Question for all for reef users

[LeMasterReef]

Hey everyone I've tried to read as many of the threads as possible relating to this product, and still have questions. So background the system is around 40 gallons total volume, and has been running in this house for 5 years. I recently moved all my live rock to my sump and rescaped with some dry rock that I cycled in my old biocube. So basically rebooting the tank. I've never been successful at keeping encrusting corals, admittedly due to lack of stability in my system. I want a new larger tank but I've set a goal for myself with my current tank, and that's to work on creating a stable system that will support stony corals. I've been testing religiously and tank maintenance is regular and I'm seeing the results. I've recently added a couple pieces of stony coral and with coralline growing and those pieces the tank is consuming about .2 dkh a day. I've used red sea coral pro salt for years but have changed to the blue bucket so that it mixes closer to where I'm targeting my alkalinity (8.7 dkh). This week I picked up a bottle of All for Reef and a Kamoer X1 doser. I plan to get it calibrated and set up on the system this week. I guess my question is about the starting does. I would like to start slowly, like 1ml daily for a week tracking my alk including my weekly water change. If my alk at the end of the week is below my target I will adjust the daily dose. Does this seem like a good strategy. I know this seems may seem like a dumb question, but any advice would be greatly appreciated. Couple pictures of the tank currently.

 

[Spare time]

Test your alk each day at the same time and get an idea of your alk and calcium consumption. Then go use the all for reef calculator on their webstie, do a little math, and start with the amount of mL you get from that.

 

[LeMasterReef]

Test your alk each day at the same time and get an idea of your alk and calcium consumption. Then go use the all for reef calculator on their webstie, do a little math, and start with the amount of mL you get from that.

I will check that out now.

 

[Vinman]

Test daily the same time for a week. Manually dose during the week. Determine your consumption. Then set the doser for the same dose. Test for another week still at the same time. Adjust manual if low if high lower doser. That's basically it. Reduce testing to 3 times a week after. Also good to test water change before it goes in.

 

[LeMasterReef]

Test daily the same time for a week. Manually dose during the week. Determine your consumption. Then set the doser for the same dose. Test for another week still at the same time. Adjust manual if low if high lower doser. That's basically it. Reduce testing to 3 times a week after. Also good to test water change before it goes in.

Just did water change today and the red sea blue bucket seems to be consistently mixing at 8.4. I looked at the suggested calculator and its giving me a starting dose of 6.8ml which would supply .28 dkh. I realize its takes awhile for the alk to be metabolized and show up, just don't want to spike my alk and make everything mad.

 

[Pico bam]

Just noticed this thread. Personally I dose afr and kalk to maintain my levels. One thing to keep in mind is that after dosing afr you won’t get an instant bump in alk. It takes about a day for your alk to rise from the dose. I highly suggest using kalkwasser along with afr and water changes to maintain proper levels and inturn your corals will thank you. Also I’d recommend buying the powdered afr and just mixing your own solution. Both of these things are easy on the wallet and you’d be surprised how much the kalkwasser helps.

edit: didn’t read the whole thread sorry for the RepeatEd info. Also don’t be afraid to give kalkwasser a try!

 

[Pico bam]

Very nice tank btw!

 

[LeMasterReef]

Very nice tank btw!

Thanks! I was hoping to get it dialed in then start mixing the powder, are you adding kalkwasser thru ato?

 

[J1a]

Since you are using the kamoer doser, I would suggest splitting up the dosage into hourly addition,ather than adding the whole lot for the day in one go.

 

[Pico bam]

Thanks! I was hoping to get it dialed in then start mixing the powder, are you adding kalkwasser thru ato?

No I’m using a x1 micro pump. I will be getting a kalk stirrer soon, kalkwasser has a variety of things going for it. detoxifier, ph boost, adds alk and calc in equal amounts and cheap.

 

[LeMasterReef]

Ok so after checking out the TM calculator it gave me a starting dose of 6.81ml which it said would give me about a .28dkh bump. The tanks currently consuming somewhere near .2dkh daily. I decided to start with a 3ml daily dose and see where that gets me. I currently do a 5 gallon water change on Wednesday and Sunday. My water is mixing up at 8.4dkh. I'm wanting the tank to settle in somewhere around 8.7-9.0. I would like to cut out one of the 5gallon water changes out, if my nitrates will hold steady. They currently are around 15 (nyos) and phosphate is ranging between .01-.04 (hanna ulr). I'm dosing manually until I get it dialed in then i will turn on the x1 and let it do it for me.

 

[LeMasterReef]

24 hrs after first dose alkalinity went from 8.7 to 9.0. Dosed 3ml again tonight will check tomorrow to see if it continues to rise.

 

[LeMasterReef]

Had to quit dosing the tank alk climbed to 9.5 and now it appears the tank has quit consuming it. Tanks staying steady at 9.5 with no additions. I got a standard coming to check my hanna checker. Really wanted to keep it around the 9.0 mark. Hope the tank begins consuming again. everything looks ok but makes me nervous when alk isn't dropping.

 

[MrGisonni]

Right now in my 30 I dose 3.6 ml per day set up to dose four times a day from morning til afternoon. My dkh is pretty stable at around 8.5 with calcium around 425. I have to dose mg every couple of days to keep it up over 1200 though. When I added kalk through my ato and the AFR my dkh went sky high and I just couldn't get it where I wanted it, and couldn't keep it stable. FWIW It will take a while to get it tuned in.

