Magnesium questions

[Sea Turtle]

Ok, I tested my water today. Here is what came back to me:

dKH: 7.7
CA: >500
MG: 1155
PH: 7.7
Sal: 1.025
Temp: 79

I think that my alkalinity and PH probably shouldn't be that low. My guess is that the surpressed magnesium level is making this happen. Do you think that these levels are bad? Is it the low Magnesium that is doing it? If so, why is my Calcium level so high? I recently switched to Petco salt. I have the feeling that this is the reason for the low magnesium levels. Do most of you use InstaOcean Reef Crystals?

 

[iseeweed]

Have you tested the Mg level of a fresh mix of your salt water? I have to add 12oz of Mg(two part solution in Reef Crystal salt) to 15 gallons of fresh mix just to get over 1200 ppm of Mg.

 

[Sea Turtle]

Have you tested the Mg level of a fresh mix of your salt water? I have to add 12oz of Mg(two part solution in Reef Crystal salt) to 15 gallons of fresh mix just to get over 1200 ppm of Mg.

No, I haven't. My guess is that it is very low in Mg. I used to use reef crystals and never had a problem. Now I use this petco stuff and I have a problem.

 

[Sea Turtle]

I use the LiterMeterIII. One for Alk one for Ca and one for fresh water top off. Do you think that I could add the Magnesium addative to the fresh water top of garbage can so that when it doses fresh water it will also add mag?

 

[Anonymous]

I use the LiterMeterIII. One for Alk one for Ca and one for fresh water top off. Do you think that I could add the Magnesium addative to the fresh water top of garbage can so that when it doses fresh water it will also add mag?

Yep, that would work well, assuming your top-off water doesn't go through a Kalk reactor or anything.

 

[Sea Turtle]

I use the LiterMeterIII. One for Alk one for Ca and one for fresh water top off. Do you think that I could add the Magnesium addative to the fresh water top of garbage can so that when it doses fresh water it will also add mag?

Yep, that would work well, assuming your top-off water doesn't go through a Kalk reactor or anything.

Nope, just plain old RO/DI water. I just wasn't sure if that was something that I had to keep moving with a pump so that the Magnesium doesn;t settle to the bottom or something.

 

[Anonymous]

Well that's a good question. I guess there is the chance that the Mg would settle to the bottom. Any way you can put a pump in the reservoir, on a timer to run every few hours?

 

[Anonymous]

Your alk is ok, but your pH is low. A higher Mag level may help, but it is not super low either. It is possible that the high Ca level could be driving down your pH.

 

[Sea Turtle]

Your alk is ok, but your pH is low. A higher Mag level may help, but it is not super low either. It is possible that the high Ca level could be driving down your pH.

hmmm ok. I was a bit confused to see the Ca so high as I am dosing a bit more alk than Ca. I need to raise the ph for sure.

 

[Anonymous]

According to this calculator:

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chemcalc.html

it would take 16.6 Oz of magnesium chloride

or

19.7 oz of epsom salts

To bring magnesium from 1155 to 1355 in a 75g tank.

 

[Sea Turtle]

According to this calculator:

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chemcalc.html

it would take 16.6 Oz of magnesium chloride

or

19.7 oz of epsom salts

To bring magnesium from 1155 to 1355 in a 75g tank.

what are your thought about using epsom salt? I have had a bad experience with it in the past with percipitation.

 

[Anonymous]

According to this calculator:

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chemcalc.html

it would take 16.6 Oz of magnesium chloride

or

19.7 oz of epsom salts

To bring magnesium from 1155 to 1355 in a 75g tank.

what are your thought about using epsom salt? I have had a bad experience with it in the past with percipitation.

You should use Mag Chloride and Mag Sulfate. Bulk Reef Supply has both, as well as Carbonates and bicarbonates for Alk. They also have a calculator for their products.

 

[Anonymous]

According to this calculator:

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chemcalc.html

it would take 16.6 Oz of magnesium chloride

or

19.7 oz of epsom salts

To bring magnesium from 1155 to 1355 in a 75g tank.

what are your thought about using epsom salt? I have had a bad experience with it in the past with percipitation.

Epsom salts is magnesium sulfate.

I added over 4 pounds directly to my 55g and it raised mag and I lost none of my livestock which included several soft soft corals.

the main concern is it adds too much sulfate as opposed to magnesium chloride.

my .02

 

[Anonymous]

Your alk is ok, but your pH is low. A higher Mag level may help, but it is not super low either. It is possible that the high Ca level could be driving down your pH.

High calcium content drives pH down? I thought it would, at the very least, stabilize it in the low 8 range. That's been my experience.

 

[Anonymous]

Read this AA article by Randy Holmes Farley:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm

 

[Anonymous]

Ah..! <light bulb turns on> Thanks. Having only kept reef in SoCal (typically very hard, alkaline water) I never dosed calcium supplements. I did have some experiences of precipitate just by mixing salt, it's one of the reasons I moved to RealOcean and never went back.

 

[Sea Turtle]

OK. I bought some b-ionic Magnesium this afternoon. How should I go about raising the Mg level with it. Should I just dump the whole thing into my fresh water top off bucket and have the litermeterIII dose it while it doses the fresh water? If so, how much should I pour in there?

 

[Anonymous]

OK. I bought some b-ionic Magnesium this afternoon. How should I go about raising the Mg level with it. Should I just dump the whole thing into my fresh water top off bucket and have the litermeterIII dose it while it doses the fresh water? If so, how much should I pour in there?

You should be able to dose it rapidily unlike kalk which must be added slowly (dripped).

To figure out how much use this inline calculator:


http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chemcalc.html


Sorry if already posted. I am old enough to repeat myself. :lol:


my .02

 

[Sea Turtle]

OK. I bought some b-ionic Magnesium this afternoon. How should I go about raising the Mg level with it. Should I just dump the whole thing into my fresh water top off bucket and have the litermeterIII dose it while it doses the fresh water? If so, how much should I pour in there?

You should be able to dose it rapidily unlike kalk which must be added slowly (dripped).

To figure out how much use this inline calculator:


http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chemcalc.html


Sorry if already posted. I am old enough to repeat myself. :lol:


my .02

That thing is tellin gme that I am going to need 60 oz. Could this be correct. That is a lot. I bought the 32 oz. bottel. You mean to tell me that I am going to need two of them? Does this sound right?

 

[Anonymous]

OK. I bought some b-ionic Magnesium this afternoon. How should I go about raising the Mg level with it. Should I just dump the whole thing into my fresh water top off bucket and have the litermeterIII dose it while it doses the fresh water? If so, how much should I pour in there?

You should be able to dose it rapidily unlike kalk which must be added slowly (dripped).

To figure out how much use this inline calculator:


http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chemcalc.html


Sorry if already posted. I am old enough to repeat myself. :lol:


my .02

That thing is tellin gme that I am going to need 60 oz. Could this be correct. That is a lot. I bought the 32 oz. bottel. You mean to tell me that I am going to need two of them? Does this sound right?

Yes.

Try the epsom salts part of the calculator. Then use the b ionic to maintain.

Better yet find a source of magnesium chloride. If you were here I would give you some.


my .02