All for Reef!!! Excited to make the change! What say you?

[Glenner’sreef]

So I’ve read up and watched a ton of videos and of course Reef2reef has nicely put things into perspective regarding the switchover.

I’m just curious, what will I learn. What should I learn about this new direction. What have you learned that surprised you? Thanks in advance.

 

[SliceGolfer]

Inability to control individual elements, usually resulting in very high magnesium, and pH of 7.9 at best. I do think it works great, however I wanted to take a different path for my tanks.

 

[Spare time]

Inability to control individual elements, usually resulting in very high magnesium, and pH of 7.9 at best. I do think it works great, however I wanted to take a different path for my tanks.

I had the opposite problem with magnesium.

 

[Aaron75]

I would consider my tank maintenances to be lacking. My Alk would routinely drop to around 5.5. I hated doing water changes, failed to do them consistently. I began dosing All For Reef and used a doser to do it. Absolute game changer. Coralline began growing, my parameters are consistent enough to where I can confidently test just once a week.

 

[crazyfishmom]

Hi!

I’ve been on the AFR train for about a year now (five tanks, different sizes). I don’t do water changes.

I dose manganese and iron separately because I have lots of gonis and this was a sticky point in my research to keep healthy gonis. Sent in an ICP test recently and found that manganese and iron are exactly where they need to be so the dosing plus the AFR is working as expected but my iodine was pretty low. Started dosing iodine and man the response was amazing. Just overnight all of my LPS were full Oder and extending more than they had been.

Moral of my story: once your tank has been going for a few months, send in an ICP to understand consumption within your tank in the event that you’re keeping certain species that are depleting some elements selectively.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Inability to control individual elements, usually resulting in very high magnesium, and pH of 7.9 at best. I do think it works great, however I wanted to take a different path for my tanks.

That may be your experience, I switched and love it game changer. I still have three part to make small adjustments as needed. I may have to adjust ALK once a week slightly, mag and calcium rock solid. Ph 8.3 steady.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

I would consider my tank maintenances to be lacking. My Alk would routinely drop to around 5.5. I hated doing water changes, failed to do them consistently. I began dosing All For Reef and used a doser to do it. Absolute game changer. Coralline began growing, my parameters are consistent enough to where I can confidently test just once a week.

Great report! I’ve switched from B Ionic 2 part to AFR. I was using 2 separate Kamoer x1 dosing pumps. Now with AFR I’ve reset one of the pumps @ 35 mls per day. Looking forward to testing to see how close 35 mls is to a stable amount. We’ll see. Thx for your input.

 

[seahuy]

What say I? I say start very slow, ramp up slow as well. I’m guessing you already are dosing other form of alk, keep that going and slowly back off

AFR will be slow to show up, use ur current dosing method to support the immediate need until AFR shows up

 

[Glenner’sreef]

What say I? I say start very slow, ramp up slow as well. I’m guessing you already are dosing other form of alk, keep that going and slowly back off

AFR will be slow to show up, use ur current dosing method to support the immediate need until AFR shows up

I know I’ve read that more than once before regarding the level’s you’d like your tank to be at until AFR catches up and takes over, if you will. What do you make of the instructions that come with the product: the top one in particular that advises you to increase AFR if both Alk and Cal are low? Am I reading this wrong?

 

[VintageReefer]

I know I’ve read that more than once before regarding the level’s you’d like your tank to be at until AFR catches up and takes over, if you will. What do you make of the instructions that come with the product: the top one in particular that advises you to increase AFR if both Alk and Cal are low? Am I reading this wrong?

All for reef doses everything in a set ratio and all together.

Yes if you need to increase both alk and ca, you can increase all for reef

If one hits your goal / target first but the other still needs to be increased, then individual adjustment will be needed

If both hit your goal targets then start backing off so you are steady and not continuing to increase

It takes a few weeks of tracking parameters to figure out the dosage but once you have it figured out it’s a very easy program.

If stopping water changes then yes I recommend a few icp a month apart, to see if it’s keeping up with all your tracer demands. Some tanks need more of certain things than others. I need to add manganese due to 25 gonis and an algae scrubber.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I know I’ve read that more than once before regarding the level’s you’d like your tank to be at until AFR catches up and takes over, if you will. What do you make of the instructions that come with the product: the top one in particular that advises you to increase AFR if both Alk and Cal are low? Am I reading this wrong?

I do not recommend following the Tropic Marin directions.

I recommend dosing AFR by alkalinity. Calcium moves too slowly and has too much potential error.

If calcium rises long term, as it may if you are not doing water changes that reduce it, then you may need to skip an AFR dose once in a while and just use baking soda for the alk.

