Is All-for-reef good for new tanks?

ReefingIsMyTherapy

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My tank is almost 5 months old. I have some softies (zoas, GSP, mushrooms) and LPS (hammer, frammer, Duncan, candy canes, chalice, favias). I was dosing BRS Soda Ash daily with a pump to keep my alk around 7.5-8, and dosed a few times manually BRS Calcium to try to keep it around 430. I bought the BRS magnesium powder but never actually dosed it. An ICP test showed magnesium was a 1355 so I thought water changes were enough to keep it at healthy levels.

A few weeks ago, I heard about All-for-reef and I really liked the idea of having to dose just one solution, so I bought the 1000ml bottle. Since the last two weeks, I started dosing 18ml every day at nights and of course, stopped dosing BRS Soda Ash. My tank is 100g (already considering sand / rock displacement), so with a recommended initial dose of 5ml x 26gals, I was supposed to start with 19.2ml, so 18ml was well within the recommend dose.

It took a couple of days but was able to get consistent readings of 8.2-8.4 after I started dosing . All seemed OK for 2 weeks, but yesterday I noticed that one of my favias "defleated"/retracted all of the sudden. To my eye, it was just looking good the day before, but in less than 24 hours, it was not fluffy anymore.

Here's before (the picture is zoomed in, my coral is not that big)
IMG_20220512_140910_913.jpg


And here's after
PXL_20220521_073307306.MP.jpg


PXL_20220521_074440712.MP.jpg


I ran as many tests as I could, and these are the results

Alkalinity 8.4 (Hannah)
Calcium 450 (RedSea)
Magnesium: 0.05ml left so I'm guesstimating 1420-1430 (Aquaforest)
Salinity 1.026
Temp 78
Ph 8
Phosphate 0.11
Nitrates 11

Although the numbers look good to me, I paniced, and I thought that All-for-reef caused this, because I had done nothing else to tank, so I decided to skip the 18ml dose yesterday. The coral looks the same today (bad), but what was even more puzzling, is that after testing for alkalinity I got a reading of 8.3. How is that possible? I've checked before, and my tank consumes about 0.4-0.5 dKh per day, so how is that I skipped a full 18ml dose, yet alkalinity remained practically the same?

I'm sharing all this to ask for advice regarding the use of All-for-reef in such a new tank. I have about 20 coral frags that barely cover some parts of my aquascape, 2 clownfish and a blue hippo tang.

I don't want to go back to 2 part dosing, but I wonder if dosing All-for-reef is adding more than my tank needs at this early stage. BTW, I took water samples and put an ICP test on the mail right away yesterday, because I really want to know whether something is wrong with my water chemistry, or simply I'm one of the unlucky ones that can't keep favias. I'll post the ICP results as soon as I get them.

Thanks in advance for your help!
 

blaxsun

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All For Reef is fine to use on any tanks, so it's unlikely the issue. I'd double-check your parameters (a local LFS that can run independent tests works great) - especially alkalinity. Has anything else changed? New fish, inverts, lighting, flow?
 
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ReefingIsMyTherapy

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All For Reef is fine to use on any tanks, so it's unlikely the issue. I'd double-check your parameters (a local LFS that can run independent tests works great) - especially alkalinity. Has anything else changed? New fish, inverts, lighting, flow?
Hey @blaxsun I didn't change anything since I started dosing All-for-reef. I did however, introduce 5 turbo snails 3 weeks ago (ie, a week before I started dosing All-for-reef). One of my theories is that a snail caused this, but I honestly have no idea whether a snail can irritate a coral like this. I don't have crabs on my CUC. Just snails and 3 conchs.

Regarding the use of All-for-reef, would you say then, that it is safe to keep dosing it in my tank? Any risk that what I'm dosing is not being used/consumed at the same pace, and eventually could cause a surplus of some elements and lead to problems?
 

