High Mg and Ca, switching to ATI Essentials.

[ChrisIC]

Hi guys. I'm swapping over to ATI essentials pro at the moment after using balling light for a long time. My issue is that my Ca and Mg are very high, Ca is 560 and Mg is 1560. Should I stop dosing the Ca/Mg part of the ATI until they come down to more normal levels or keep dosing equal parts? I had a terrible problem with Mg being up at 1800 after getting an ICP test, it said the Mg was super low so in a bit of a panic I dosed what they recommended but either I accidentally overdosed or the test result was incorrect and it has taken months to get the Mg to come down. I lost a few corals, all of my shrimp and starfish and almost all of my snails because of it. I stopped dosing Mg completely after the mistake but even with water changes several times a week it only comes down by a few ppm each time. I've had a hard time with balancing the kH and Ca the last few months too and think everything is just out of balance after the overdose. Mg was down to 1500 before I started dosing the ATI but is up to 1560 npw. Anyway, I liked the sound of the ATI stuff so I'm switching over and would appreciate any advice on whether I should stop dosing the Ca/Mg for the moment.
Chris.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Have you tried measuring calcium and magnesium in your new salt water?

I'd stop dosing calcium if it really was 560 ppm, as opposed to a testing error.

I'd also stop dosing any magnesium if it really is 1560 ppm.

 

[ChrisIC]

Hi, yes I have checked the freshly mixed water to see if the Hanna checkers were accurate and the results were almost exactly what was listed on the bucket of salt. I'll pause the dosing of Ca and Mg for the moment until they come down to more normal levels. Thanks