What are you dosing? Sps keepers.

[Doctor Derp]

Reef moonshine. Nothing else comes close

 

[Featherweight]

Well we have several months till the next grow out,,,, I think maybe not lol But I need to get my ducks in a row. Also your not competing against me in the no namer which is the one I want to win the most :)

I'm gonna win the next growout...

 

[Justdrew]

Sodium Hydroxide
Calcium Chloride
Balling Part C
Red Sea ABCD - considering switching to A&K so I can put in my 2 part.
Little Extra Iodine and Fluoride (based on previous ICP's)
Ammonium Bicarbonate
Phosphate
Mag as needed

 

[Troylee]

Reef moonshine. Nothing else comes close

Why?

 

[areefer01]

Why?

How do I find my why? Question of the day and not the song by Sabrina Carpenter.

 

[Jasonak]

I'm gonna win the next growout...

Thats the spirit !

 

[Curiousbranching]

What diy elements are you using?

Where I live, I can get my hands on pretty much any lab-grade or food-grade chemical, so I’ve been cooking up my own trace elements for a few years now. I’ve even got two “secret recipes”: one that mixes perfectly with the two parts of Randy’s formula like a full-on Balling method, and another that’s basically a lineup of solo trace elements with concentrations matching those shady RMS “bootleg liquor” bottles. I break those out when the ICP test says some element’s feeling a little left out.

 

[Jasonak]

How do I find my why? Question of the day and not the song by Sabrina Carpenter.

Thats my girl.. Espresso... love that song, shes a funny girl lol

 

[Jasonak]

Where I live, I can get my hands on pretty much any lab-grade or food-grade chemical, so I’ve been cooking up my own trace elements for a few years now. I’ve even got two “secret recipes”: one that mixes perfectly with the two parts of Randy’s formula like a full-on Balling method, and another that’s basically a lineup of solo trace elements with concentrations matching those shady RMS “bootleg liquor” bottles. I break those out when the ICP test says some element’s feeling a little left out.

Well hello new best friend , I struggle to get lye

 

[Troylee]

Well hello new best friend , I struggle to get lye

Aisle 3… drain cleaners.

 

[Troylee]

How do I find my why? Question of the day and not the song by Sabrina Carpenter.

I want a moonshiner to sell me! I don’t see it happening lol.

 

[skey44]

It’s interesting that most people start with kalk and add AFR when the kalk can’t keep up. I’m coming from the opposite side with AFR as my initial supplement and wanting to add kalk for the pH boost hoping for a growth increase. I experimented with kalk in my ATO and it seemed very positive for the tank I just didn’t like running it through my ato bc of pump wear and lack of rate control. Now I am wanting to add an over-night slow continuous saturated kalk drip. Do you guys who use kalk think this will increase my growth rate? I’m still a water change guy so I’ll be getting some trace replenishment there too and not planning to completely replace the afr, just supplement it.

Is it worth it to add the dosing pump and kalk routine growth wise? Or should I just continue with AFR only since it’s working well and simple, just maybe missing rapid growth rates.

 

[Troylee]

It’s interesting that most people start with kalk and add AFR when the kalk can’t keep up. I’m coming from the opposite side with AFR as my initial supplement and wanting to add kalk for the pH boost hoping for a growth increase. I experimented with kalk in my ATO and it seemed very positive for the tank I just didn’t like running it through my ato bc of pump wear and lack of rate control. Now I am wanting to add a slow continuous saturated kalk drip. Do you guys who use kalk think this will increase my growth rate with the addition of kalk? I’m still a water change guy so I’ll be getting some trace replenishment there too and not planning to completely replace the afr, just supplement it.

Is it worth it to add the dosing pump and kalk routine growth wise? Or should I just continue with AFR only since it’s working well and simple, just maybe missing rapid growth rates.

Kalk will most def Increase growth rates! That added ph boost is what accelerates growth.. sodium hydroxide does the same thing but I had precipitation issues with it so I stuck with kalk.. I personally top off with kalk cause its simple and one less doser I need.. its not perfect in the top off cause im limited to evaporation but im happy with the results I get. A doser set up would be ideal.

 

[areefer01]

It’s interesting that most people start with kalk and add AFR when the kalk can’t keep up.

I think the AFR and Kalkwasser users would need to clarify their why to using both. My understanding so far from this thread is for two reasons

First - to lower the operating cost of All For Reef. They are using Kalkwasser for alkalinity which lowers the daily dose amount of All For Reef. A by product of that is lowering they monthly, yearly, operating cost of the product. 1600 g container of AFR powder is $75 USD rounding up, pre tax, pre shipping and makes 10 liters.

Second reason - ph boost.

