy. Iodine was the only thing that was a tad low, but not too far off. Full disclosure, I do weekly 20% water changes on that particular tank, so that could be helping keep everything on track too.