How much Magnesium do you consume?

[rk4435]

I'm starting to wonder if I have the infamous bad batch of salt or if my Red Sea Mag Test kit is off because my Mag levels have been low since I got into a new box of Seachem Reef Salt.

On April 11th I tested my Magnesium and it came out at 1240ppm, which seemed terribly low for a few days after a water change. The BRS calculator called for something like 370 ml of their solution to raise it to 1350. I only added 200 ml just in case I was a little off on my color comparison.

Last night (April 14th) I checked again, I was at 1260ppm. Again the BRS calculator called for well over 300 ml to raise my Mag to 1350. I am skeptical so I only added 200ml because I certainly do not want to OD my tank on Magnesium.

So my question really is, <span style="color: Red;">how much Magnesium do you go through?</span> I was getting by for a long time manually dosing Mag on occasion and something seems off.



I mix my salt to 1.025 which should give me a mag level close to 1400 ppm for the new water going in every ten days.

 

[bcavalli]

I believe they recommend 20 oz Mag per gallon of Alk and Calcium. I dose 25 oz per gallon to maintain 1380 mag. However, I have red mangroves which seem to be consuming more Magnesium than normal. I also break up the dosing to two times a month.

 

[crew]

Same for me - I dose mL's of Alk and Cal, but I dose oz of mag. I typically dose small amounts of alk and cal daily, and once I've dosed a gallon of each, I dose about 2.5 cups of mag.

 

[enderg60]

Are you testing before and after dosing? Are you testing your newly made salt water?

My tank drops about 50 PPM a week, but its 480g of water so it adds up.

But I also dose over 600 ml a day of alk and calc so.... yeah I need to get my calcium reactor going.

 

[bcavalli]

EnderG60;1027375 wrote: Are you testing before and after dosing? Are you testing your newly made salt water?

My tank drops about 50 PPM a week, but its 480g of water so it adds up.

But I also dose over 600 ml a day of alk and calc so.... yeah I need to get my calcium reactor going.

Wow. I thought I was dosing a lot at 140ml a day.

 

[rk4435]

If I am interpreting this correctly it looks as if I am not really dosing that much Magnesium in comparison. I am currently set for 100 mls of ALk per day and 25 ml of Calcium.