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

[User1]

Looking at this - BRS appears to be about 109 bucks depending on tax for the mix. 1000 ML A and K, 1400G Carbo Cal and 16 OZ Bio Mag. I'll need to order a auto mixer (thanks for the one referenced a page or two back) but that is a quality of life one time purchase.

My tank is still maturing but has some test frags in it. I am using ESV 2 part and at best dosing 20 ML of each a day in my 210 gallon tank. Not sure how this will compare but it would free up a dosing head (not sure what I would do with that, C maybe?) and provide a bit more element wise. I think it makes sense to try.

What is the largest batch one can make and how long can it be stored for to use? And lastly, what containers should we be using?

 

[GabeM]

Looking at this - BRS appears to be about 109 bucks depending on tax for the mix. 1000 ML A and K, 1400G Carbo Cal and 16 OZ Bio Mag. I'll need to order a auto mixer (thanks for the one referenced a page or two back) but that is a quality of life one time purchase.

My tank is still maturing but has some test frags in it. I am using ESV 2 part and at best dosing 20 ML of each a day in my 210 gallon tank. Not sure how this will compare but it would free up a dosing head (not sure what I would do with that, C maybe?) and provide a bit more element wise. I think it makes sense to try.

What is the largest batch one can make and how long can it be stored for to use? And lastly, what containers should we be using?

What is your alk consumption per day when not dosing? I didn't start dosing until water changes were not able to keep up.

I have been using standard dosing containers. I would imagine you can make as much as you have the proper equiptment to make.

 

[jonny3979]

so I made up 4 litres of the mix but used 50ml of the trace per litre rather than 100 which I believe I saw in a video.
it mixed well. interestingly as mentioned above. what I was dosing as 2 part should equate to 50ml of the AFR. I'm dosing 20ml and everything is stable for a week. still testing every other day but so far the tank looks fine

 

[chrishet]

2 week mark for me with the DIY solution and all is good. I took my time by ramping down my Ca and Alk dosing over the 2 weeks, and ramping up the AFR. Ca stabilized very quickly, days, and I was able to turn that pump off almost immediately. The Alk took 2 weeks to stabilize, presumably to allow for the bacteria that consumes the formates to colonize...no biggie I tested for Alk several times a day (Thanks Trident!) and adjusted my dosing accordingly. Yesterday I turned off the Alk. My params this morning are;

I have been very happy to see the Mag stabilized. I was worried it would spike up as I already had high mag levels and wasn't dosing Mag.

Right now I am dosing 48ml/day of AFR in my 70 gal tank, probably 75 gal total system volume with my sump and rock. My reef is about 1.5 years old and is a mixed reef at this point but lots of young SPS frags. I'm not sure what I am going to use the 2 dosing pumps for, maybe Nitrate dosing....its a good problem to have!

 

[chrishet]

3 Weeks in...I am seeing a steady rise in Ca. Anyone else seeing this? And is this something I should be concerned with? I've dropping dosing down to 42mls per day, and my Alk has dropped a little but Ca continues to rise.

 

[User1]

3 Weeks in...I am seeing a steady rise in Ca. Anyone else seeing this? And is this something I should be concerned with? I've dropping dosing down to 42mls per day, and my Alk has dropped a little but Ca continues to rise.

Trident? If so, what percentage of reagents is left?

 

[chrishet]

Trident? If so, what percentage of reagents is left?

Yup, Trident. I have 23% of my Ca and Mag reagent and 63% of Alk

 

[User1]

Yup, Trident. I have 23% of my Ca and Mag reagent and 63% of Alk

Ok - was just wondering if you had experienced a slight increase in Ca previously. Will be interesting to see the next two test cycles results. Have you tested manually by any chance? I do not test Ca usually but every once in a while I'll grab a water sample before the test that runs at noon. Say 5 minutes before. Then I run a quick Alk and Phosphate test using Hanna kits. Those kits are easy to use - not going to lie - so that is why I test those two

 

[chrishet]

Have you tested manually by any chance?

Good idea. I'll do a test this weekend with my other testing and report back.

 

[User1]

Good idea. I'll do a test this weekend with my other testing and report back.

