IMHO - for you to have meaningful results it's important for you to try as hard as possible to follow the directions of the product. Otherwise - any conclusions could be suspect. At a minimum, I would do your dosing the same each time - if you're choosing not to follow the manufacturers instructionslatest test:
n: 38
p .6 (changed gfo)
alk: 189
calc: <400 (gotta fix that)
Glass may be staying cleaner than it has been, but there is no noticeable difference in the sand bed or on the rocks, that can't be attributed to the urchin.
I suspect mb7 is doing something, I've just had high p for so long, there is a lot of work to do.
Clean, for what the bottle says, takes more than a few weeks to show noticeable changes, so I'll reserve judgement till June or so.
Of note, I am not giving it the four hours without filtration that they want. some days are an hour, most days two hours. additionally, I will need to find a solution to the budget manufacturing of the OIAIO skimmer. the drain pops off when I try to empty the cup, probably don't need to explain in depth why that would be an issue. A zip tie may work, there may be something 3dprinting can do, and I'll puzzle a longer-term solution for both skimmers.