Dosing Magnesium

[porpoiseaquatics]

Lately, I've heard from several big tank reefers that they are dosing Magnesium. We've talked briefly about the benefits of dosing magnesium and those I can understand. What I want to know now is: 1. How often are you dosing, 2. Are you using liquid or crystals, 3. has anybody tried epson salts in the place of magnesium and finally, 4. where is the most economical place to purchase.

 

[weaglereefer]

1. About one gallon of BRS mixture every few weeks.

2. Crystals mixed into liquid solution.

3. I use a ratio of BRS MgCl and MgSl (Epsom salts is the MgSl) recommended by BRS' calculator.

4. RHF recommends against using only Epsom Salt to increase Mg, as the Sulfate content could become problematic.

 

[ralph atl]

au01st;531464 wrote: 1. About one gallon of BRS mixture every few weeks.

2. Crystals mixed into liquid solution.

3. I use a ratio of BRS MgCl and MgSl (Epsom salts is the MgSl) recommended by BRS' calculator.

4. RHF recommends against using only Epsom Salt to increase Mg, as the Sulfate content could become problematic.

yup!

just get your mag where you want it....1300 or so.....it doesn't deplete that much.

 

[weaglereefer]

I find that mine will deplete with lots of coraline growth, and I try to keep it around 1400.

 

[texhorns98]

I've used epsom salts in combination with Tech M to rid myself of bryopsis, and it WORKED! From what I understand, epsom salts are good to get you back up to where normal seawater would be. Then you need a little extra "oomph" to get over the bryopsis hump.

 

[texhorns98]

AndyMan;531556 wrote: I tried :ions" to get me up to normal level and then Tech-M to put me over the top... didn't work for me, ended up with serious water changes to get mag back to normal, then tech-m exclusively as mag dose

Perhaps you should have tried something from a donkey?

I've used Ions in the past, but I've "heard" TechM is the key. Something about the Mg type...I'm sure there are multiple threads on here about it. Unless you are dealing with a problem like bryopsis, I would think you're fine with most any of the major brand supplements. I've also "heard" that SeaChem salt has a higher Mag level and so I've been using that exclusively for the past 9 months.

 

[texhorns98]

AndyMan;531561 wrote: With Jenn's newsletter stating that Salinity barrels are on sale till 31st July.. I'll be taking her up on it next week (blew my wad this week on RKE upgrades)

I DO already have 80% bucket of salinity here right now as well

Dude, that's a BUNCH of salt!

 

[grouper therapy]

I've been using Epsom salt for three years now. I have not experienced any sulfate build up.That being said I do have a aggressive water change schedule just as is recommenced if you do use it as your only source of mag.

 

[texhorns98]

Dave, do you have a formula for the dosage of epsom salts? Also, do you find it keeps certain algae at bay?

 

[acroholic]

I use the mixture of Mag Chloride and Mag Sulfate, aka Randy's 2 part.