Hey folks I’m looking for people’s thoughts on Tropic Marin All-For-Reef for larger tanks with significant consumption. I see lots of posts about how convenient it is for small tanks, which is great. But a lot less discussion about it’s use in larger tanks with lots of SPS/LPS and higher levels of Alk/Ca/Mg consumption. The main downside of using A4R that I see being mentioned is that it gets expensive with more use.
BUT they recently came out with a powder option that seems cheap compared to what I’m doing now so I’m looking at it more seriously. BRS sells the powder from TM (not the DIY) for $68 for enough to make 10 liters, which is a little more than half the price of Triton Core7 in bulk if the volumes are equivalent.
My tank is about 180g water volume, mixed reef, with quite a bit of SPS and LPS, large colonies. I’ve been using Triton Core7 but my consumption is quite high now and the cost is getting high too. I’m using about 350 ml of the Alk solution a day now, and same volume of combined Ca, Mg, trace solutions. It’s $220 for a set that has 10 liters of Alk and 10 liters total of the other 2 solutions. So right now one of the large packs lasts me about a month. Yikes. Slightly less expensive if you buy dry and mix it but it doesn’t mix easily. My tank is doing great though, so I’m hesitant to change until I learn a lot more about potential issues.
I know lots of people will say I should take another approach, like a calcium reactor, supplement with Kalk, etc. I may wind up doing that, but I’m trying to avoid them for various reasons, and the point of this thread is to find out more about people’s experience with A4R if possible because I find it intriguing.
One of the potential issues with A4R (or maybe it’s not) is that it takes a while, like a day or so, for the A4R to break down into Alkalinity and other components that can be used by coral and also tested for. Since I test with Trident several times a day and also manual testing with Hanna and Salifert kits, one thing I like about my current setup is that I can dose more when I have more consumption and less when I need less, seems like tighter control. So if any of you have a Trident or other automated Alk checker and are using A4R I’d be interested if for example you have an Alk spike in the early morning when there has been less consumption at night.
Another issue is I’m not sure if there is a real upper limit of how much A4R you can use in a tank safely. I’ve seen something about that from TM, but also people saying they go above the recommended upper amount without issue. Any experience with this?
Anyone have any idea what the Alk amount per volume of A4R is? How it compares with more traditional multipart dosing by volume? I suspect it might be more concentrated based on chatter online about using tiny doses, but wondering if anyone actually knows or has experience moving between 2-part and A4R.
BUT they recently came out with a powder option that seems cheap compared to what I’m doing now so I’m looking at it more seriously. BRS sells the powder from TM (not the DIY) for $68 for enough to make 10 liters, which is a little more than half the price of Triton Core7 in bulk if the volumes are equivalent.
My tank is about 180g water volume, mixed reef, with quite a bit of SPS and LPS, large colonies. I’ve been using Triton Core7 but my consumption is quite high now and the cost is getting high too. I’m using about 350 ml of the Alk solution a day now, and same volume of combined Ca, Mg, trace solutions. It’s $220 for a set that has 10 liters of Alk and 10 liters total of the other 2 solutions. So right now one of the large packs lasts me about a month. Yikes. Slightly less expensive if you buy dry and mix it but it doesn’t mix easily. My tank is doing great though, so I’m hesitant to change until I learn a lot more about potential issues.
I know lots of people will say I should take another approach, like a calcium reactor, supplement with Kalk, etc. I may wind up doing that, but I’m trying to avoid them for various reasons, and the point of this thread is to find out more about people’s experience with A4R if possible because I find it intriguing.
One of the potential issues with A4R (or maybe it’s not) is that it takes a while, like a day or so, for the A4R to break down into Alkalinity and other components that can be used by coral and also tested for. Since I test with Trident several times a day and also manual testing with Hanna and Salifert kits, one thing I like about my current setup is that I can dose more when I have more consumption and less when I need less, seems like tighter control. So if any of you have a Trident or other automated Alk checker and are using A4R I’d be interested if for example you have an Alk spike in the early morning when there has been less consumption at night.
Another issue is I’m not sure if there is a real upper limit of how much A4R you can use in a tank safely. I’ve seen something about that from TM, but also people saying they go above the recommended upper amount without issue. Any experience with this?
Anyone have any idea what the Alk amount per volume of A4R is? How it compares with more traditional multipart dosing by volume? I suspect it might be more concentrated based on chatter online about using tiny doses, but wondering if anyone actually knows or has experience moving between 2-part and A4R.
