- Joined
- Feb 9, 2020
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Hello all,
I have a Mag issue, as well as a Nitrate question
Magnesium question first...
Two months ago I consolidated 3 mature reef tanks into 1 big system (Red Sea 3xl 900- 240 gallon system) I used seeded LR and live sand and then moved all of my coral and livestock.
The tank is doing awesome! See screen shots for parameters:
Because of the salt mix (50/50 Red Sea blue bucket/Red Sea Coral Pro) and my AWC of 6 gallons daily, I haven’t needed to dose magnesium until now.
I usually use Red Sea Foundation C for MG but I was out and found an unopened Magnesium P (powder) that I figured I’d use to get rid of.
The first attempt to make the solution, I followed the instructions of 4 tsp per 8 ounces of RO and mixed up 2000ml.
I tried dosing slow at first, but after roughly 500 ml, my Mg actually went down about 2 ppm.
So I mixed up another 500 ml but this time I added 2/3 cup of the powder (~32 tsp) to the 500 ml RODI water and then added that to the weaker batch in my dosing container.
the 500 ml was at 4x strength
The other 1000 was still at normal strength
Total solution = 1.5x strength (if my math is correct)
I then dosed ~100 ml of the new solution, waited about 15 minutes and ran my trident test. My mg did not increase, in fact it decreased another 8 ppm
What am I missing? I’m sure there is a chemical reaction taking place that I am unaware of, but it doesn’t make sense that a more potent solution would cause my mg to go down.
I wanted to ask all of you before I dump even more into my system.
Question #2 is regarding Nitrate:
Just like the heading says... I have awesome filtration!
However, my Nitrates are continually too low. I actually dose NeoNitro from Brightwell daily at ~120 ml (240 gal tank) just to keep nitrates at 3-4ppm.
My tank is HEAVILY stocked with about 22 fish, 2 BTA, 3 sand stars, 2 clams, a lobster, and a crapload of Cuc
I also feed the following:
Daily:
1/3 dose reef roids (1/3 Weekly full dosage divided by 7 days)
1/3 dose Benepets (1/3 Weekly full dosage divided by 7 days)
1/3 dose Fauna Marin coral dust (1/3 Weekly full dosage divided by days)
2 tsp Oyster Eggs
2-4 tsp Brightwell Restor
4 frozen fish cubes (2 herbivore frenzy, 1 mysis, 1 krill)
1-2 Frozen coral gumbo cubes (small)
60 ml Oceanmagik live phytoplankton
Every other day:
1 tsp Vitamarin M - Multivitamin (Brightwell)
1 ml Coral Amino - free form (Brightwell)
2-3 times a week:
20 ml Koral Color (Brightwell)
2 tsp reef snow (Brightwell)
Weekly:
45 ml Koralle-VM (Brightwell)
Here is my Filtration:
Reef Octopus Regal 300 Skimmer
Bio pellets in reactor
Xport Phos media in both reactor and in a media bag in Sump
Purigen in media cup
Carbon in Media cup
UV Sterlizer (40 watt)
I have a huge fuge which has the following:
Caulerpa prolifera
Sea Lettuce
Red OGO
Pom Pom
I have a small in tank refugium in my DT that I grow red Ogo and Pom Pom in on top of some purple rock rubble that I use instead of frag plugs. The rocks with the macro algae looks like a underwater volcano
Now, my phosphate fluctuates between .13 - .2 ppm and It doesn’t get lower which I assume is a result of my heavy feeding and heavily stocked tank.
Everything is doing awesome in the tank, apart from a small diatom bloom in my sand from the tank getting established.
Should I worry about the higher than recommended phosphates if everything is stable and healthy -including my Acro and other SPS?
Is there a way to lower phosphates only (Without using GFO)?
I have a bottle of Phosphate Rx that I’ve never used before, but would that be a good option? I have it in case of emergency
Thanks for reading and helping me with this, I really appreciate it!
