JohnOTS Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 I have been battling low magnesium in my tank ever since I starting adding SPS to my tank. When I first tested my mg I got a reading of 900! I am using both a salifert and an elos test kit, so I am pretty confident my readings are as accurate as our hobby kits can provide. So to start raising the mg I got a bottle of aquaVitro ions mg suppliment. I have been dosing the maximum dose - about 4tsp - for my water volume to get it above 1300. It took almost three weeks and almost the whole bottle to get it up there. Now here is there real question... Should one have to dose alot of Mg to keep the Mg levels up? How much Mg dosing and what brand are people using succesfully? I dont feel like having to dose this much is normal... Link to comment
reefer4:20 Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Epsom's salts works well, I use this to figure out how much... normally it takes about a day before my tests show the increase http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html and no, your coral don't use up much magnesium. what salt are you using? how big is your tank? Link to comment
JohnOTS Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 Epsom's salts works well, I use this to figure out how much... normally it takes about a day before my tests show the increase http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html and no, your coral don't use up much magnesium. what salt are you using? how big is your tank? I currently switched from Red Sea Coral Pro to D-D Oceanic Magnesium Pro. I have a Red Sea Max about 30 gallons of true water. I cant keep it above 1300, I will dose and dose and get it up to about 1310 and then in 4 or so days its back down to 1240... Then again I dont think I trust any test kits... Link to comment
reefer4:20 Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 the problem is that you have no idea what the MG concentration is in your aquaVitro ions mg supplement. most of those are just for maintenance, not for adjustment.. they are traditionally very diluted, for instance, it would require almost 40 oz of salifert MG supplement to go from 1200 to 1450. you need to use a product with a known concentration. Epsom's salt is about $3.00 for a few pounds, and requires 280 grams to make the same increase. so that bag will last you years and it's at the local drug store Link to comment
JohnOTS Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 the problem is that you have no idea what the MG concentration is in your aquaVitro ions mg supplement. most of those are just for maintenance, not for adjustment.. they are traditionally very diluted, for instance, it would require almost 40 oz of salifert MG supplement to go from 1200 to 1450. you need to use a product with a known concentration. Epsom's salt is about $3.00 for a few pounds, and requires 280 grams to make the same increase. so that bag will last you years and it's at the local drug store Thanks, Yea, using that calculator is says I would need to add 60 tsp of IONS to bring up my Mg 100ppm. I only dose 4 at a time, no wonder it is not gowing up at all. Are there any other worries with using epson salt? Link to comment
reefer4:20 Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 yes, some worry about sulfide concentrations nwith long term use, I have never had a problem. you can use mag flake, it is available from the hardware store as de-icer, but to get food grade you will have to mail order it try the Epsom's, only raise it 100ppm at a time, i have used it with no problems Link to comment
Reefman36 Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Just dose the s$@! Out of it. (mg) That's what I did and it worked for me. No side affects. Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Assuming your salt mix has NSW or above levels of Mg then you could do a couple 20% water changes within a week or two to bring your tank's Mg level up quicker in additon to dosing. If you have a lot of stony corals, they can use quite a bit of Mg by incorporating it into their skeletons. Coraline algae use it too, but at a reduced rate in comparison. I have been using Seachem's 'Reef Advantage Magnesium' with good success. Its a dry, crystalline product that does requires a bit of effort to dissolve. To give you an idea of how much I use, for a 12g tank with a 'medium' stocking density of corals (70% stony corals) I need about 1-1/2 tsp/wk to maintain a stable concentration. Maybe not the best choice if you need to raise Mg substantially. Link to comment
JohnOTS Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 Anyone else wana chim in on this topic? I got a smoking good deal on a 64 ounce bottle of Kent M ($5.00) so i'm gonna try that before I result to epsom salt. Link to comment
Hanser Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 I used a 16 oz bottle of Tech M to raise my Mg levels from 1200s to 1700s in a BC 29. I was dosing to kill bryopsis. As I remember it took nearly 3/4 of a bottle to raise levels, but I also had a bag of salt that had moisture contaminate it. It screwed up Ca, KH and Mg so you shouldn't have any problems if you need to adjust a few hundred Link to comment
doctaq Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 interested too, fwiw i am a fan of using powders instead of liquid stuff because by comparison powders will almost always be cheaper Link to comment
JohnOTS Posted October 22, 2009 Author Share Posted October 22, 2009 Well I was able to swap out what I assumed to be a bad Elos Mg test kit and got a replacement, love marinedepot they hooked me up. The kit that i replaced must have been way off, I tested using the new mg kit and my mag is at 1450!!!!!!!! I tested three times in a row and it was consistantly in the 1400's.... No need to dose any more.... Link to comment
bdare Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 There are some really good articles over at RC in the Chem section about MG supplements. There is a better "balanced" additive you can get at bulk reef supply. I HIGHLY reccomend that place. And yes... compared to Ca and Alk supplements it takes a TON of Mg to raise levels. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.