High Calcium with All For Reef!

dr1271

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Established tank, but recently switched from Tropic Marin Balling Method to All for Reef. Change was made about a month ago, and at the time my calcium was around 460ppm.

Since dosing the A4R (36ml/day), my calcium just came back from ICP at 547ppm! Mag is at 1417ppm. Alkalinity is stable at 8.4-8.6 every day.

Tank is 45g total water volume

What can I do to get both down back to where they need to be?

I am also using TM Pro Reef salt, could this be a culprit of the high amounts?

Salinity 1.025
pH 8.3-8.4
Phosphate .03
Nitrate 5ppm
0BB06C3A-1903-427D-896E-F6054315D0CB.png
 

arking_mark

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How did you measue the 460ppm Ca? Our hobby Ca test kits are inaccurate and prone to error. It could be that your Ca has been high from regular balanced dosing.

Most tank consumption is not exactly 100% balanced...which leads to the need to rebalance every several months.

 
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dr1271

dr1271

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How did you measue the 460ppm Ca? Our hobby Ca test kits are inaccurate and prone to error. It could be that your Ca has been high from regular balanced dosing.

Most tank consumption is not exactly 100% balanced...which leads to the need to rebalance every several months.

Thanks for that article.

Totally agree with the inaccuracy of home Cal tests but that last number before switching to A4R was also from ICP Analysis.

I may put together a small solution of the TM Part B Balling Method and shut off the A4R to level things out.
 

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My 50g runs on AFR and also suffers from high calcium. I understand the want for an all in one but I'm quickly finding it is a very flawed way of going about it. I'd also be worried about your potassium being so high. Quote a few trace elements look high to be honest. I'd bet most of those are found in AFR.
 

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My 50g runs on AFR and also suffers from high calcium. I understand the want for an all in one but I'm quickly finding it is a very flawed way of going about it. I'd also be worried about your potassium being so high. Quote a few trace elements look high to be honest. I'd bet most of those are found in AFR.
There is very little potassium in AFR.
quote from Lou on another thread

Why All-For-Reef and K+ Elements don't have potassium? Is it not important enough to dose?

I just tested mine and it's 368 ppm. Have been using the DIY All-For-Reef mix.
Potassium is not really considered a "trace element" as it exists is much larger concentrations than typical traces. Also, the potassium uptake in the reef tank is not necessarily proportional to the trace element uptake. So we only dose a small trace amount in our Trace A solution. So, like magnesium, potasium has to be dosed separately, so you have total control over needing more or less. This is not true of the trace elements in the AFR or the Trace A or K. normal sea water potassium is about 380 ppm, so anything around 400ppm is generally good.”

AFR contains the following
K+ trace elements
  • Barium
  • Boron
  • Chrome
  • Cobalt
  • Iron
  • Copper
  • Manganese
  • Nickel
  • Strontium
  • Zinc
A- trace elements
  • Bromine
  • Fluorine
  • Iodine
  • Lithium
  • Molybdenum
  • Selenium
  • Vanadium
 

arking_mark

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Thanks for that article.

Totally agree with the inaccuracy of home Cal tests but that last number before switching to A4R was also from ICP Analysis.

I may put together a small solution of the TM Part B Balling Method and shut off the A4R to level things out.

Just curious on what your Alk # is and how much AFR your dosing per day? Could it be you're dosing too much AFR?
 

JaaxReef

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I have been dosing DIY AFR for about 14 months in my 120 gallon tank. No issues with high calcium.
Main Parameters are:
Alk: 8.7
Calcium: 430
Magnesium: 1420

I do test potassium once a month and adjust with Brightwell Potassion if needed. But it doesn’t seem to reduce too drastically in my tank.

So far I’m extremely happy with the single supplement. Will be switching to the powder form for an even cheaper price point after I’m out of the DIY pack from Bulk Reef Supply. I think it ends up costing about $7 a liter with the powder.
 
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dr1271

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36ml/day and Hanna test is constant at 8.4.
 

