That's interesting. I'm curious what the ramifications on using All for Reef for dosing is then. My understand if All for Reef uses a calcium source which effectively is calcium bound with a carbon to prevent it from precipitating out. In the tank it separates, freeing the Ca and also effectively acting as a carbon dosing.
All For Reef is calcium formate plus other minor and trace elements. The formate is converted to carbonate (Alk) by bacteria through carbon consumption.
Thanks for the tips!!! All of my SPS are individually glued to a 2-3" rock and then glued on the big rock so I can move them around however I want. Eventually, I think I will be fragging a lot, my hope is that in the future when the corals become too big I can cut them to make the exact shape I want (kinda like bonsai) to make a beautiful aquascape. Still, it is just a plan.Well, first off, both those sources make a product for you to buy, and their product is obviously best.
Regarding the larger topic of what can we feed corals for them to thrive, well the science is still working on that and the fact that all the corals on the reef have evolved to feed on a different food source separate from their neighbor means a food for one coral would is not necessarily be a food for another. Corals have evolved to eat everything available out of nutrient poor waters, so they all specialize as to not compete with each other so much. Looks like you have like 20 SPS frags bunched all next to each other. (what do you plan to do with those in 6 months when they all grow into each other?) that could very well be 2O different BEST food sources right there.
The best you could probably hope for is copy the methods of someone else with a similar live stock that has had long term success. I personally haven't seen any with mind blowing SPS color/growth long term without a skimmer, even if just for the gas exchange.
I don't consider 6 months no skimmer after 5.5 years with a skimmer long term success, especially note he mentions he is adding a skimmer back to the system. The 5.5 years prior had more to do with that tanks success than the last 6 months without the skimmer (temporarily). Also, huge tanks with huge coral populations are not the same as a small tank full of frags. Much more surface area for gas exchange (500 gal sump!) and the corals eventually become your nutrient export, but you need to get them big enough to export all the imports first.Thanks for the tips!!! All of my SPS are individually glued to a 2-3" rock and then glued on the big rock so I can move them around however I want. Eventually, I think I will be fragging a lot, my hope is that in the future when the corals become too big I can cut them to make the exact shape I want (kinda like bonsai) to make a beautiful aquascape. Still, it is just a plan.
Check out this 600g tank, he has not run a skimmer for over 6 months. For me, I know it is a big challenge, my tank is also much smaller than his - 600g vs 50g.
Actually agree with that, 6 months is a bit too short to call it a long-term success.
He replaced the skimmer as well. Might have broken and taken 6 months to get a new one.
Huge difference in pH effects between those 2 options- AFR results in significantly lower pH than regular dosing and kalk significantly higher pH than normal dosing.
Correct. Was looking in to a future alternate to actually supplement the Kalk if I ever exceed the amount I could add to the tank (wishful thinking). Ran Kalk + Ca reactor on the 240 eventually when I exceeded what I could add via evaporation. That tank had an enclosed hood with MH and T5 and in a much warmer zip code, so evaporation will surely be much different here. Wanted some first hand experience with the product to understand its idiosyncrasies and see how I could use it, especially since the dry formula is so new. I have the option of direct air intake into the skimmer, so lots new variables to play with.
@JVU Can you follow-up on the All-For_Reef impact on PH more? Reached out to Randy Holmes-Farley and he said the lowering PH is negligible compared to any of the non-PH boosting supplements, and about the same as a non-potash 2 part, with a net add from increased ALK still on your side. Pretty much said it should not "Lower" pH unless you compared it to something that actively increases pH. Said it would be less then someone actively Carbon Dosing which made me think of @richiev comment above again. Didn't now if you had any professional or extended experience with the product as Randy wasn't answering from an experience stand point, he is all Chemistry. I kinda like the minor carbon dosing thought but absolutely claim no knowledge of Chemistry besides that of the avg. reefer.
AFR has two main effects on pH relative to other options for Alk/Ca dosing-
I think I said it right- as I reduced the amount of sodium carbonate I was dosing and replaced it with AFR, my pH went down.
If I were doing an experiment… which I’m not. I was relating my experience transitioning from (probably) the most common Alk supplementation to AFR, which is likely a common scenario. And one I have not seen discussed enough honestly. I already made your point in my discussion as issue #1. I was trying to be helpful and relevant to the topic but I can’t guarantee that everyone will find it so.