 

[LeMasterReef]

Right now in my 30 I dose 3.6 ml per day set up to dose four times a day from morning til afternoon. My dkh is pretty stable at around 8.5 with calcium around 425. I have to dose mg every couple of days to keep it up over 1200 though. When I added kalk through my ato and the AFR my dkh went sky high and I just couldn't get it where I wanted it, and couldn't keep it stable. FWIW It will take a while to get it tuned in.

I stopped for now. When the tank starts dropping dkh I will try again not sure what happened or if I'm just being gun shy. Maybe it was gonna stay at 9.5 I just didn't want to find out I guess.

 

[Spare time]

Had to quit dosing the tank alk climbed to 9.5 and now it appears the tank has quit consuming it. Tanks staying steady at 9.5 with no additions. I got a standard coming to check my hanna checker. Really wanted to keep it around the 9.0 mark. Hope the tank begins consuming again. everything looks ok but makes me nervous when alk isn't dropping.

How often do you test? 3ml is so tiny so I doubt you can measure that alk drop each day very precisely.

 

[LeMasterReef]

How often do you test? 3ml is so tiny so I doubt you can measure that alk drop each day very precisely.

I tested daily for a couple weeks leading up to starting the AFR. I was seeing a .2 alk drop daily between water changes. I switched from RCP salt to the red sea blue bucket and my intentions are to target my alk at a level that wont be effected much by my weekly water change. I don't have a lot of demand, a couple lps corals and one sps frag. Tank is small and I can probably get by on water changes until I add a few more pieces. I plan to use the AFR and a x1 to dose when ever the tank allows it. I started with a small dose to see the effect and if it could be dialed in. There was a lag in the alk showing up which I was aware there would be. I was hoping to be in the 8.7-9.0 range. The alk climbed up to 9.5 and I decide to stop for now. when the tank starts to settle back into its normal consumption, I will try again in a small dose. Do you have any recommendations? 6ml buy TM calculator should have ben about a .28 dkh bump per day if im not mistaken, that's why I cut the dose in half. Its not that I'm trying to measure a tiny drop its that I'm seeing a steady increase.

 

[Spare time]

I tested daily for a couple weeks leading up to starting the AFR. I was seeing a .2 alk drop daily between water changes. I switched from RCP salt to the red sea blue bucket and my intentions are to target my alk at a level that wont be effected much by my weekly water change. I don't have a lot of demand, a couple lps corals and one sps frag. Tank is small and I can probably get by on water changes until I add a few more pieces. I plan to use the AFR and a x1 to dose when ever the tank allows it. I started with a small dose to see the effect and if it could be dialed in. There was a lag in the alk showing up which I was aware there would be. I was hoping to be in the 8.7-9.0 range. The alk climbed up to 9.5 and I decide to stop for now. when the tank starts to settle back into its normal consumption, I will try again in a small dose. Do you have any recommendations? 6ml buy TM calculator should have ben about a .28 dkh bump per day if im not mistaken, that's why I cut the dose in half. Its not that I'm trying to measure a tiny drop its that I'm seeing a steady increase.

You can keep dosing a really tiny amount if you want, but if you are doing water changes, I don't really see the point of daily dosing unless you are trying to keep pH stable (of which all for reef does not raise). Its such a tiny dose that I'd find it difficult to accurately gauge daily usage

 

[Hooz]

Here are some of my observations on All for Reef after using it for a year.

Dose and test daily for three days before making any changes to the dosing amount, especially in the very beginning. It takes a while for bacteria to metabolize the formate and produce the alkalinity. Also, test at the same time every day for the same reason.

You can dose it all at once, but it might be best not to. When I dosed it in one dose in the morning, I noticed a pretty big swing in my alkalinity through the day (testing twice daily). Once I put it on a dosing pump and spread it out over the whole day, my numbers stayed really consistent.

I'd start with half the recommended starting dose and work up from there. I did notice that when I switched to a dosing pump, it took more to maintain the levels.

Like I said, I have been using AFR for a year now in my nanos, and I have had GREAT results. I absolutely love the stuff.

 

[LeMasterReef]

Here are some of my observations on All for Reef after using it for a year.

Dose and test daily for three days before making any changes to the dosing amount, especially in the very beginning. It takes a while for bacteria to metabolize the formate and produce the alkalinity. Also, test at the same time every day for the same reason.

You can dose it all at once, but it might be best not to. When I dosed it in one dose in the morning, I noticed a pretty big swing in my alkalinity through the day (testing twice daily). Once I put it on a dosing pump and spread it out over the whole day, my numbers stayed really consistent.

I'd start with half the recommended starting dose and work up from there. I did notice that when I switched to a dosing pump, it took more to maintain the levels.

Like I said, I have been using AFR for a year now in my nanos, and I have had GREAT results. I absolutely love the stuff.

Thanks a lot! That's great info. I was testing before work and evening. I did notice that the alk would climb between morning and evening. I was hoping to dial in my dose and then set the x1 to do it for me. After my next water change when my alk drops back down to around 8.5-8.7, I'm going to try and get the pump set up and going. I did see a small drop in nitrates when I was adding it to the tank not a big drop but definitely lower then where the tank had been running. I assume that has to do with the small carbon dosing effect this product has??