I have a Mag issue, as well as a Nitrate question
Magnesium question first...
Two months ago I consolidated 3 mature reef tanks into 1 big system (Red Sea 3xl 900- 240 gallon system) I used seeded LR and live sand and then moved all of my coral and livestock.
The tank is doing awesome! See screen shots for parameters:
Because of the salt mix (50/50 Red Sea blue bucket/Red Sea Coral Pro) and my AWC of 6 gallons daily, I haven’t needed to dose magnesium until now.
I usually use Red Sea Foundation C for MG but I was out and found an unopened Magnesium P (powder) that I figured I’d use to get rid of.
The first attempt to make the solution, I followed the instructions of 4 tsp per 8 ounces of RO and mixed up 2000ml.
I tried dosing slow at first, but after roughly 500 ml, my Mg actually went down about 2 ppm.
So I mixed up another 500 ml but this time I added 2/3 cup of the powder (~32 tsp) to the 500 ml RODI water and then added that to the weaker batch in my dosing container.
the 500 ml was at 4x strength
The other 1000 was still at normal strength
Total solution = 1.5x strength (if my math is correct)
I then dosed ~100 ml of the new solution, waited about 15 minutes and ran my trident test. My mg did not increase, in fact it decreased another 8 ppm
What am I missing? I’m sure there is a chemical reaction taking place that I am unaware of, but it doesn’t make sense that a more potent solution would cause my mg to go down.
I wanted to ask all of you before I dump even more into my system.
Question #2 is regarding Nitrate:
Just like the heading says... I have awesome filtration!
However, my Nitrates are continually too low. I actually dose NeoNitro from Brightwell daily at ~120 ml (240 gal tank) just to keep nitrates at 3-4ppm.
My tank is HEAVILY stocked with about 22 fish, 2 BTA, 3 sand stars, 2 clams, a lobster, and a crapload of Cuc
I also feed the following:
Daily:
1/3 dose reef roids (1/3 Weekly full dosage divided by 7 days)
1/3 dose Benepets (1/3 Weekly full dosage divided by 7 days)
1/3 dose Fauna Marin coral dust (1/3 Weekly full dosage divided by days)
2 tsp Oyster Eggs
2-4 tsp Brightwell Restor
4 frozen fish cubes (2 herbivore frenzy, 1 mysis, 1 krill)
1-2 Frozen coral gumbo cubes (small)
60 ml Oceanmagik live phytoplankton
Every other day:
1 tsp Vitamarin M - Multivitamin (Brightwell)
1 ml Coral Amino - free form (Brightwell)
2-3 times a week:
20 ml Koral Color (Brightwell)
2 tsp reef snow (Brightwell)
Weekly:
45 ml Koralle-VM (Brightwell)
Here is my Filtration:
Reef Octopus Regal 300 Skimmer
Bio pellets in reactor
Xport Phos media in both reactor and in a media bag in Sump
Purigen in media cup
Carbon in Media cup
UV Sterlizer (40 watt)
I have a huge fuge which has the following:
Caulerpa prolifera
Sea Lettuce
Red OGO
Pom Pom
I have a small in tank refugium in my DT that I grow red Ogo and Pom Pom in on top of some purple rock rubble that I use instead of frag plugs. The rocks with the macro algae looks like a underwater volcano
Now, my phosphate fluctuates between .13 - .2 ppm and It doesn’t get lower which I assume is a result of my heavy feeding and heavily stocked tank.
Everything is doing awesome in the tank, apart from a small diatom bloom in my sand from the tank getting established.
Should I worry about the higher than recommended phosphates if everything is stable and healthy -including my Acro and other SPS?
Is there a way to lower phosphates only (Without using GFO)?
I have a bottle of Phosphate Rx that I’ve never used before, but would that be a good option? I have it in case of emergency
Thanks for reading and helping me with this, I really appreciate it!