Magnesium lesson needed...

[JammyBirch]

I just got my magnesium pro kit from Red Sea, took two reading both were 800ppm...

I have never dosed or measure mag before...I use IO salt mix and maintain a 1.025 sg.

My question is, do I need to bump my water change water to a high level in order to raise the total aquarium mag level? I have mag coming in the mail so I can dose if needed.

I'm really confused as my calcium and alk levels are great after a water change.

Couple of things I'm going to do...
1. Measure cal, alk and mag on newly made salt water.
2. Get another mag test result from a buddy's kit
3. I'm due for salt so I'm getting IORC, this time.

Let me know what you guys think.

[Eastone]

magnesium forms a chemical skin on calcium carbonate surfaces where it would normally precipitate, preventing precipitation when the levels are elevated compared to water without a high magnesium level, thus making it easier to maintain good cal/alk with a good dosing or calcium reactor regime.

Do you dose cal/alk? if so, it probably is hard to maintain stable cal/alk levels if not. Usually unless doing a 50% daily waterchange your cal and alk will need to be supplemented, mg is usually dosed as well to ensure stability but generally water changes keep it at a decent level

[Reef Frog]

FWIW, I dose ALK & Ca automatically, and Mg less frequently by hand. Mg seems the slowest element to deplete usually. Water changes alone could never keep up with any of these elements bc my corals use it up quickly.

If I didn't dose Mg it would drop to around the levels you have in a couple of months. If mg at 800 ppm is accurate, you may be surprised at the high volume you will need to get it to the recommended levels of about 1250-1350 ppm,'even with 35g of water.

[JammyBirch]

holy cow i guess...54.2oz...wow...

[JB NY]

Test the Mg levels in your freshly made salt. IO used to have low levels of Mg in it so that could be the reason. If so, doing large water changes won't help to bring the level up, you need to supplement and you'll need a lot to bring your Mg levels up.

[JammyBirch]

Just tested the new salt water mag, 1200. I think I'm ok with dosing mag. Using BRS calculator it said I needed 54oz, which is crazy. Looked up B-Ionic Mag calc it says only 55ml... That's not too bad...

[Logzor]

Bringing your magnesium up to 1300-1400 from 800 is going to take a lot of supplement. The first calculation is going to be in the ballpark, somewhere in the order of 54oz, depending on what supplement type you're using.

You can buy the dry supplement from BRS and mix it yourself. To maintain my mag I add a big scoop of the dry magnesium to my water change water.

I recall dosing nearly a gallon of mag supplement to raise mine from 1100 up to 1400 on a system that is about 180 gallons.

The problem with your IO water is that it's below recommended reef levels, so even if you maintain your mag in the aquarium at the correct level, you will deplete it with water changes. The best solution is to add supplement to your water changes.

[JammyBirch]

I made up 5 gallons of new salt water added mag to it and measured 1600. I'm going the do small water changes each day until the DT reads 1350. From there I'll manage it like normal people. Any comment on this approach?

[Reef Bass]

Personally I would use a supplement to get the level back up to where it needs to be (1300ish). 800 is super duper OMG low.

I have a doser for each alk, ca and mag. I mix my mag solution using mag chloride and mag sulfate. As a temporary measure you could pick up some epsom salts (mag sulfate) from the super market or drug store and mix up some supplement.

[SneekaPeek]

I would find out how much you would have to dose throughout the week to keep it at a consistent level through trial and error and a little mathematics. Then keep your levels consistent. Then, dose your fresh batch of water change water to get the amount you need it to be IE 1350, 3 times your cal level. In theory, if you start with the parameters you want, you will never run into issues with having fluctuations from water changes. Then do normal water changes as needed. This will over time raise your mag, however many people have raised mag quick without ill effects. its all up to you.

I use red sea blue bucket salt which has values of 1280 mag 400 cal 7.7ish dkh. I predose my water change water to raise mag to 1350 before I add any of the salt to it. Makes me start with levels I want to be at and if things go wacky in the tank, I just do big water changes and my levels are where they need to be. Keeps things simple and less room for user error. Then dose to keep things consistent until your next water change.

