Well that didn't Work!

[Reef264]

I was mixing up a Magnesium Supplement last night (Brightwell Magnesion).I put the powder in the Baby Bottle I use for mixing, Then added RO/DI water.I heard some sizzling, saw some smoke, then got the bright idea the pick the bottle up, bad idea, It had gotten hot, really hot, It had burned through the baby Bottle and It got on me and burned my leg, and Hand.After yelling Ahhhhh ****!Get it off!Get it off!I calmed down.

So, what did I do wrong.I have been Mixing up Magnesium for years with nothing like this Happening.Maybe this happened because I had just mixed up some Alk Buffer in the Same bottle 10 minutes Prior?I rinsed the bottle out very good before I mixed the Magnesium.

What happened?

[Habib]

Could it have been calcium chloride?
Because that can get quite hot.

Magnesium chloride and sulfate actually make the water colder.

[Reef264]

I use Baking Soda for my Alk Buffer, The Magnesion Label says it Contains Magnesium Chloride and Magnesium Sulfate.

[Habib]

The sizzeling and heat suggests that it is likely calcium chloride.

Do you have a calcium test kit? And perhaps also a magnesium test kit?

[Reef264]

I have both, Salifert.

I am a bit Baffled at how the calcium chloride got in the bottle?Is there something I missed?

[Habib]

You could put in the test vial 2 ml ro water. Perform the calcium test. Colour will be blue or might have to add a drop or so of the ca-3.

Do not discard that solution, add a few crystals of the supplement to the liquid in the test vial. If calcium present, it will turn pink. You could some ca-3.

If tested positive for calcium, you could repeat the same with the magnesium test. However, use tankwater, first titrated to the colochange andvthen add to it a few crystals of that powder.

[Reef264]

I just tried mixing up another batch in a Brand new bottle that Has never seen water, same story, it got really hot, and it has this horrible burned smell.Its reacting with the Fresh RO/DI water (0 TDS).I am so Bum Fuzzled by this.

[Habib]

Check for it being calcium chloride. :)

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The Brightwell product is anhydrous magnesium salts (sulfate and chloride), so it will get hot when hydrating. :)

[Reef264]

Ok.

So I put 2ml of The same RO water in the vial, added a Spoon of Ca-1, added 8 drops of Ca-2, then added 1 drop of Ca-3, after the 1 drop of Ca-3 the solution turned dark blue.So I added some Magnesion Crystals to the solution, and it stayed blue, once mixed it just turned into a chalky blue.

I tried to mix a batch with just regular saltwater for the heck of it, no dice.

[Habib]

The Brightwell product is anhydrous magnesium salts (sulfate and chloride), so it will get hot when hydrating. :)



My bad, I did not realize it was anhydrous. :embaressed habib smiley:

[Reef264]

Thank you randy!I was awaiting you to chime in on my troubles.So your saying it's completely normal for it to get that hot?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

One other comment about this product, which I've posted elsewhere.

For some crazy reason, Brightwell claims it is 43% magneisum.

http://brightwellaquatics.com/products/magnesionpt.php

"Guaranteed Analysis
Magnesium (min) 43% (430,000 ppm)

Ingredients
Magnesium sulfate (anhydrous), Magnesium chloride (anhydrous))"

But that just isn't so. Anhydrous magnesium chloride is 25.54% magnesium. Anhydrous magnesium sulfate is 20.2% magnesium by weight.

Combining the two in any ratio (which is what he says the product is) must give a % magnesium between these two values.

Instead, he quotes a value that is closer to adding the two together. Maybe he should add a few more magnesium salts to get the value over 100%. :D

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thank you randy!I was awaiting you to chime in on my troubles.So your saying it's completely normal for it to get that hot?

Yes, it is normal for anhydrous magnesium chloride (and likely the sulfate) to get hot when water is added. :)

[Reef264]

Maybe he should! :thumbsup:

Alrighty then, I guess I just never noticed how hot it got before.

I appreciate it!

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You're welcome.

Happy Reefing!

[Garage1217]

Ha! When I used brightwell mag years ago for the first time, I had the same thing happen but did not get burned. I mixed it up in a plastic container, shook it up and set it on the counter. Turned and walked a few feed and heard water running, turned around and the whole container was sagging and melting / leaking onto the floor. What a mess. Used up that container and after that, I just order mag chloride from BRS and buy epsom salts for my mix per Randys suggestions :)

[Metal Man 1221]

Its always wise to slowly add into your RODI instead of the other way around. This holds true with salt (for different reasons) and NaOH as well for those of you who regenerate your GFO (and didn't know already).