Oldreefer44

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Have been using AFR since it came out. Doubt that it the issue as long as your measurements are correct. IMO, is always a good idea to verify the numbers either using ICP tests, a local LFS or having backup test kits from another manufacturer. Sometimes corals just do that and we can often make things worse by reacting quickly which can then have a cascading effect on other livestock. IMO, as long as your numbers are accurate, stick with the program.
 

Lavey29

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Hey @blaxsun I didn't change anything since I started dosing All-for-reef. I did however, introduce 5 turbo snails 3 weeks ago (ie, a week before I started dosing All-for-reef). One of my theories is that a snail caused this, but I honestly have no idea whether a snail can irritate a coral like this. I don't have crabs on my CUC. Just snails and 3 conchs.

Regarding the use of All-for-reef, would you say then, that it is safe to keep dosing it in my tank? Any risk that what I'm dosing is not being used/consumed at the same pace, and eventually could cause a surplus of some elements and lead to problems?
So you are dosing a product that combines a mixture of things most of which you can not test easily for each week? Did you do an ICP before the all for reef to look at all your parameters including trace to determine what your tank needed on a daily basis or are you just estimating based on what you were 2 part dosing previously and your observations of daily alk and cal consumption?
 

Wasabiroot

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Do you feed your favites/goniastrea? In my experience they are pigs and enjoy something at least once a week. Check your tank after lights out. You may see some polyp extension and feeders from your specimen. I doubt it is all for reef or snails (especially if your parameters have been stable).

All for reef should not increase trace elements to unsafe levels - it is designed to maintain parameters
 

Reef Jockey

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I've only had my tank for about 10 months but have been using AFR for about 5 of those months and still going. i love it and it's simple to use. When i started using AFR, i was testing daily for a week to make sure my parameters were consistent. Only changes i have been doing since was increasing dosage amounts due to uptake in the big 3
 
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ReefingIsMyTherapy

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Have been using AFR since it came out. Doubt that it the issue as long as your measurements are correct. IMO, is always a good idea to verify the numbers either using ICP tests, a local LFS or having backup test kits from another manufacturer. Sometimes corals just do that and we can often make things worse by reacting quickly which can then have a cascading effect on other livestock. IMO, as long as your numbers are accurate, stick with the program.
Thanks @Oldreefer44 I put an ICP on the mail the very same day that I noticed my favia was not doing well. Hopefully, I will get the results in a week or so, to confirm whether my readings are accurate.
 
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ReefingIsMyTherapy

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Do you feed your favites/goniastrea? In my experience they are pigs and enjoy something at least once a week. Check your tank after lights out. You may see some polyp extension and feeders from your specimen. I doubt it is all for reef or snails (especially if your parameters have been stable).

All for reef should not increase trace elements to unsafe levels - it is designed to maintain parameters
Thanks @Wasabiroot I don't feed my corals. I'm relying on my lights for now (3 XR15 on LPS/Soft preset at 50%), but will definitely consider feeding them in the near future.
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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There's no inherent reason why dosing formate (as in All for reef) would be OK, as it is rather unnatural for a reef setting, but the experience of many reefers suggest it is.
 
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ReefingIsMyTherapy

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So you are dosing a product that combines a mixture of things most of which you can not test easily for each week? Did you do an ICP before the all for reef to look at all your parameters including trace to determine what your tank needed on a daily basis or are you just estimating based on what you were 2 part dosing previously and your observations of daily alk and cal consumption?
Hey @Lavey29 I did an ICP about a month ago, these are the macroelements, Li-group and I-group results

Screenshot_20220413-150356~2.png


I test for alkalinity twice a day, and using that to dose. It's my understanding that I could use either alkalinity or Calcium consumption to tweak the dosing.
 

vetteguy53081

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If this is a new tank, You cant possibly (hopefully) have a lot of coral and with a good salt mix and water changes are replenishing enough elements disqualifying the need for AFR
 

Lavey29

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Hey @Lavey29 I did an ICP about a month ago, these are the macroelements, Li-group and I-group results

Screenshot_20220413-150356~2.png


I test for alkalinity twice a day, and using that to dose. It's my understanding that I could use either alkalinity or Calcium consumption to tweak the dosing.
Ok, so all those numbers look good. Is this before you started All for reef dosing? If so, then your tank is not really losing macro elements between water changes it would appear so you may be overdosing with All for reef.

