Noob question on TM All For Reef

[jayteerq]

Hi All. My tank is very low nutrients but its packed with coral frags. I haven't been doing water changes because my Nitrates and Phosphates stay in the range I desire. I did want to start dosing AFR just to maintain Trace Elements and Alkalinity. I have a 60 gal tank and AFR says to start at a daily dose of 10mL. Well I started at 10mL and noticed it raises my Alkalinity at about .5 per day. I tried to dose 5mL a day and it raises my Alkalinity about .2 per day. My goal of AFR is to keep Alk stable at a certain range but in this case, it just keeps rising. Does this mean my tank is not consuming enough yet to start dosing AFR?

 

[DIYreefer]

Pretty much, yes.

 

[jayteerq]

Pretty much, yes.

Sweet thanks. Sorry I felt like that was a dumb question haha!! Can’t be too sure!!

 

[xWascallyWabbit]

That's exactly what it means. Test alk and calcium weekly. When it starts to go down dose A4R. When you start dosing start small and test daily. Then switch back to weekly

 

[jayteerq]

That's exactly what it means. Test alk and calcium weekly. When it starts to go down dose A4R. When you start dosing start small and test daily. Then switch back to weekly

Luckily I have a trident so it’s tested 4x a day. So far I’ve noticed Alk being stable on its own. At what point of daily consumption should I start to consider dosing? It’s tough to gauge because I notice the Alk bounces up and down all week on its own. Maybe I should look at it at a wider range instead of multiple times daily?

 

[DIYreefer]

Sweet thanks. Sorry I felt like that was a dumb question haha!! Can’t be too sure!!

No worries, we all were new at one point. This forum is here precisely for questions like this. Good luck with your tank!

 

[DIYreefer]

Maybe I should look at it at a wider range instead of multiple times daily?

I think so. While auto testers are awesome, I think they can potentially be a bit overwhelming for some, especially people new to the hobby.

I would start dosing when your alk drops by 1 dkh per week or so.

 

[xWascallyWabbit]

Alk does fluctuate throughout the day. Best practice to to use one measurement from a specific time each day. I test at 8 am. Once a week. If trending down up dosage. If not keep it the same. When you start go slow. You know 5ml equals .2. So when it starts to drop daily by .2. Add 5ml. Easy peasy

 

[Aaron75]

When i started dosing AFR my daily consumption was only .2 Alk. Now me being lazy, that .2 over a couple weeks would drop me down to 5.5 Alk pretty routinely. I basically started dosing AFR to promote my laziness and it's been great. You can dose as little as you want as long as it maintains your consumption. I started with dosing 2.5ml a day and im now up to 6ml.

 

[jayteerq]

Alk does fluctuate throughout the day. Best practice to to use one measurement from a specific time each day. I test at 8 am. Once a week. If trending down up dosage. If not keep it the same. When you start go slow. You know 5ml equals .2. So when it starts to drop daily by .2. Add 5ml. Easy peasy

Nah yeah you right!! Thanks!!

 

[jayteerq]

When i started dosing AFR my daily consumption was only .2 Alk. Now me being lazy, that .2 over a couple weeks would drop me down to 5.5 Alk pretty routinely. I basically started dosing AFR to promote my laziness and it's been great. You can dose as little as you want as long as it maintains your consumption. I started with dosing 2.5ml a day and im now up to 6ml.

Awesome! Thanks! What size tank are you dosing in?

 

[Aaron75]

Awesome! Thanks! What size tank are you dosing in?

Just a 25g. I rarely do water changes and I could not remember to dose manually so I eventually put it on a doser and it's been an absolute game changer for stability.

 

[mrpontiac80]

I love all for reef. And I agree that 1 test per week is good in my opinion. I also recommend as you start increasing the dose, to not overlook the powder formula. I use 75 ml per day. But the tank is a 180 gallon. A doser is very helpful.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Alk does fluctuate throughout the day. Best practice to to use one measurement from a specific time each day. I test at 8 am. Once a week. If trending down up dosage. If not keep it the same. When you start go slow. You know 5ml equals .2. So when it starts to drop daily by .2. Add 5ml. Easy peasy

Just to clarify, alk may fluctuate over 24 h if you are dosing while there is consumption, but if you are not dosing any alk, it would not. E typical to see anything except a downward trend. That trend may be fast or very slow, but not usually an up and down.

 

[jayteerq]

I love all for reef. And I agree that 1 test per week is good in my opinion. I also recommend as you start increasing the dose, to not overlook the powder formula. I use 75 ml per day. But the tank is a 180 gallon. A doser is very helpful.

Yes! Thank you! I have the Dos QD and the powder formula on standby. Im currently dosing the liquid formula because that was the initial test run haha

 

[xWascallyWabbit]

Awesome! Thanks! What size tank are you dosing in?

I currently does 20ml per day in a 90gal tank.