JaaxReef

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That's roughly 1.2dKH per day. Does that match up with your expected consumption?

What size tank are we dealing with? Water volume is going to determine how much that quantity of AFR would be increasing Alk, right?

For example, if you put 36ml/day in a 220 that isn’t replacing very much.
 

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I've gone through over a gallon in my 75. My calcium is always 500ppm and alk 9.8KH. Magnesium was a little low right above 1200 ish last time I checked but I need to test that again. I do dose iron and potassium in addition to all for reef. I don't test iron, but potassium I test. I dose around 60ml daily.
 

arking_mark

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What size tank are we dealing with? Water volume is going to determine how much that quantity of AFR would be increasing Alk, right?

For example, if you put 36ml/day in a 220 that isn’t replacing very much.

Op's stated water volume is 45gal.
 

JaaxReef

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I've gone through over a gallon in my 75. My calcium is always 500ppm and alk 9.8KH. Magnesium was a little low right above 1200 ish last time I checked but I need to test that again. I do dose iron and potassium in addition to all for reef. I don't test iron, but potassium I test. I dose around 60ml daily.
The benefit to the DIY version is that if you are seeing more Mag uptake, you can just add more Bio Magnesium to the recipe until it requires no additional supplementation.

There is iron in AFR, so I don’t really see a huge need to add that separately. It is used up pretty quickly from what I’ve read, so it is hard to test for it with a hobby grade test.
 

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The benefit to the DIY version is that if you are seeing more Mag uptake, you can just add more Bio Magnesium to the recipe until it requires no additional supplementation.

There is iron in AFR, so I don’t really see a huge need to add that separately. It is used up pretty quickly from what I’ve read, so it is hard to test for it with a hobby grade test.

I dose the additional iron as I have a refugium and to midigate possible hydrogen sulfide in certain places in the tank where it may or may not form. And yes the DIY is the version I have used but am switching to the powder.
 
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dr1271

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What size tank are we dealing with? Water volume is going to determine how much that quantity of AFR would be increasing Alk, right?

For example, if you put 36ml/day in a 220 that isn’t replacing very much.
Total tank volume is 160L (45gal)
 

Biologic

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Established tank, but recently switched from Tropic Marin Balling Method to All for Reef. Change was made about a month ago, and at the time my calcium was around 460ppm.

Since dosing the A4R (36ml/day), my calcium just came back from ICP at 547ppm! Mag is at 1417ppm. Alkalinity is stable at 8.4-8.6 every day.

Tank is 45g total water volume

What can I do to get both down back to where they need to be?

I am also using TM Pro Reef salt, could this be a culprit of the high amounts?

Salinity 1.025
pH 8.3-8.4
Phosphate .03
Nitrate 5ppm
0BB06C3A-1903-427D-896E-F6054315D0CB.png

Just a question? Why switch from Tropic Marin Balling to All For Reef.

For 100 L, 17.86 mL of All For Reef, I’ve calculated for every 1.0 dKH supplies 7.1 ppm calcium. This is according to their specs on the bottle. Not sure if that helps.
 
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dr1271

dr1271

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Just a question? Why switch from Tropic Marin Balling to All For Reef.

For 100 L, 17.86 mL of All For Reef, I’ve calculated for every 1.0 dKH supplies 7.1 ppm calcium. This is according to their specs on the bottle. Not sure if that helps.
I have a GHL 2.1 and plan to add either an Ion or KH director. That would leave me with just one dose head left which is perfect for A4R.

I have reduced my dosing amounts and testing KH twice a day to watch for any swings. Thanks for info!!!
 

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I have a GHL 2.1 and plan to add either an Ion or KH director. That would leave me with just one dose head left which is perfect for A4R.

I have reduced my dosing amounts and testing KH twice a day to watch for any swings. Thanks for info!!!

I have automated dosing using the KH Director and Triton. A couple months ago, I switched over to AFR. I'm still not quite there for automation due to delayed Alk response of AFR.
 

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