Help me with dosing new magnesium powder.

[ryangrieder]

I just picked up "precision maxx magnesium powder" by aqua visions aquatics. These are the instructions on the bottle:

Dose: after you have tested your aquariums water and have determined your magnesium starting point, use the following dosage: add 2 level tea spoons for every 50 gallons to raise magnesium level by 5 ppm. (the actual increased measure is determined by your volume, calcium, ALk, ph ect. Dissolve the appropriate amount of magnesium.

Then it goes on and on about where to put into aquarium, how to test, and ect...

So, my question is, since it says 2 teaspoons for every 50 gallons to raise it by 5 ppm, does that mean that's ALL I should raise it by? or can I use alot more to raise the magnesium PPM in one shot? For example, what if I want to raise it by 50ppm in one shot?

This is how I figured the math, but I'm real bad in math so please explain the correct way if I'm wrong...

1 teaspoon = 25g = 2.5PPM raise
2 teaspoon = 50g = 5PPM raise
4 teaspoon = 100g = 10PPM raise
8 teaspoon = 200g = 20PPM raise
On and on til
20 teaspoons = 500g = 50PPM


So, 20 teaspoons would raise a 50 gallon tank by 50ppm in one shot correct?

And finally, is 50 in one shot safe?

 

[Pedro Nuno Ferreira]

You should not raise Mg parameter in one shot. You should do it over a period of several days until you reach the desired level.

What is your system present Mg ppm value?

Pedro Nuno

 

[ryangrieder]

Well I am planning on raiseing it over a period of time, but I think by 5ppm only is stupid. I usually run my mag level around 1550-1600ppm and it's down to 1250ppm, so if I dosed the 2 teaspoons for every 50 gallons once a day, it would take it would take 70 days? That seems wayyy to long. I was thinking about raising it 25ppm a day. So it would take about 2 weeks to get it up to my desired level. That seems plenty long enough to raise it 300ppm

 

[Widdy]

Hope this helps:

A variety of commercial magnesium supplements are available. Those supplements made by ESV and Kent are quite popular, although I've seen no detailed analyses of them. Assuming they are what they claim to be, they are fine products to use, even for obtaining large increases in magnesium levels in reef aquaria. I've used the ESV supplement, along with ones that I've made myself. I would not suggest raising magnesium by more than 100 ppm per day, in case the magnesium supplement contains impurities. If the magnesium level needs to be raised by several hundred ppm, spreading the addition over several days will allow you to more accurately reach the target concentration, and might allow the aquarium to handle any impurities that the supplement contains.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-07/rhf/index.php