Hello everyone.
I am a newer member to this forum. I have a 35 gallon cube reef tank. The tank is about 7 maybe 8 months old. Short back story I purchased my first corals several months ago. One of those corals was a nice little Torch. The Torch started to show signs of distress 2 weeks after putting it in my tank. By the time I found out the magnesium level in my tank dropped to 1150 ppm, it was too late for the coral. It died. I contribute this due to my misunderstanding of how to dose the product All for Reef by Tropic Marin. I was educating myself about what dosing is and trying to figure out what and how much product to dose. Then I came across this product that seemed like the perfect answer to my dosing needs. Does this product in my tank and track Alkalinity and I would be golden, So I thought. I found out where I made my mistake. That was not having the necessary test kits for the foundation elements, to get the parameters in check before starting dosing the product All for Reef. It was a hard lesson to learn.
I have since reset parameters and started over dosing the All for Reef to my tank again. I have been diligent in testing of my water parameters. I have been testing and dosing the tank the best I can with manual dosing. At least until I can get my dosing pumps and reservoir system set up. I am almost there. From watching my parameters closely Calcium is consistently 450 - 470 ppm (Salifert Test kit), Alkalinity has stabilized at 9.5 - 9.7 dkH (Hanna Checker), Temp 78 degrees F with a +/- of 1 degree F. (infrared digital temp scanner)Salinity is consistently 1.025 due to my ATO. (Refractometer) pH 7.8 - 8.0 (API color match kit, too much room for error. Considering the Hanna checker or Monitor with probe I need numbers for this.) Magnesium on the other hand has had sudden big drops in ppm. This last time on Monday night i did my nightly water tests Magnesium was at 1425 ppm (Aqua Forest test kit). The very next morning I noticed one of my Hammer corals looked a little stressed & shriveled up. I checked my Magnesium parameter. Then a second time to confirm the first reading. My magnesium dropped a little over 100 ppm over night. All my daily tests up until this point were consistently mid 1400 ppm readings for magnesium. I am having a very difficult time trying to figure out how much Magnesium to dose daily when the parameter stays so consistent with the All For Reef then bam the floor drops out on the magnesium. I brought the magnesium level back up slowly to the mid 1400's and confirmed this yesterday after several hours after my final dose of magnesium. I don't understand why this is happening.
From analyzing my water parameter readings it looks like the only elements that I will need to dose daily is going to be the All for Reef and Magnesium. At least for the time being until my corals start to grow and use up some of the other elements. Then make minor adjustments with the All for Reef to stabilize Calcium & Alkalinity. I would appreciate some insight why this is happening? Coral growth? Addition of new corals weekly? Coralline algae taking off? How do I hone in on a daily dosage for Magnesium beside trial and error.
I am a newer member to this forum. I have a 35 gallon cube reef tank. The tank is about 7 maybe 8 months old. Short back story I purchased my first corals several months ago. One of those corals was a nice little Torch. The Torch started to show signs of distress 2 weeks after putting it in my tank. By the time I found out the magnesium level in my tank dropped to 1150 ppm, it was too late for the coral. It died. I contribute this due to my misunderstanding of how to dose the product All for Reef by Tropic Marin. I was educating myself about what dosing is and trying to figure out what and how much product to dose. Then I came across this product that seemed like the perfect answer to my dosing needs. Does this product in my tank and track Alkalinity and I would be golden, So I thought. I found out where I made my mistake. That was not having the necessary test kits for the foundation elements, to get the parameters in check before starting dosing the product All for Reef. It was a hard lesson to learn.
I have since reset parameters and started over dosing the All for Reef to my tank again. I have been diligent in testing of my water parameters. I have been testing and dosing the tank the best I can with manual dosing. At least until I can get my dosing pumps and reservoir system set up. I am almost there. From watching my parameters closely Calcium is consistently 450 - 470 ppm (Salifert Test kit), Alkalinity has stabilized at 9.5 - 9.7 dkH (Hanna Checker), Temp 78 degrees F with a +/- of 1 degree F. (infrared digital temp scanner)Salinity is consistently 1.025 due to my ATO. (Refractometer) pH 7.8 - 8.0 (API color match kit, too much room for error. Considering the Hanna checker or Monitor with probe I need numbers for this.) Magnesium on the other hand has had sudden big drops in ppm. This last time on Monday night i did my nightly water tests Magnesium was at 1425 ppm (Aqua Forest test kit). The very next morning I noticed one of my Hammer corals looked a little stressed & shriveled up. I checked my Magnesium parameter. Then a second time to confirm the first reading. My magnesium dropped a little over 100 ppm over night. All my daily tests up until this point were consistently mid 1400 ppm readings for magnesium. I am having a very difficult time trying to figure out how much Magnesium to dose daily when the parameter stays so consistent with the All For Reef then bam the floor drops out on the magnesium. I brought the magnesium level back up slowly to the mid 1400's and confirmed this yesterday after several hours after my final dose of magnesium. I don't understand why this is happening.
From analyzing my water parameter readings it looks like the only elements that I will need to dose daily is going to be the All for Reef and Magnesium. At least for the time being until my corals start to grow and use up some of the other elements. Then make minor adjustments with the All for Reef to stabilize Calcium & Alkalinity. I would appreciate some insight why this is happening? Coral growth? Addition of new corals weekly? Coralline algae taking off? How do I hone in on a daily dosage for Magnesium beside trial and error.