Great. Depending on how the tests go on mine sometimes I'll spot check to keep everyone honest. I've had one problem when mine started to climb and it was related to my reagents being lower than what was actually there. Another time I ran into a issue my Brightwell marine block was starting to fall apart and messed with my sample line. Neptune support got me sorted out pretty quickly in that case.

Anyway if it continues or looks odd tomorrow maybe run a test - best of luck and have a awesome day!

 

[chrishet]

Params back to normal....the issue was indeed my Trident. I think the dose line in the Ca reagent was either bent or kinked. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Hans-Werner]

I am sorry, I didn't follow this thread for a while.
The orange precipitate is iron. In my experience it doesn't matter much if a bit of the iron settles out. The iron demand of corals seems to be very low, some other trace metals seem much more important.

Some tanks seem to have an uneven, non-stoichiometric (stoichiometric = in the chemical proportions) consumption of calcium and alkalinity. Usually there seems to be a higher consumption of alkalinity and a lower consumption of calcium. Just stock up the alkalinity with baking soda from time to time.

 

[User1]

Mine is mixing now . I went ahead and doubled up the recipe. I have to say that the Tropic Marin products are very well packaged. I mean really well packaged. The two powder products are sealed tight then have the protective plastic cover inside. Have to say I really appreciate that not to mention the extended lip on one of the edges for each access and removal. There is no way moisture will get into this and it will keep well.

I keep my ALK between 8 and 8.5. I was looking at the AFR calculator and it suggested I dose 32 ml / day for 170 gallons. I have a 210 gallon tank with about 170 lbs of rock and 200 lbs of substrate. I figure my water volume with sump is about 170 gallons. Calculator didn't really say water volume only or not. Other calculators specifically call out water only.

Does it matter? 170 gallons is 32 ml / day and 210 is 39 ml/day. Not much of a difference really but probably only matters what is needed to keep my ALK where I want it I guess.

Nerd alert - it was fun making this I have to say and didn't take much time at all. On auto pilot now mixing while I drink some coffee and read some news and what not. Thank you again for putting this together.

 

[Ky_acc]

I am sorry, I didn't follow this thread for a while.
The orange precipitate is iron. In my experience it doesn't matter much if a bit of the iron settles out. The iron demand of corals seems to be very low, some other trace metals seem much more important.

Some tanks seem to have an uneven, non-stoichiometric (stoichiometric = in the chemical proportions) consumption of calcium and alkalinity. Usually there seems to be a higher consumption of alkalinity and a lower consumption of calcium. Just stock up the alkalinity with baking soda from time to time.

just for reference, I mixed up a 1L batch last weekend. I mixed for about 2 hours (cheap amazon magnetic stirrer) to get as much of the “dust” mixed in as possible - likely could have reduced this amount of time if I had heated the RODI beforehand.

I have noticed that after a few days the orange sediment formed in mine as well -glad it doesn’t seem to be an issue.

 

[User1]

Mine was similar. I mixed a double batch and let it mix for a couple hours. Very little cloudy residual left. I looked in both bottles after reading this and see a slight orange film on the bottom but wasn't worried. Also a very light dust. Again, nothing major. Overall seems to be working out pretty well. I can't say one way or another if my corals like it better than what I was using (ESV 2 part) but I did not see any "negative impact". So I believe that is good.

Only thing I'm noticing is that my ALK isn't as consistent compared to the 2 part. Calcium seems fine as mag. However, if I'm not adding ALK it drops. My understanding based on this thread is that it may take 2 weeks or so for it to hold steady.

 

[2000se]

also -- question, can you use a small power head to mix the carbo-calcium and water instead of a stirrer? I'm bout tired of stirring....

 

[Bulk Reef Supply]

also -- question, can you use a small power head to mix the carbo-calcium and water instead of a stirrer? I'm bout tired of stirring....

As you're finding out, it can take quite some time to really get everything fully dissolved. If you don't have a magnetic stirrer, a small powerhead can definitely be used

 

[2000se]

ok good.. should I wait for all the calcium to dissolve before adding the other ingredients ?

 

[2000se]

also - I need to add what I calculated to be 120g of Mag. How many scoops would that be? Trying to read to figure it out but everyone keeps say grams/// I want scoops!

 

[2000se]

Ok.. there's ~153 Blue scoops in the 1500g bucket of Bio-Mag. This means that each scoop is about 9.8grams/scoop.;Oldman