New setup. Low Mg, imbalanced Ca and Alk

[lshin037]

I have a new setup that's been running for about 3 weeks. It's a 125g with a sump, about 120 pds of live rock, 100 pds of live sand. Chaeto in fuge. Salt mix is IO. No livestock other than a few peppermint shrimps that I added yesterday to get rid of some aiptasia. I've been dosing kalk out of a reactor for the last week or so. Ph stays around 7.99 to 8.06. I noticed my ca and alk getting imbalanced so I purchased a Mg test. Below are the test results with the dates. Ca and alk were done with hanna checkers and magnesium done with Red Sea.

12/4 Calcium-422 Alk-9.4
12/8 Calcium-420 Alk-8.6

Kalk reactor added 12/9 - dosing 150ml every hour (not ATO)

12/10 Calcium-447 Alk-8.4
12/13 Calcium-334 Alk-8.23 Mg-1160

What's taking up so much Mg and Ca?

 

[FutureInterest]

Sup Leo. It was a pleasure meeting yah and your LOUD car. Glad to see you became a member.

When your mag is low... and 1160 is fairly low you will struggle to keep alk/ca from precipitating. So I assume that's what's going on. Up your Mg and your Ca and Alk will stay a lot better balanced.

 

[lshin037]

Sup Leo. It was a pleasure meeting yah and your LOUD car. Glad to see you became a member.

When your mag is low... and 1160 is fairly low you will struggle to keep alk/ca from precipitating. So I assume that's what's going on. Up your Mg and your Ca and Alk will stay a lot better balanced.

Sorry my man. Didn't mean to scare your dog. LOL.
I've ordered the BRS Mg chloride. In the meantime, Im planning on going to CVS and getting some Epsom salt to raise it for now. I was just wondering what would cause Mg to drop like that without any livestock in the tank. The rocks have some coralline but they're not exploding in growth. Read somewhere that algaes consume Mg but I don't think it's that much.

 

[FutureInterest]

It's all good, that dog gets scared by everything...

I have huge bags of epsom salt and magnesium chloride if you want both. Too much of epsom salt alone to raise that much mag might increase your sulfates a bit too much... Just something to consider and since you're around the corner I'm happy to share.

As to where the mag went... I don't think there was a lot to begin with... Instant Ocean can be quite low in mag at times.

 

[jcook54]

1) Glad to see you're using good tests, it makes life easier. 2) What IO salt are you using? The standard IO doesn't have a tremendous amount of Mg. Are you using Reef Crystals (IO brand)?

 

[lshin037]

It's all good, that dog gets scared by everything...

I have huge bags of epsom salt and magnesium chloride if you want both. Too much of epsom salt alone to raise that much mag might increase your sulfates a bit too much... Just something to consider and since you're around the corner I'm happy to share.

As to where the mag went... I don't think there was a lot to begin with... Instant Ocean can be quite low in mag at times.

Thanks for the offer, Jin. See you soon. And I'll try not to rev the engine too loud this time.

 

[lshin037]

1) Glad to see you're using good tests, it makes life easier. 2) What IO salt are you using? The standard IO doesn't have a tremendous amount of Mg. Are you using Reef Crystals (IO brand)?

Bought the hannas from the treasurer. This hobby has sure become easier since 10-15 years ago. Im using regular IO. Their site says it should be 1320 at 26sg.

 

[jcook54]

Really? Man, thanks for the heads up. I was looking in the wrong spot and thought that was the level for Reef Crystals.

 

[lshin037]

Really? Man, thanks for the heads up. I was looking in the wrong spot and thought that was the level for Reef Crystals.

Here's the link. http://www.instantocean.com/Instant-Answers/Instant-Ocean-FAQs/Sea-Salt.aspx

But as Jin mentioned and countless others reported on different sites, IO has low Mg and inconsistent sometimes.

 

[Adam]

When you see big differences from test to test its usually user error. If you get an odd result try to get in the habit of retesting to verify. If the second test is still off I then test a 3rd time with a different kit to verify the results.

