How much All-For-Reef do I dose per day?

1 mL per 25 L of tank water per 1 dKH of daily consumption. A 100-gal (380 L) tank consuming 1 dKH/day needs about 15 mL/day. The calculator gives the exact answer for your numbers.

Slightly — it contains calcium hydroxide as part of the alkalinity source, similar to kalkwasser. The pH bump is small unless you're dosing large daily volumes.

Can I use AFR with kalk?

Tropic Marin doesn't recommend running both at full dose — they overlap. If your kalk reactor or top-off is already handling most of your daily dKH consumption, drop the AFR dose to whatever the kalk doesn't cover.

Is AFR the same as Balling Light?

Conceptually similar — both are single-supplement, natural-seawater-ratio methods. AFR is Tropic Marin's product implementation. Balling Light is a method anyone can mix from raw chemistry; AFR is the bottled-and-tuned version.

Why is AFR more expensive than two-part?

You're paying for the formulation work plus the trace-element package. Per dKH delivered, AFR runs 4–6× the cost of bulk Randy Recipe 1 or BRS Pharma. Convenience tax.

Calculator

All-For-Reef Calculator (Tropic Marin AFR)

All-For-Reef (AFR) is Tropic Marin's simplified two-part — one bottle that supplies Ca²⁺, alkalinity, magnesium, strontium, and trace elements in the molar ratios that natural seawater consumes them at. It replaces three dosing pumps with one and runs the tank to natural seawater chemistry. Trade-off: cost per dKH delivered is higher than bulk two-part, and you can't correct individual parameters (just match the consumption rate).

Alkalinity dosing

Tank volume (US gal)

Reading unit

Current alkalinity

Target alkalinity

Product / recipe

Required change

1.50dKH

Liquid dose

9.50mL

Single-component balanced supplement (Ca + Alk + Mg). Start at 5 mL per 100 L, increase by 2.5 mL per 100 L per week, max 25 mL per 100 L per day. Target 7–9 dKH. For your 50 US gal (189 L) system: start 9.5 mL/day, max 47.3 mL/day.

⚠ All-For-Reef is a daily maintenance product, not a quick-raise additive. The number shown is the recommended starting daily dose, not a one-shot correction.

Source: www.tropic-marin-smartinfo.com

How this is calculated

The AFR dosing rule

From the Tropic Marin Smart Info portal: dose 1 mL of AFR per 25 L of tank water per 1 dKH per day of consumption. For US gallons: 1 mL per 6.6 gal per 1 dKH/day. The calculator above applies this directly — enter your tank volume and your daily dKH consumption (or current vs. target dKH to make up the gap) and it returns daily mL.

When AFR makes sense

AFR shines on lightly-stocked or low-consumption tanks (under ~1.5 dKH/day) where the dose volume stays small. It removes the inconvenience of separate Ca/Alk/Mg dosing pumps, equalises the dosing schedule, and follows the natural seawater consumption ratio without you having to think about it.

For high-demand SPS tanks (3+ dKH/day), the bottle-cost of AFR adds up fast — typically 4–6× the per-dKH cost of bulk two-part. You also lose the ability to dose calcium or magnesium independently of alkalinity, which matters if salt mix consumption skew or supplements push parameters out of balance.

AFR vs Red Sea Foundation vs Triton Core7

Tropic Marin AFR — single bottle, dosed once daily or split across the day. Highest convenience.
Red Sea Foundation — three bottles (A/B/C). Convenience between AFR and two-part. Slightly elevated parameter targets vs. NSW.
Triton Core7 — four bottles. Designed to be the "set and forget" ICP-supported method on the Triton no-water-change protocol.
Bulk two-part — cheapest by far, but you mix and dose three separately.

See the two-part dosing guide for the economics comparison.

FAQ

How much All-For-Reef do I dose per day?: 1 mL per 25 L of tank water per 1 dKH of daily consumption. A 100-gal (380 L) tank consuming 1 dKH/day needs about 15 mL/day. The calculator gives the exact answer for your numbers.
Does AFR raise pH?: Slightly — it contains calcium hydroxide as part of the alkalinity source, similar to kalkwasser. The pH bump is small unless you're dosing large daily volumes.
Can I use AFR with kalk?: Tropic Marin doesn't recommend running both at full dose — they overlap. If your kalk reactor or top-off is already handling most of your daily dKH consumption, drop the AFR dose to whatever the kalk doesn't cover.
Is AFR the same as Balling Light?: Conceptually similar — both are single-supplement, natural-seawater-ratio methods. AFR is Tropic Marin's product implementation. Balling Light is a method anyone can mix from raw chemistry; AFR is the bottled-and-tuned version.
Why is AFR more expensive than two-part?: You're paying for the formulation work plus the trace-element package. Per dKH delivered, AFR runs 4–6× the cost of bulk Randy Recipe 1 or BRS Pharma. Convenience tax.

Share / embed this calculator

Paste this snippet into any blog or forum post that allows raw HTML to embed the calculator.

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  src="https://reefcalcs.com/embed/all-for-reef/"
  width="100%"
  height="720"
  style="border: 1px solid #1C2D34; border-radius: 8px; max-width: 720px;"
  loading="lazy"
  title="ReefCalcs All-For-Reef Calculator (Tropic Marin AFR)"
></iframe>

Sources & references

01
Tropic Marin — Smart Info portal (AFR product page)
https://www.tropic-marin-smartinfo.com/?lang=en
02
Tropic Marin — All-For-Reef product info
https://www.tropic-marin.com/en/products/water-care/all-for-reef.html

Last reviewed 2026-05-25