As noted earlier running both Kalkwasser and AFR a negative side affect of this is that All For Reef will limit the amount of trace elements added due to Kalkwasser adding alkalinity. Does it matter or make a difference not sure but something users of both need to be aware of. That or using another combo that adds alkalinity with AFR.

 

[Troylee]

I think the AFR and Kalkwasser users would need to clarify their why to using both. My understanding so far from this thread is for two reasons

First - to lower the operating cost of All For Reef. They are using Kalkwasser for alkalinity which lowers the daily dose amount of All For Reef. A by product of that is lowering they monthly, yearly, operating cost of the product. 1600 g container of AFR powder is $75 USD rounding up, pre tax, pre shipping and makes 10 liters.

Second reason - ph boost.

As noted earlier running both Kalkwasser and AFR a negative side affect of this is that All For Reef will limit the amount of trace elements added due to Kalkwasser adding alkalinity. Does it matter or make a difference not sure but something users of both need to be aware of. That or using another combo that adds alkalinity with AFR.

I use it for both of your reasons! Ph boost And offset the cost of afr… my tank is a alk demon it just eats it up! lol.. I’m dosing fully saturated kalk and 125ml daily of afr.

 

[skey44]

My reason would be for the pH boost. I’m dosing 35-40 ml of afr a day currently and with the powder form I’m ok with the cost. Adding kalk for money savings would actually take quite some time to justify in my scenario as I’d be adding a new dosing pump as an upfront cost.

Another interesting hypothesis is the use of low amounts of kalk may not cause me to lower my afr dose at all if the positive effect of the ph increase causes increased growth rates. This would lead to no cost savings, but increased growth rates which is my goal. This is what I perceived with my trial of running dilute kalk in the ATO for two weeks. Seemed like growth rates and coral health were just off the charts. I’m just currently playing a lot of mental gymnastics trying to justify the addition of an ideal kalk dosing solution to my system.

I have already purchased a 5 g carboy as a reservoir that’s been hanging out empty beside the tank for a couple or weeks now. Wife hasn’t notice or at least hasn’t said anything about it so it must not be an eyesore to her lol
It does also technically fit under my dosing shelf so it could be hidden better if needed.

 

[skey44]

Kalk will most def Increase growth rates! That added ph boost is what accelerates growth.. sodium hydroxide does the same thing but I had precipitation issues with it so I stuck with kalk.. I personally top off with kalk cause its simple and one less doser I need.. its not perfect in the top off cause im limited to evaporation but im happy with the results I get. A doser set up would be ideal.

Cool this is my justification! I’m saving up for a Sole to add to my collective and do the slow continuous/controlled overnight kalk drip from a saturated still reservoir. Just need whatever vendor I buy it from to write “contest winner” on the box lol as my wife wisened up to the cost of the hydros controllers and dosing pumps when I showed her “party mode”
Should have never showed off and stayed humble.

 

[Troylee]

Cool this is my justification! I’m saving up for a Sole to add to my collective and do the slow continuous/controlled overnight kalk drip from a saturated still reservoir. Just need whatever vendor I buy it from to write “contest winner” on the box lol as my wife wisened up to the cost of the hydros controllers and dosing pumps when I showed her “party mode”
Should have never showed off and stayed humble.

I’ve used it long enough In my top off over the last 25 years to know what I can and can’t get away with.. currently I run fans to cause more evap to keep the top off running more! That alone keeps my ph boosted! My ph typically runs 8.2 at night and 8.5 during the day.

 

[skey44]

I’ve used it long enough In my top off over the last 25 years to know what I can and can’t get away with.. currently I run fans to cause more evap to keep the top off running more! That alone keeps my ph boosted! My ph typically runs 8.2 at night and 8.5 during the day.

Honestly things went well when I did it in my ato, but in my mind it wasn’t “ideal” to run kalk through the ATO… so now I’m fixing something that was not broken. It’s ok keeps me busy this way. Also my tank is running just fine albeit with some slower growth rates on AFR only until I supercharge it
I’m hoping to be able to join one of Battlecorals next growout challenges. Want to make sure this gets dialed before then!

 

[areefer01]

I’ve used it long enough In my top off over the last 25 years to know what I can and can’t get away with.. currently I run fans to cause more evap to keep the top off running more! That alone keeps my ph boosted! My ph typically runs 8.2 at night and 8.5 during the day.

My pH averages 7.97. Close enough to 8 so we'll just round up. Low is 7.7 high if I open windows 8.2 otherwise 7.9 - 8 it is. I could probably run a line outside to the skimmer to help a bit or dose kalkwasser but I'm just not that interested.

Of course the numbers depend on my pH probe calibration and quality. I did recently clean it which made a difference but not since recalibrated. One day.