All for Reef Users: How much does your tank use?

[areefer01]

Oh yeah, I do occasionally add Mg but that’s usually after a couple water changes because my salt (Red Sea blue) has lower Mg than I want. I think Red Sea blue is at 1250 and I try to keep it at 1350.

Actually this is somewhat important to note. I keep my water chemistry to that of what a new batch of salt is projected to have. So no adjustments in my use case.

 

[skey44]

I've know of one doing it and read of others using the combination. I do not though, no. @Troylee if I remember has both and a kicking system. He doesn't count though because he is a newb

Lou (Tropic Marin) talks about Kalkwasser & All For Reef at the 48 minute marker plus or minus a few seconds.

Thanks for this. I get what he’s saying but they preceded that part of the conversation with not wanting to supercharge your coral growth… I really do want to supercharge it lol! But I think there’s a lot of other pieces to fall into place before I go down that route. One is actually knowing what my pH trends at. This is my number one reason for considering kalk as I suspect I run low or at least have room for improvement. But until I know where I’m at pH wise, I will wait impatiently as my corals grow slowly (or as suggested how they are “meant” to grow). And tbh I may never be satisfied. I want sticks to turn into colonies asap! Want a real excuse to build that frag tank I’ve been wanting
Pardon the adhd digression but I think it’s at least somewhat on point.

An interesting experiment would be to add kalk to the top off and see if afr usage changes. If the afr usage maintains to keep the same alkalinity it would suggest the kalk added via top off increased growth over afr alone. Barring no other changes are made (no new corals, no other system changes).

 

[Hemmbone20]

Thanks for this. I get what he’s saying but they preceded that part of the conversation with not wanting to supercharge your coral growth… I really do want to supercharge it lol! But I think there’s a lot of other pieces to fall into place before I go down that route. One is actually knowing what my pH trends at. This is my number one reason for considering kalk as I suspect I run low or at least have room for improvement. But until I know where I’m at pH wise, I will wait impatiently as my corals grow slowly (or as suggested how they are “meant” to grow). And tbh I may never be satisfied. I want sticks to turn into colonies asap! Want a real excuse to build that frag tank I’ve been wanting
Pardon the adhd digression but I think it’s at least somewhat on point.

An interesting experiment would be to add kalk to the top off and see if afr usage changes. If the afr usage maintains to keep the same alkalinity it would suggest the kalk added via top off increased growth over afr alone. Barring no other changes are made (no new corals, no other system changes).

why not add a little Kalk to your ATO? I think it’s less of a commitment than you think.
Add a minimal amount and see how it affects your numbers. I was nervous when I first did it but starting with such a small dose I realized quick I was overthinking it

 

[skey44]

Gotya, yes I’ve considered it but my biggest concern is dosing without knowing my pH. I’m sure a small amount wouldn’t hurt though. I have the brs kalk ready to go. Definitely been kalk curious lol

 

[Rhetoric]

My 20 gallon takes 12ml a day. I've got it set to dose all at once. I use to add mag by hand but have stopped and it settles around 1250-1350

 

[scotty333]

So I’m reading this and currently I’m on 34ml (130g)
And also want to boost ph from average of 8 , my kh runs at 9.3 and don’t mind to bump to 10 if I get that ph rise with enough kalk for a .7 rise
Is this possible?
I dose extra trace a and k so no problem there but will probably need to bum mag once a month
I suppose calc will rocket though so maybe soda ash would be better?

 

[dublin_reefer]

45g mixed reef with a good few bits of SPS and my tank goes through 28ml of AFR per day.

When I first started using AFR a few years ago I did have a slight magnesium deficiency which I fixed by dosing extra bio magnesium from TM. That ended up fixing itself after I switched to using TM pro reef salt. Now everything is stable and balanced.

 

[Orito]

Been dosing 45ml on a 70 gallon sps dominant, plus 1.3ml/min of saturated kalk all day.

 

[Silverking]

55 ml on 180 mixed reef never, add mag its always at 1350 when i check it.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

why not add a little Kalk to your ATO? I think it’s less of a commitment than you think.
Add a minimal amount and see how it affects your numbers. I was nervous when I first did it but starting with such a small dose I realized quick I was overthinking it

can you add a very small amount without having the concerns of having a stirrer and not gumming up your pump?