 

[thedon986]

My PH is 8.25 at the end of the day 7.98 to start. Skimmer air from outside. AFR 32ml per day on 90g with small mostly sps frags. Consumption increasing about an 1ml a week. All parameters stable, controlled with Trident via Alk. Don’t listen to the haters. Some people here hate this product with a passion but can’t really give you a solid reason why. IMO it is not a water change substitute as exchanging in fresh saltwater is always a good thing. Plenty of people use this product long term with great results. The extra head on my DOS is for carbon dosing Bacto Balance.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

All parameters stable, controlled with Trident via Alk.

How are you doing that? Wouldn't the trident potentially overshoot the alk dosing since there's a delay in detecting the alk?

On the stable parameters, it is without question that AFR has a slight bit of excess calcium (TM tells us exactly what is in it), just like kalkwasser, and that needs to be dealt with long term somehow. In my case, with kalkwasser, water changes with a lower alk mix (normal IO) eliminated any concern.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

I do not recommend following the Tropic Marin directions.

I recommend dosing AFR by alkalinity. Calcium moves too slowly and has too much potential error.

If calcium rises long term, as it may if you are not doing water changes that reduce it, then you may need to skip an AFR dose once in a while and just use baking soda for the alk.

Not a problem for me testing alk. It’s what I do normally. Cal maybe every 3-4 months. I actually like doing water changes. Lol. Thx.

 

[RoanokeReef]

Great report! I’ve switched from B Ionic 2 part to AFR. I was using 2 separate Kamoer x1 dosing pumps. Now with AFR I’ve reset one of the pumps @ 35 mls per day. Looking forward to testing to see how close 35 mls is to a stable amount. We’ll see. Thx for your input.

Curious why you are switching from B Ionic, I'm thinking of going from AFR to B Ionic.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Nic

All for reef doses everything in a set ratio and all together.

Yes if you need to increase both alk and ca, you can increase all for reef

If one hits your goal / target first but the other still needs to be increased, then individual adjustment will be needed

If both hit your goal targets then start backing off so you are steady and not continuing to increase

It takes a few weeks of tracking parameters to figure out the dosage but once you have it figured out it’s a very easy program.

If stopping water changes then yes I recommend a few icp a month apart, to see if it’s keeping up with all your tracer demands. Some tanks need more of certain things than others. I need to add manganese due to 25 gonis and an algae scrubber.

Nicely laid out thanks. I have 3 gonis as well. And will definitely look into supplements in near future. Some AFR users include Iodine to that list. Again thx.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Curious why you are switching from B Ionic, I'm thinking of going from AFR to B Ionic.

B Ionic has served me well for many years, many years. Just check out my Tank Thread. Some pictures go back over a decade. As far as the “whys” #1. Would be the overwhelming reviews by reefers on this forum. That’s very helpful. #2. Simplifying something in and for my tank is always a plus in my mind as long as there’s a noticeable benefit for it. #3. Using a “magnetic stirrer” is so COOL!!! B Ionic has been amazing. Good choice.

 

[thedon986]

How are you doing that? Wouldn't the trident potentially overshoot the alk dosing since there's a delay in detecting the alk?

On the stable parameters, it is without question that AFR has a slight bit of excess calcium (TM tells us exactly what is in it), just like kalkwasser, and that needs to be dealt with long term somehow. In my case, with kalkwasser, water changes with a lower alk mix (normal IO) eliminated any concern.

I was worried about that too when I switched but I just set it to dose throughout the day and let it do its thing. I check with my Hanna once a week after a daytime test runs and it’s close. The controlled dosing is set for 8 and doesn’t seem to try to overcompensate when the tests at night have some dips in alkalinity. The midnight test is nearly all of those dips, some are the 6am test.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

B Ionic has served me well for many years, many years. Just check out my Tank Thread. Some pictures go back over a decade. As far as the “whys” #1. Would be the overwhelming reviews by reefers on this forum. That’s very helpful. #2. Simplifying something in and for my tank is always a plus in my mind as long as there’s a noticeable benefit for it. #3. Using a “magnetic stirrer” is so COOL!!! B Ionic has been amazing. Good choice.

IMO, a switch from ESV to AFR would accomplish simplification and convenience, but will lose the pH boost and some flexibility in relative alk/calcium dosing.

If one wants trace element dosing along with ESV or other two part without it, I recommend Tropic Marin A and K, but others may be fine too.

 

[Dburr1014]

So I’ve read up and watched a ton of videos and of course Reef2reef has nicely put things into perspective regarding the switchover.

I’m just curious, what will I learn. What should I learn about this new direction. What have you learned that surprised you? Thanks in advance.

I have wondered if I could use AFR in my system. I have thought it would get expensive pretty quick.
I do like the idea of it being a complete additive with trace elements.

I currently use a calrx and kalk. I do a 1gal per day wc. The system is roughly 160g.

I have never done a ICP test.

I've got some big sps colonies/clam and chew through alk/cal. Calrx media is still pretty cheap comparatively.