Even if you used live rock and not dry your tank is still cycling, not only do you not need to be dosing anything yet the bacteria will use up Alk. I wouldn't worry and any numbers for a couple more months. Water changes should be more than enough to replace any thing used by the system. LiveAquaria salt is much better balanced with Mag, Cal & Alk and is just as cheap as IO salt.

 

[lshin037]

When you see big differences from test to test its usually user error. If you get an odd result try to get in the habit of retesting to verify. If the second test is still off I then test a 3rd time with a different kit to verify the results.

Even if you used live rock and not dry your tank is still cycling, not only do you not need to be dosing anything yet the bacteria will use up Alk. I wouldn't worry and any numbers for a couple more months. Water changes should be more than enough to replace any thing used by the system. LiveAquaria salt is much better balanced with Mag, Cal & Alk and is just as cheap as IO salt.

Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind. I did 2 tests each to verify. I did Mg 3 times since it was so low. Then again...can’t rule out faulty test kits and/or user error. I never tested for these when I was in the hobby 15 years ago so user error is highly likely.

I always thought that if you have live rock your tank is considered cycled. I tested for ammonia, nitrite, and Nitrates and they came out 0,0,5. Did the tests twice 2 weeks apart.


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[lmm1967]

Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind. I did 2 tests each to verify. I did Mg 3 times since it was so low. Then again...can’t rule out faulty test kits and/or user error. I never tested for these when I was in the hobby 15 years ago so user error is highly likely.

I always thought that if you have live rock your tank is considered cycled. I tested for ammonia, nitrite, and Nitrates and they came out 0,0,5. Did the tests twice 2 weeks apart.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cycled as in it can handle some waste without causing an Ammonia or Nitrite spike - you're probably there as long as you don't over do it. One or two basic hardy fish, scavenger type clean up crew (crabs n such - not a sand sifting star or cucumber) and probably a small, easy / hardy soft coral.

Cycled as in your tank is mature enough to support a wide range of corals / fish / any invert etc - you're tank is not there yet.

I agree with anit77 - no reason for you to dose anything.

 

[lshin037]

Cycled as in it can handle some waste without causing an Ammonia or Nitrite spike - you're probably there as long as you don't over do it. One or two basic hardy fish, scavenger type clean up crew (crabs n such - not a sand sifting star or cucumber) and probably a small, easy / hardy soft coral.

Cycled as in your tank is mature enough to support a wide range of corals / fish / any invert etc - you're tank is not there yet.

I agree with anit77 - no reason for you to dose anything.

Gotcha. Definitely nowhere near mature yet. I may have gone overboard with the kalk reactor. Just trying to setup and make it right the first time but I hear patience is key in this hobby. When I first started, my budget was VERY limited since I was in the military at the time. My budget is slightly bigger this time and maybe my problem is reading posts from people that have mature tanks and trying to mimick them.

 

[Adam]

In my experience when I started trying to get my Alk & Cal, mag not so much, in line to early I got a lot of precipitation in the sand bed. Ive still got blocks down there. The next time I set up a tank I'm not going to use caribsea sand. Seen too many people having issues. Must be something with a bacteria mix they use or some combination of things people are doing when they use it.

Just let the tank do its thing for 3 to 4 months. There's a good series of vids on BRS's YouTube channel where they're working with WWC on initial tank setup. Good info in there, WWC recommends 4 months.

 

[lshin037]

In my experience when I started trying to get my Alk & Cal, mag not so much, in line to early I got a lot of precipitation in the sand bed. Ive still got blocks down there. The next time I set up a tank I'm not going to use caribsea sand. Seen too many people having issues. Must be something with a bacteria mix they use or some combination of things people are doing when they use it.

Just let the tank do its thing for 3 to 4 months. There's a good series of vids on BRS's YouTube channel where they're working with WWC on initial tank setup. Good info in there, WWC recommends 4 months.

That's actually the sand Im using. The guy I got the tank from gave me 5 bags of it. I used all but one.