 

[areefer01]

Thanks for this. I get what he’s saying but they preceded that part of the conversation with not wanting to supercharge your coral growth… I really do want to supercharge it lol! But I think there’s a lot of other pieces to fall into place before I go down that route. One is actually knowing what my pH trends at. This is my number one reason for considering kalk as I suspect I run low or at least have room for improvement. But until I know where I’m at pH wise, I will wait impatiently as my corals grow slowly (or as suggested how they are “meant” to grow). And tbh I may never be satisfied. I want sticks to turn into colonies asap! Want a real excuse to build that frag tank I’ve been wanting
Pardon the adhd digression but I think it’s at least somewhat on point.

An interesting experiment would be to add kalk to the top off and see if afr usage changes. If the afr usage maintains to keep the same alkalinity it would suggest the kalk added via top off increased growth over afr alone. Barring no other changes are made (no new corals, no other system changes).

I understand. I only posted the video to point out Kalkwasser and AFR use. They did not say no only let the hobbyist know a cause and effect. Situation awareness.

The soap box grand stander in me wants to yell at the clouds and say thank you social media and influencers for the want, or need, to supercharge. Standing quarter mile nothing in "this" hobby happens fast other than the hobbyist exiting. And they do. We have a very high attrition rate. Mother nature, on the other hand, has other plans and often reminds us that coral reefs take years to heal, grow, and mature.

All the best.

 

[DHK-BHWNJ]

40ml / day
250l SPS dom
4200ml kalk

 

[shookONES]

can you add a very small amount without having the concerns of having a stirrer and not gumming up your pump?

Kalk is fully saturated at 2tsp/g. I don’t think you’ll have any equipment issues running 25% of that.

 

[Featherweight]

Kalk is fully saturated at 2tsp/g. I don’t think you’ll have any equipment issues running 25% of that.

Yup, I'm currently making this formulation, pouring off the good stuff on top, then dilute with 1 gallon rodi water. Gravity fed ato so no pump. This keeps up with my alk needs for now and pH is 8.2 to 8.3. it's a relatively young reef, so adding 10ml afr hand dosed daily to a 60gallonish system w small frags.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Anyone combining all for reef with kalk in top off? I’m waiting for a sale on an apex controller to come around so I can start consistently monitoring pH and potentially adding some kalk to my top off if my pH is running low. Hopefully thus increasing coral growth. I know a lot of hypotheticals but is anyone here doing this? Any issues, what’s the verdict?

Using both is fine, but I would not literally combine them. The high calcium in AFR will limit kalk solubility and some trace elements won’t be stable at high pH.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yup, I'm currently making this formulation, pouring off the good stuff on top, then dilute with 1 gallon rodi water. Gravity fed ato so no pump. This keeps up with my alk needs for now and pH is 8.2 to 8.3. it's a relatively young reef, so adding 10ml afr hand dosed daily to a 60gallonish system w small frags.

Diluting AFR is another risk. Bacteria can grow in it, converting the formate to bicarbonate, taking up trace elements, and possibly precipitating calcium carbonate.

 

[fandaga]

Lou (Tropic Marin) talks about Kalkwasser & All For Reef

Thanks for highlighting that video. I’m definitely considering this approach down the road.

 

[MoshJosh]

36mL per day in my 32 gallon. . . Haha seems like a lot!!!

 

[Romeo_Reefer]

Wow!! that's quite a spread. Not very scientific since we don't know what the stocking levels are. On top of that what species the livestock is (soft, LPS, SPS).
Not too many takeaways except the average was about 0.4 ml per gal. the smallest consumption of 0.133 ml/gal. and the largest 1.38 ml/gal

 

[Featherweight]

Diluting AFR is another risk. Bacteria can grow in it, converting the formate to bicarbonate, taking up trace elements, and possibly precipitating calcium carbonate.

Not diluting afr. Diluting my kalk into my ato. Running afr as per recipe 10ml/day. Just to clarify