magnesium levels...

[surfn]

what are the optimal magnesium levels for lps?

i hear lps people talk about mg alot. and i seem to be having problems with lps...such as acans, micros, chalice, and esspecially blastos.

just can't seem to keep blastos alive at all. they just slowly wither away.

did fine for a while until my one and only acan decided to waste away.

and now i have a micro doing the same thing. all other micros are fine.

and my watermelon chalice frag looks like its loosing tissue on the sides and receeding a bit.

i have frogspawn, hammer, and fungia and have never had any problems with them.

no other problems with parameters, everything is right on the money.



i keep mostly sps and zoas, so i have played around with putting sps in low flow and low light areas...not much success there either.

 

[twon8]

i've found flow and light to be very important to keep blastos alive, but they are finicky, and sometimes they die for no reason,

mag should be around 1350.

 

[JGoslee]

NSW ~ Natural seawater is 1285 ppm. I keep mine around 1400-1500 ppm. I add magflake to my weekly water changes to keep my mag levels so high. What is your magnesium at now? Here's 2 good articles on magnesium In case you haven't already read them.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/oct2003/chem.htm
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-06/rhf/index.php

 

[surfn]

well, my magnesium was at 1350, then i bumped it up to 1450 after i was done dosing 1g solutions of 2-part. (as per directions).

then my acan croaked right after that...and one of my micros a week after that.

figured at first something was eating them, but they are in 2 different tanks...so that lead me to believe it was the water...

my mg is now 1390...and i was gonna bump it up another 100ppm in a water change this week. think i shouldn't?

 

[I-K@ndY]

i've found flow and light to be very important to keep blastos alive, but they are finicky, and sometimes they die for no reason,

mag should be around 1350.

Tell me about it! My other blastos die last month for no reason I have 5 Blastos and just the other one decide that its time for him to go lol.. All of 4 right now are doing good.. sometimes you it makes you wonder what else do they need... I have 1350-1380 mg

 

[Randy]

Have you given any thoughts about using Strontium & Molybdenum?I talked to a guy a few years ago that had the same thing going on in his tank.I know there is a test kit for Strontium.It will help them open more and stay attached to there skeletons better. You might check in to it.

 

[surfn]

Have you given any thoughts about using Strontium & Molybdenum?I talked to a guy a few years ago that had the same thing going on in his tank.I know there is a test kit for Strontium.It will help them open more and stay attached to there skeletons better. You might check in to it.

thats a good idea...but from what i've heard from the reef chem *experts* out there (on RC)...they tend to say dont dose any extra stuff into your tank, esspecially if you cant test for it with a reliable test kit.

and all i've heard about testing for strontium, iodine, and other stuff is that the test kits (even salifert) are sketchy at best.

...but i guess the reasoning for that statement is if you keep up with your regular water changes and replace all of your micro nutrients on a cosntant basis....then you should have no reason to dose strontium/iodine, things like that...

....i dont think i'm in that category of "regular water changes" though...lol


my instant ocean salt has such low calcium and magnesium levels anyways, i gotta add extra for that.

maybe i'll try to get a test kit for those things and see where i'm at. thanks for that advice.

 

[jocoxVT]

I always heard Mg 3X Calcium so i shoot for 1350-ish

 

[racerw]

I had the same problem w/my acans recently, and I keep my mg above 1400 so I knew that was not the problem.
After speaking with Jen she suggested checking & adding Strontium. since I have added strontium my acans/micros are looking great.

 

[Ike]

With Blastos in particular (as well as other LPS) it is believed that there may be pathogen problems similar to those that Elegance coral experiences. There have been some suggested dips for this problem and it may be worth seeking out what exactly people are having success with.

As for the magnesium, I highly doubt it's a factor.

 

[zookeepa103]

i say around 1300-1400ppm is great. if you want optimum color, try to keep in this range. don't exceed 1500ppm.
most of the time i can't get it any higher than 1300ppm, i don't have anymore mag test so i'm kinda guessing lately. seems like i add it more than calcium sometimes which can't be right, can it?