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Alkalinity issues with Tropic Marin All-for-Reef

thesassyindian

thesassyindian

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Happy Holidays, folks!
Have any of you had an issue maintaining Alkalinity with Tropic Marin All-For-Reef?
I just cannot seem to keep my Alk in an acceptable range.

The two spikes are right after two 50% water changes, one week apart.

Tank size: 12gal water volume
Dosage: 12ml daily, dosed every hour
Powdered AFR mixed with RODI (160g / 1000ml)

Screenshot 2021-12-25 191525.jpg
 
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I think that seems like way too much AFR. There's also a delayed reaction when dosing AFR, so the Trident probably won't pick up the dose immediately.

In my 25g, I dose 8ml a day.
 
My alk sits at 9.5 dkh or so.

Maybe check PH? I've noticed much more alk usage when PH is high. When PH is low, alk consumption also goes down drastically.
 
AFR also lowers pH whereas carbonate increases it. Since AFR requires bacteria to metabolize it and create the Alk, it is significantly delayed. I asked TM what delay to expect and they said it is too variable to answer. I’ve seen a couple days to a week or so reported by people online. Ca increases immediately, so they will appear mismatched.

I wouldn’t use AFR without a skimmer since it acts as carbon dosing- Reduces O2 levels, increases CO2, and results in bacteria that should be skimmed out. Lou at TM is pretty responsive if you email them, but I think he will tell you you should not be using AFR with this setup and these numbers.

Your Alk and pH swings are way too much, I would expect stuff would be dying. If your pH probe is accurate (they need to be calibrated pretty often) then your pH is dangerously low in general.
 
JVU said:
AFR also lowers pH whereas carbonate increases it. Since AFR requires bacteria to metabolize it and create the Alk, it is significantly delayed. I asked TM what delay to expect and they said it is too variable to answer. I’ve seen a couple days to a week or so reported by people online. Ca increases immediately, so they will appear mismatched.

I wouldn’t use AFR without a skimmer since it acts as carbon dosing- Reduces O2 levels, increases CO2, and results in bacteria that should be skimmed out. Lou at TM is pretty responsive if you email them, but I think he will tell you you should not be using AFR with this setup and these numbers.

Your Alk and pH swings are way too much, I would expect stuff would be dying. If your pH probe is accurate (they need to be calibrated pretty often) then your pH is dangerously low in general.
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Well, shit!

I’ll contact Lou and ask if he has any suggestions.

If not, I’m going to have to shell out another $100 for a kamoer, and switch back to ESV 2 part. ‍:confused:
 
JVU said:
Same idea, you can add Ca to that water you top off with manually. Ca doesn’t deplete fast at all, fine to dose it once a day or less often even. Alk is the one that really benefits from having a doser.
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That sounds like my only logical option right now.

Was really rooting for AFR. But alas, unicorns are not always real.

I’ve emailed Tropic Marin customer service. Let’s see what they say.
 
Might just do that. I’ll wait for TMs reply in good faith. If they tell me to do something weird like, supplement AFR with Alkalinity, then I might as well do away with AFR altogether.
 
I am always a fan of pure water changes for a nano maintenance. Since the amount being dosed is small by volume, a mistake or missed dose can have a large swing of parameter. Have you considered getting one of the higher alk/ca salt (like red sea pro) and using that as your dosing mechanism? Maybe 10% a week could work as a dosing method, and would contain all the minerals needed.

Also, reconsider the ATO. I just got one on my mom's 13.5 and she likes it. The small auto aqua works well for the size tank here.

Here is another "crazy" idea. Use 2 dosing pumps to set up and "auto water change" with the Red Sea Pro salt to maintain the levels. I have never heard of it being done on a nano, but you are the kind of guy who could make something cool like that work.
 
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H2OPlayar said:
I am always a fan of pure water changes for a nano maintenance. Since the amount being dosed is small by volume, a mistake or missed dose can have a large swing of parameter. Have you considered getting one of the higher alk/ca salt (like red sea pro) and using that as your dosing mechanism? Maybe 10% a week could work as a dosing method, and would contain all the minerals needed.

Also, reconsider the ATO. I just got one on my mom's 13.5 and she likes it. The small auto aqua works well for the size tank here.

Here is another "crazy" idea. Use 2 dosing pumps to set up and "auto water change" with the Red Sea Pro salt to maintain the levels. I have never heard of it being done on a nano, but you are the kind of guy who could make something cool like that work.
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Haha you have way too much faith in me :p
I've been wanting to do that for the longest time!
The problem is space. I don't have enough real estate to keep two 1 gallon containers near the tank.

I am currently use RS Coral Pro salt, but my Alk and Ca usage are very high, given the large Pocillopora colony among other SPS in a small water volume.
I go through about 2dKH per day. Simple water changes have not been sufficient to keep up with that.
 
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Wow, that is a big daily drop. To me, that means alk needs to be on a dosing pump for stability, but the rest could be done manually with your top off's as suggested previously and or managed with water changes.
 
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