How Atoll was born
Initially we started with a formula of additives that perfectly match the trace elements present in a corals skeleton. Sounds like a good idea right?
We quickly found that every week we had to dose large amounts of trace elements to get our tank back to the levels at natural sea water.
This is where we started the long process of doing weekly Oceamo ICP MS tests on 5 40 foot corals row and incrementally adjusting the levels of every trace element. To make this more fun, we had to contend with each coral row having totally different coral load from SPS only to zoanthids and softies. Additionally each row had totally different algae load from no refugium to Caulerpa to mangroves that’s touched out 10’ ceilings. Every single week we adjusted the concentration of each trace element on each row. After 2 years of testing, we developed a formula that would keep all your trace elements relatively in the right range, regardless of what types of corals or algae you had in the tanks. Because the corals types can vary so greatly, there is just no such thing as a system that can keep everything perfect, but our system will build a good base and keep your trace generally in range. Its this trace element ration that we developed into our three streams;
For the Beginner
For the beginner hobbiest we recommend the Atoll All In One.
Feeling Overwhelmed with all the testing and dosing? We gotcha you!
Once a week, test your calcium and dose the Atoll All In One.
1 ml per gallon will increase your calcium by 10 ppm.
For a 20 gallon tank, dose 20 ml.
Alkalinity will increase by 0.5 dKh slowly over the next day, so if you do test be patient.
Magnesium will increase by 5 ppm.
Nitrate will decrease by approx 20ppm.
And you will get all the trace elements you need to grow happy healthy corals.
The advantage of this system is its easy and simple to use. Additionally it will help reduce your nitrates, which is perfect for the beginner hobbyist. In a tank with low stock levels, it tends to keep the alkalinity a bit higher, towards 9-10 which is usually better for hobbyists with high organic levels.
The disadvantage of this system is that it does not have the pH boosting capacity that the Atoll Alk+ has, but this is a feature that you really will not need as a beginner hobbyist.
Tips on how to advance as a reefer:
For the intermediate hobbyist we recommend the Atoll Ca+, Alk+ and Mag+.
If you really want to keep your parameters stable, we recommend running these on dosing pumps, but you can absolutely dose these manually.
The big advantage of dosing these separately is that you can tune your parameters in to the exact levels that you want to keep your calcium, alkalinity and magnesium at.
Atoll Ca+
Dose 1 ml per gallon to increase your Calcium by 10 ppm.
Magnesium will increase by 5 ppm.
Trace elements: Strontium, Barium, Manganese, Zinc, Nickel, molybdate, Chromium, Cobalt.
We recommend 420 ppm. If you use an automatic testing/dosing device such as a Neptune trident, make sure your doing a liquid reagent test once a week and you should calibrate your trident to the values you tested.
Depending on the bio load in your tank, you may need to dose additional magnesium.
Atoll Alk+
Dose 0.2ml per gallon in a high flow area to increase your alkalinity by 0.5 dKh
High pH buffering capacity to help keep your pH up.
We recommend an alkalinity of 0.5dKh and a pH of 8.1-8.3.
If your alk is high and your pH is low, you may need a better skimmer and/or a CO2 scrubber.
Trace elements: Potassium, Fluoride, Iodine
Atoll Mag+
Dose 1 ml per gallon to increase your Magnesium by 10 ppm.
We recommend an Magnesium of 1450 ppm which is quite a bit above Natural sea water but we have found that magnesium is the only major elements where there is no disadvantage to keeping it elevated. Good salt mixes come at around 1350ppm, and we have tested some brand below 1000 ppm. so we recommend that you test the magnesium level of your salt and buffer your salt up the whatever level you want to keep the magnesium at in your tank. This way there is not a major swing in levels every time you do a water change. Also please note that if your mag is higher, in the 1450-1500 range, this will cause your refractometer to read a point higher, even though your salinity is a bit lower. To test this, mix a batch of salt to 1.026. Buffer your mag up. Your refractometer will now read 1.027, even though your salinity is still at the same level. This means if your mag in your tank is in the +1450 range, your refractometer should ready 1.027.
Tips on how to advance to an expert reefer
Iodine, the natural method.
The Atoll Nori contains very high levels of iodine. Your ideal target for Iodine levels is around 60 ppb. Iodine levels drop extremely quickly in your aquarium so we find that the best way to supply iodine is by feeding it to our tangs in the food that we feed daily anyways.
When you add a sheet of nori, do your tangs go crazy and tear it up? That’s because they are not getting nori enough. There should always be nori in the tank