BRS 2 Part Mag

[joeyhatch11]

I have a few pouches that are pushing the 2 year mark and was wondering if they would still be good to use? They are sealed and all but on my last batch that I mixed up, the 2-part was kind of liquidy. Not in the crystal form that the first one was when I received them. Because they are sealed I'm assuming they should still be good. Any one have a similar situation with BRS 2 Part? Thanks Joe

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

They are fine. Nothing bad can happen to them, except moisture gets in.

 

[joeyhatch11]

Thank you Randy for the fast reply. It's good to know that they won't go to waste then.

 

[joeyhatch11]

Current system is roughly 37g, including sump volume. My Kh is 9, calcium 440 and magnesium is 1200-1240. Using Red Sea Mag kit. I've been dosing the 2 part mag for 1 week, adding 80ml a day trying to boost it. Testing every other day and I cant get it over 1240. The Red Sea Kit is only 4-5 months old and I have nothing else to test this parameter. That's why I was asking about the shelf life of the magnesium, I thought maybe the over all strength of it may have come down from sitting so long. Thoughts?

 

[joeyhatch11]

Mean while kh and calcium stay steady. No issues with corals or fish. Everything doing very well.

 

[joeyhatch11]

Anyone?

 

[underwood]

I had a similar situation w/ old Mg mix and a similar issue getting my Mg levels up in the tank.

Part of my issue was my IO salt mix was diluting my Mg levels every time I did a water change. (I had not been paying close attention to the freshly mixed water's Mg levels.)

That being said, I could swear that BRS changed their recipe from back in the day to now. I manually mixed up a fresh batch last week from separate containers of Mg Sulfate and Mg Chloride, following their instructions, and it felt like I was using 4 times the mix compared to what I used to get in the pre-packaged packets. I have also noticed a difference in the "thickness" of the mix when pouring it into the tank.

In any case, my Mg levels have coincidentally leveled out.

 

[joeyhatch11]

I guess all I can do is keep dosing and testing. I'll monitor my corals as I have been and check for changes. I thought I was missing something or doing something wrong.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

There is nothing that can happen to the magnesium additive, but are you using a calculator to determine amounts? It takes a huge amount to push magnesium up substantially.

 

[joeyhatch11]

According to BRS's calculator to make it jump 150ppm 448ml. I started slowly adding 20ml with no change. Then upped it to 50 now I'm at 80. Total added over the passed 2 weeks is well over 900ml.

 

[underwood]

There is nothing that can happen to the magnesium additive, but are you using a calculator to determine amounts? It takes a huge amount to push magnesium up substantially.

To clarify, my recipe comment earlier. For my most recent batch, I used 5 cups Mg Chloride, 3 cups Mg Sulfate, and enough water to fill a 1 gallon jug. The old Mg pre-portioned packages that I had left over from a couple years ago were nowhere near 8 cups of mix. They were maybe 3 cups of mix and that is probably being generous. Mixed with 1 gal of water, that had to lead to a more diluted solution than the current recipe which potentially explains the Mg levels not moving up as expected when using the current BRS dose calculator.

Using the old Mg mix, there were times I dosed 400+ ml at one time which should have raised the Mg levels by about 100 ppm (~45 gal total water volume), but it barely had moved the needle when I re-tested afterward.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

To clarify, my recipe comment earlier. For my most recent batch, I used 5 cups Mg Chloride, 3 cups Mg Sulfate, and enough water to fill a 1 gallon jug. The old Mg pre-portioned packages that I had left over from a couple years ago were nowhere near 8 cups of mix. They were maybe 3 cups of mix and that is probably being generous. Mixed with 1 gal of water, that had to lead to a more diluted solution than the current recipe which potentially explains the Mg levels not moving up as expected when using the current BRS dose calculator.

Using the old Mg mix, there were times I dosed 400+ ml at one time which should have raised the Mg levels by about 100 ppm (~45 gal total water volume), but it barely had moved the needle when I re-tested afterward.

Not sure what Recipe you were using, or what material, but my standard recipe (which BRS uses) is 8 cups per gallon when using the hydrated magnesium chloride and sulfate.

Perhaps you were using anhydrous materials (not the norm, but a few sites sell them; they are about twice as potent), or maybe you are thinking of the alk and calcium parts, which are more dilute.

This calculator shows the expected rise when using my 8 cups recipe:

Reef Chemistry Calculator

It will take 363 mL of this recipe to boost magnesium by 100 ppm in 45 gallons.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

According to BRS's calculator to make it jump 150ppm 448ml. I started slowly adding 20ml with no change. Then upped it to 50 now I'm at 80. Total added over the passed 2 weeks is well over 900ml.

Did you do any water changes in the meanwhile?

Magnesium kits also sometimes are not as accurate as folks would like them to be.

 

[joeyhatch11]

Using Red Sea Coral Pro salt, I do weekly 6g WC's. An this is the 2-Part mix I use from BRS. 2 Part Magnesium Mix Aquarium Supplement - Bulk Reef Supply

My last water change showed a increase in mag only 40ppm difference. But since then has dropped back down to 1200. I added another 100ml this morning and will be testing it again tomorrow morning, I will post the results. I'll also be doing my weekly water change on Sunday and after it settles for a bit I'll do another test to see what the increase is. Thank you guy for the fast replies and help so far.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

OK, let us know what you find.

What salinity are you keeping the tank at?

 

[joeyhatch11]

1.024.

 

[joeyhatch11]

After adding the 100ml yesterday and this morning when I woke up, the tank is now reading 1240ppm for Mag. I also re-tested my S.G. and its **** near a 1.025, which I'm cool with. I'm in the process of making my salt water now for a WC tomorrow morning. I'm going to mix this batch to a 1.025. After the WC in the AM I'm going to test a few hours later once everything settles and see where I'm at. Sound like a plan?!!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yep, sounds like a plan!

 

[joeyhatch11]

I did a 7g wc about 3hrs ago. Just took a mag reading and its 1250. So i added another 100ml. Starting to think that maybe it's my batch of salt. I mean 1240-1260 isn't bad but I do wish I could get it to 1340ish. Kh tested at almost 10 and calcium is still 440 after the water change.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

At a sg of 1.025, natural seawater will have a magnesium level of 1212 ppm, so I'm not sure one could label it a "bad batch".