Tropic Marin All for Reef: My two week dosing experiment

[waverider]

Been dosing Tropic Marin All-for-Reef on a tank that I had let go for months with very little maintenance, -no dosing- and just top off RO water... My Ca, dKH & Mags were all out of whack... (.... dKH was 7... Ca was sub 300).

After about two weeks of dosing just All For Reef (a one part solution) tonight my tank chemistry is

Ca 450, dKH 8.5, Mg 1300-1350

Tank is a 65 Gallon. I mixed All for Reef at 1/2 strength; 3 scoops to 32oz RO water. I dosed that solution manually between 20-30ml daily... and dialed it back as dKH stablized around 8....

dang near perfect.

So far so good?

 

[rishma]

Been dosing Tropic Marin All-for-Reef on a tank that I had let go for months with very little maintenance, -no dosing- and just top off RO water... My Ca, dKH & Mags were all out of whack... (.... dKH was 7... Ca was sub 300).

After about two weeks of dosing just All For Reef (a one part solution) tonight my tank chemistry is

Ca 450, dKH 8.5, Mg 1300-1350

Tank is a 65 Gallon. I mixed All for Reef at 1/2 strength; 3 scoops to 32oz RO water. I dosed that solution manually between 20-30ml daily... and dialed it back as dKH stablized around 8....

dang near perfect.

So far so good?

Seems good. I suggest mixing AFR at full strength. When I’ve diluted in the past I grew slime in the container.

 

[BryanM]

Curious, why mix at anything but what the instgructions say?

 

[rishma]

Curious, why mix at anything but what the instgructions say?

When I did it my demand was extremely low and my dosing pumps were not very consistent at very low doses. So by diluting it I was able to run them longer and get a more consistent dose. The downside was bacteria grew in the diluted AFR and caused other issues. That doesn’t seem to be an issue full strength.

 

[waverider]

Curious, why mix at anything but what the instgructions say?

Easy answer: Precaution. Especially with a new product. I dose at 1/2 to 1/3 then up the dosage from there after measuring results. Slow and steady wins the race where my Reef is concerned = )

 

[waverider]

When I did it my demand was extremely low and my dosing pumps were not very consistent at very low doses. So by diluting it I was able to run them longer and get a more consistent dose. The downside was bacteria grew in the diluted AFR and caused other issues. That doesn’t seem to be an issue full strength.

I had no bacteria in mine. Andt the mix was old, like from new years....

 

[rtparty]

I have been mixing AFR at half strength for a while now with zero issues. At full strength it is a major pain to get it to dissolve and like rishma, my one tank only needs 1ml a day of half strength. 1.1ml is the minimum I can dose per day

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I always used afr in my tank and never had any issues with it!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Strange. My AFR powder easily dissolves at full strength with just a little shaking in a glass bottle.

 

[Euphyllia098]

I've been adding about 100ml extra when making 1L of solution for about a year now for the same reasons listed above. I struggled to get it to dissolve completely, even if left in the stirrer for hours. Adding the extra 100ml has solved it for me.

I use 0 tds Rodi water, and weigh the AFR powder on a scale, and use a magnetic stirrer to mix.

 

[DanATL]

I have no problem dissolving AFR at full strength using a cheap auto-stirrer. Run 0 TDS RO water for about 15mins and I'm good to go.

 

[Euphyllia098]

I have no problem dissolving AFR at full strength using a cheap auto-stirrer. Run 0 TDS RO water for about 15mins and I'm good to go.

How much water?

 

[waverider]

How much water?

Mixing ratio per Tropic Marin is 160grams per 900ml RO water. Or roughly 6 scoops per 30 ounces.


Start with 5ml per 26 gallons tank volume daily... and test from there.

 

[Kingsley_Reef]

I’ve never had a issue getting AFR to mix but I also use a intllab mixer 20$ off Amazon dump the mix turn the mixer on walk away do maintenance/testing for a hour it’s ready to go

 

[Euphyllia098]

Yup that's what both the website and bottle say.

That's what I've done for about 5 years now and always struggled to get it all dissolved, also had occasional dosing line clogging issues. For about a year now I've been using 1000ml of water and all of my issues went away.

There's no negative effects, so if you do have issues, just add a little extra water. It won't hurt a thing.

 

[areefer01]

No issues here. Winter can be a bit of a challenge due to my RODI being out in the garage. Just bring it in and let it get to room temp prior to. I mix up 2 x 1800 ml batches normal strength. I use a scale to weigh the product.

 

[Idech]

I’ve been using it at full strength for 3 years. I use a magnetic stirrer and let it go for 10-15 minutes and it’s fine.

 

[Pod_01]

Same as above, magnetic stirrer 15minutes and I still have some particles at the bottom.

I find it interesting that some users get this done by just shaking…
Maybe different batches…

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Maybe different batches…

Yes, could be different particle sizes and such. I have a mag stirrer, but never needed it. But I’ve only used two cans worth, so not a big sampling.

 

[Kingsley_Reef]

Has anyone noticed that the last 100-200ml of the 1000 mixed is a little more potent rasing alk more my AFR batches last about a month I’m assuming it may be from possible settling in the container while waiting to be dosed I don’t have any issues with mixing let it go on a mag mixer for about a hour so I don’t believe it’s a mixing issues