Parameters sps tank

Wolfsreefs · Aug 30, 2018

i have a 100g reef tank with some lps colonies and some sps colonies but mainly sps frags everywhere, my parameters are 8dkh 1310/1320 mag 425 calcium. I dose red sea abc 4ml mag 3ml kh 2ml ca starting on a monday- friday. Saturday i test and my cal will be the same kh would be the same and mag will drop to 1290 with or without dosing, my mag is always dropping more than cal and kh. If i dont dose my kh will drop by .3 cal drops by 5 or 10ppm by saturday mag same thing drops by 20 or 30ppm
I change out 15 gallons of water every sunday
I use red sea blue bucket and i do my own r.o and salt mix
Everything is doing amazing but i need help figuring out why mag drops even when i dose to keep it up
What am i doing wrong

ndrwater · Aug 30, 2018

What test kits are you using?
My first inclination is that is an error in reading the results. There isn't THAT much of a difference when reading results (for example Red Sea test kits).
I have 2 basic suggestions.
One: Keep doing what you are doing regardless of Mag results. As long as the corals are thriving, don't stress.
Two: Get to know your tank. Those of us who have been doing g SPS for quite a while can look at the tank and know if something is a bit off. Many people have the "canary in a coal mine" coral that will let you know if things are going sideways before the whole tank is affected.
Lastly. Understand that Mag is really there as a buffer to keep Calcium and or Alkalinity from coming out of solution and precipitating into a white crust all over everything. If you don't see precipitation on things like heaters or power heads, your Mag is likely just fine whatever number you test to..

ndrwater · Aug 30, 2018

Great tank by the way!!!

Dennis McGrath · Aug 30, 2018

I don't have an answer, but your tank is beautiful !!

Wolfsreefs · Aug 30, 2018

I use salifert test kits for mag and cal i use hanna for kh. My kh and cal are stable to spikes anywhere with those 2 just mag seems to be the one being consumed more than the rest salinity is 1025 ph stays between 8.2 at night 8.3 8.4 during the day theres no swing on ph either other than normal orp is usually around 436 and as high as 460