please explaine magnesium testing and why..

[ralph atl]

doh, vertical! sorry!

 

[ralph atl]

could be a bad batch of salt, but it could be that not enough salt has brought the level high enough yet for all the water? not sure on that one. It could be a bad test kit?

Check your salt like you say u will do, & buy a bunch of Epsom salt. Also, check water with a different test kit, like Elos.

keep us updated!

 

[dannybradley]

mysterybox;252554 wrote:
second, I would use a cheaper alternative on mag.

Get EVC or bulkreefsupply.com AND Epsom salts. 70%-30% mix is perfect. You can cheat a little and use more Epsom salt! LOL!

As long as you keep up with water changes you're okay using mainly Magnesium Sulfate(epsom salt). If you're bad about it, you'll end up with an ionic imbalance.

 

[dannybradley]

It takes a lot of magnesium to get a tank where it needs to be, especially coming up from under 1000ppm. I had to use 11lbs on one occasion.

mysterybox;252554 wrote:
second, I would use a cheaper alternative on mag.

Get EVC or bulkreefsupply.com AND Epsom salts. 70%-30% mix is perfect. You can cheat a little and use more Epsom salt! LOL!

As long as you keep up with water changes you're okay using mainly Magnesium Sulfate(epsom salt). If you're bad about it, you'll end up with an ionic imbalance. I usually do blend them, but if you're buying just one, magnesium chloride yields more magnesium than magnesium sulfate.

In addition, the freed chloride just ends up as salt, whereas the sulphate can potentially depress pH overtime. But again, regular water changes should be enough to prevent this from happening.

 

[dannybradley]

When dosing, always dose in this order. And allow plenty of time for each to be absorbed into and distrubuted evenly throughout the water column.

1. Magnesium
2. Buffer
3. Calcium

 

[ralph atl]

adding mag with not effect your other ions significantly in any negative way. It will only help stabilize your parems.

 

[steve]

How much is enough time?

 

[dannybradley]

mysterybox;252695 wrote: adding mag with not effect your other ions significantly in any negative way. It will only help stabilize your parems.

It can temporarily form Magnesium carbonate with too rapid of a dosing, causing a flux in your alkalinity. But if your pH is over 8.0, they will disassociate, returning to seperate usable states.

 

[dannybradley]

Steve;252697 wrote: How much is enough time?

If you have a high turnover rate in your tank, a few minutes should be enough.

 

[rostato]

Yeah I just went through the same problem. I had to raise my mag from 1100, and I had to buy a gallon jug of mag from bulk reef supply to have enough, and have some left over.

I thought something was wrong when the calculator said I needed almost 3oz just to raise it 100PPM on a 50 gallon system...

 

[ralph atl]

adding mag with not effect your other ions significantly in any negative way. It will only help stabilize your parems.

DannyBradley;252701 wrote: It can temporarily form Magnesium carbonate with too rapid of a dosing, causing a flux in your alkalinity. But if your pH is over 8.0, they will disassociate, returning to seperate usable states.

I should have stated, (assumed), adding up to 100 ppm per 24 hours day will not effect your other ions significantly............................

 

[dannybradley]

They're essentially the same.

 

[ralph atl]

Suggest you go to a calcium reactor or just a liquid 2 part like EVC C-Balance or bulkreefsupply has one. You van dose once or twice daily, or put it on a cheaper dower like aquamedic.