Help dosing with Bulk Reef Supply kit...

Chrissy · May 22, 2009

I just got my new dosing kit yesterday and I'm not sure about how much magnesium to add. The instructions say to use .4-.6 ml of calcium and alk per gallon of tank water. Then once the whole gallon of each are gone, add 20 oz of magnesium, but doesn't say anything about daily dosing. I would like to dose it daily instead of letting my magnesium drop until my gallons are empty.
I have 86 total gallons, so that would be 51.6 ml of each. How much magnesium should I dose?
I have a mixed reef with SPS, LPS, softies and 3 clams.
As of a few minutes ago~
Calcium is at 380
PH is 8.4
KH is 8 (143.2)
Magnesium is 1000

ksc · May 22, 2009

Well, a gallon is 128oz. 20oz is almost 1/5 of that. So 1/5 of 50ml is about 10ml.

Chrissy · May 22, 2009

Thanks! I found the calculator after searching more on the site

DaveJ · May 22, 2009

Chrissy,

You'll want to get your levels up to where they need to be before you start your daily dose.

Also keep in mind that since you are going to need to go nearly 300-400ppm on the Mg its going to take a bit of solution. You actually may not have enough in that kit to get it up to that level. When you add that much solution to a system, do it slowly, like 50ppm or 100ppm every few days with Mg. I've bleached stuff overdoing the Mg before.

Also keep a close watch on your salinity. The two-part contains chlorides, and that will raise your salinity a bit if dosed in sufficient quantities.

Chrissy · May 23, 2009

Thank you Dave! I actually starting raising everything yesterday by using the calculator. (http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/i6/Calcium-and-Alkalinity-Calculator./information.html) I added enough magnesium to bump it up 100ppm, enough Alk to bump the KH up 1, and calcium up 50ppm. I'll test everything again this afternoon.

So you think every few days instead of a little a day?