I am in a similar situation. I cut back to every other week water changes and already dose alk and cal daily. I'm using the Red Sea calculation for dosing their trace elements based on cal consumption. After doing it a month I did an ICP and found iodine high and iron also so overdosed. A few corals were not happy. It is difficult to know exact amounts of red sea trace to dose because I can't test daily or weekly. Now all for reef you have alk and cal in there so you should know what your current consumption is bases on testing and dose accordingly but based on your prior ICP it does not appear you need the trace element dose included in All for reef if your numbers are good with water changes. Of course a lot of this is contingent on tank size and the amount of livestock. Let's not forget also the best coral additives in the tank come from your fish fertilizing all day for you too.
 
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ReefingIsMyTherapy

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Ok, so all those numbers look good. Is this before you started All for reef dosing? If so, then your tank is not really losing macro elements between water changes it would appear so you may be overdosing with All for reef.

I am in a similar situation. I cut back to every other week water changes and already dose alk and cal daily. I'm using the Red Sea calculation for dosing their trace elements based on cal consumption. After doing it a month I did an ICP and found iodine high and iron also so overdosed. A few corals were not happy. It is difficult to know exact amounts of red sea trace to dose because I can't test daily or weekly. Now all for reef you have alk and cal in there so you should know what your current consumption is bases on testing and dose accordingly but based on your prior ICP it does not appear you need the trace element dose included in All for reef if your numbers are good with water changes. Of course a lot of this is contingent on tank size and the amount of livestock. Let's not forget also the best coral additives in the tank come from your fish fertilizing all day for you too.
Those numbers are before I started dosing AFR. I'm eagerly waiting for the ICP test that I put on the mail a couple of days ago. I really want to know if I overdosed something. I hope not, since AFR sounds like a great and simple 1 part solution. I'll update this post as soon as I get the results.
 
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ReefingIsMyTherapy

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If this is a new tank, You cant possibly (hopefully) have a lot of coral and with a good salt mix and water changes are replenishing enough elements disqualifying the need for AFR
Thanks @vetteguy53081 I might need to stop using AFR if the ICP test shows any overdose :( I use TMP salt and have been doing 10% water changes every week. I don't have a lof of coral yet, but I hope I can solve that problem soon :p
 

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Been on the AFR Teet for 2 years, dose 29 ml a day and last ICP was lowish on most elements which is fine better to be safe. Iodine is always low so I dose a couple times a week and K was usually low and now when I mix AFR I put in 15 ml of the TM K supplement liquid and K stays between 410-415 which is what I was going for. Have YET to see a single drawback besides price ( still worth it) for these 2 years. Tank is 65 gal and full as heck with everything. I can literally guess within a super small margin my numbers when I test.
 

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ReefingIsMyTherapy

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Been on the AFR Teet for 2 years, dose 29 ml a day and last ICP was lowish on most elements which is fine better to be safe. Iodine is always low so I dose a couple times a week and K was usually low and now when I mix AFR I put in 15 ml of the TM K supplement liquid and K stays between 410-415 which is what I was going for. Have YET to see a single drawback besides price ( still worth it) for these 2 years. Tank is 65 gal and full as heck with everything. I can literally guess within a super small margin my numbers when I test.
Your tank looks amazing! I really want AFR to work for mine as well as it has for yours :)
 

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It's best to test for alkalinity and adjust the AFR dose to stabilize alk. If Ca or Mg continues to drop you may dose traditional additives for those
 

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I believe the way AFR works is that it takes a few days to break down and become effective such that you wouldn't see a change after skipping a day until a few days later. Its why after starting dosing for the first time, you dont see an effect until a few days later. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
 

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