[JammyBirch]

Ya this wekend, tomorrow, will be a full 20% water change to bump the levels to the nominal. My water levels are pretty close now so i'm going to take it the rest of the way.

I have SeaChem Mag sulfate/Mag chloride crystals at the house now and will be making a batch for the next water change to take it all the way. I'm at 1200 right now. Most of the reading i'm doing is saying that adding large amounts of Mag does not affect the anything like Alk would... Even though the recommendation from the crystals is no more than 25g/20gallons/day.

I'm close enough now to not get anything too crasy anyway. I bought a gallon of B-Ionic mag, which i found out that liquid mag aditives like that will require a lot more to be added then straight from the crystals solution made with RODI, i'm sending that stuff back.

[swk]

My new bucket of IOS is testing higher than normal for mag. I dry mixed the salt before mixing too and got 1380 - vs the 1250 I usually got before.

I always add CA and mag, plus drop alk before I use my water, so I'm in the habit of testing fresh made IO. that helped me out in this case as the parameters changed a bit on this new bucket.

[JammyBirch]

ya i need to get to that point, right now i need to measure the tank for all parameters.

Calculate the magnesium needed based on total system volume and add that to the water change bucket.

Water change then dose as usual for alk/cal levels. Measure again.

once i have the tank in spec then i need to figure out my daily uptake and start dosing cal/alk correctly.

According to BRS, they dose the tank once with Magnesium, then dose cal/alk daily and once you use a gallon of each, cal/alk then dose Mag again.

To me this will not work because water changes screw it all up. You actually take out magnesium with the old water so you have to reset each time. I'm hoping i can dose mag at every waterchange and be done with it until the next water change. The key for me is to measure alot, and measure again to understadn what the tank is doing. i can't imagine this hobby ever getting boring...

[SneekaPeek]

I'm hoping i can dose mag at every waterchange and be done with it until the next water change. The key for me is to measure alot, and measure again to understadn what the tank is doing. i can't imagine this hobby ever getting boring...

test your major 3 levels once a day for a couple of weeks, dose a set amount and see what it does to your parameters, then compensate for each value. you'll reach a point where your right where you need to be. Only problem I was having was trying to chase numbers with salt that would fluctuate with each water change. I set my levels to what my water change water is at and now i'm consistent and test only once a week to see if I need to add more supplements.

[JammyBirch]

That makes sense, I started getting into the calculations what a pain in the pills. Match DT to water change and add as needed is way better. My parameters are perfect right now...gonna measure everyday this week see what I'm using.

[Reef Bass]

As much as I support and recommend testing one's big 3 parameters (alk, ca and mag), I would suggest not testing every day. It is possible to get into a tailspin chasing numbers with undesirable unstable water chemistry as a result. Make small adjustments (versus large) and let those stabilize. Testing every other day is sufficient and allows for one's adjustments to be realized. Eventually you'll be dialed in and may only need to test once a week or even less.

Automated dosing equipment makes the whole process easier and eliminates inconsistencies due to the human tendency to not be as regular as automated equipment. To adjust my dosing, I just add or subtract a couple minutes to the length of time each dosing pump runs, depending on my testing results say. My primary challenge is simply to keep my supplement reservoirs from being empty. I don't have to worry about dosing how much of what when every day. The equipment takes care of it. Plus it doses 4 times a day which helps keep levels more stable, as opposed to once a day when I was dosing manually.

[JammyBirch]

For big tanks I totally agree, no one runs this stuff on nano tanks. My big tank will have all of what you're mentioning but it doesn't make sense for this small setup. I don't have the real estate in the stand.

[SneekaPeek]

You can test everyday, however you don't have to dose everyday. the more you test, the better of an understanding you have on your system. I like to record the results on a spreadsheet/ word doc. Then you can understand the trends of how your system works. Although, when we test and see our results are all whacky, we panic because we don't want to kill anything. Its a normal reefer reaction. It's an import export balance that needs to be met. With time it will stabilize. I agree start off slow and work your way up to the desired result. One thing I have learned about this hobby is consistency is number 1. feed the same amount at the same time everyday, water change once a week, test regularly at the same time, dose the same amount every time....you get the idea.