Problems with maintaining magnesium it keeps dropping.

[Hellybell80]

Hi,

My tank is coming up to 5 months. Havnt really tested my magnesium until about a week ago.
Tested using salifert. 1200ml was what I got. Tested twice.
I'm using fauna marin magnesium mix balling light. Used there calculator to make a correction using my doser.
It was around 150ml of dose a day for 5 days.
Tested before and a few hours after and it did rise it by a small amount to 1250 after the first dose.
Measured it the next morning it had dropped down to 1200 again.
Carried on with the dosing for 5 days. Measured every morning raised it a small amount, next morning after the last dose it was 1200 again.

Now after some reading magnesium dosnt get used alot.
Does this excessive amount seem right to you?
I couldn't get it raised to 1300ml until I added 300ml of dose. It's now at 1300ml.

Kh is 8.3 and stable using the doser.
Cal is 420 again stable.

I'm just struggling with the magnesium.

Was using tropic marin salt, but the last water change I switched to fritz blue box.

Any help or correction would be appreciated as I feel I'm doing something wrong.

 

[ScottB]

Hi,

My tank is coming up to 5 months. Havnt really tested my magnesium until about a week ago.
Tested using salifert. 1200ml was what I got. Tested twice.
I'm using fauna marin magnesium mix balling light. Used there calculator to make a correction using my doser.
It was around 150ml of dose a day for 5 days.
Tested before and a few hours after and it did rise it by a small amount to 1250 after the first dose.
Measured it the next morning it had dropped down to 1200 again.
Carried on with the dosing for 5 days. Measured every morning raised it a small amount, next morning after the last dose it was 1200 again.

Now after some reading magnesium dosnt get used alot.
Does this excessive amount seem right to you?
I couldn't get it raised to 1300ml until I added 300ml of dose. It's now at 1300ml.

Kh is 8.3 and stable using the doser.
Cal is 420 again stable.

I'm just struggling with the magnesium.

Was using tropic marin salt, but the last water change I switched to fritz blue box.

Any help or correction would be appreciated as I feel I'm doing something wrong.

I had a similar experience. I dumped obscene amounts of Mg in there to no avail. Turns out my test kit was bad. Have your LFS run a test or pickup another kit. Mine kept reading 1200 until I tested with Red Sea... it was off the chart. Nobody got hurt through my idiocy so don't worry too much. But stop dosing until you confirm the kit IMO.
Happy reefing!

 

[Ron Reefman]

Also use a different calculator and get the LFS to give you the proper amount of Mg to get your tank up to the Mg level you want. That way you aren't fighting to get the level up, just trying to maintain it.

I use this one and it has lots of brands to pick from.

Reef Chemistry Calculator

 

[Hellybell80]

Thanks for replying.
I did think it may be the test kit I've ordered a red sea one. I did test it on my other tank and it was at 1300. And stayed there.

 

[Hellybell80]

Also use a different calculator and get the LFS to give you the proper amount of Mg to get your tank up to the Mg level you want. That way you aren't fighting to get the level up, just trying to maintain it.

I use this one and it has lots of brands to pick from.

Reef Chemistry Calculator

The calculator I'm using is for this product, after looking at what's on the calculator you suggest for roughly the same product (mines not on there so it's a ball park figure) it's around the same amount. But I will get a new test kit.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Comparing your test kit to one at an LFS is still worth doing.

I keep 2 different brands of test kits (API & Salifert) for Ca, alk, Mg, ammonia and nitrate just so I can varify numbers if I get one that seems out of line.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

I'm using fauna marin magnesium mix balling light. Used there calculator to make a correction using my doser.
It was around 150ml of dose a day for 5 days.
Tested before and a few hours after and it did rise it by a small amount to 1250 after the first dose.
Measured it the next morning it had dropped down to 1200 again.

There's no natural process by which magnesium can drop 50 ppm overnight in reef aquaria. As an example, if your tank consumed 0.5 dKh of carbonate alkalinity per day, your magnesium would only drop by about 37 ppm over the course of an entire year.

This is likely a testing issue.

 

[rozart]

Hi,

My tank is coming up to 5 months. Havnt really tested my magnesium until about a week ago.
Tested using salifert. 1200ml was what I got. Tested twice.
I'm using fauna marin magnesium mix balling light. Used there calculator to make a correction using my doser.
It was around 150ml of dose a day for 5 days.
Tested before and a few hours after and it did rise it by a small amount to 1250 after the first dose.
Measured it the next morning it had dropped down to 1200 again.
Carried on with the dosing for 5 days. Measured every morning raised it a small amount, next morning after the last dose it was 1200 again.

Now after some reading magnesium dosnt get used alot.
Does this excessive amount seem right to you?
I couldn't get it raised to 1300ml until I added 300ml of dose. It's now at 1300ml.

Kh is 8.3 and stable using the doser.
Cal is 420 again stable.

I'm just struggling with the magnesium.

Was using tropic marin salt, but the last water change I switched to fritz blue box.

Any help or correction would be appreciated as I feel I'm doing something wrong.

Well to me it looks pretty good, that's around the same numbers I have and I don't seem to have any problems and just make sure it stays between 1280-1320 and doesn't drop below 1199 and doesn't go above 1330 because
As the magnesium keeps the calcium carbonate crystals and the Mg also keeps the Alkalinity and Calcium balanced

 

[Ron Reefman]

Just to be clear, Mg above 1330ppm is not in any way a problem. Some reefers run Mg as high as 1800 or more because they feel it inhabits algae growth. I run mine between 1300 and 1400 all the time.

 

[Hellybell80]

Well looking at it I've used about 1000ml of the dose. The calculater came in at 750ml over 5 days.
So I'm now at the 1300ml mag.
So now I'm there I'll retest weekly ( have a new test kit coming Wednesday) and see what the consumption is.

 

[Hellybell80]

Comparing your test kit to one at an LFS is still worth doing.

I keep 2 different brands of test kits (API & Salifert) for Ca, alk, Mg, ammonia and nitrate just so I can varify numbers if I get one that seems out of line.

Local LFS dosnt do magnesium tests but I'll test it against the new test kit still.

 

[Hellybell80]

There's no natural process by which magnesium can drop 50 ppm overnight in reef aquaria. As an example, if your tank consumed 0.5 dKh of carbonate alkalinity per day, your magnesium would only drop by about 37 ppm over the course of an entire year.

This is likely a testing issue.

I agree that's why I wanted to ask as it didnt seem right.

 

[Jonesyg]

I agree that's why I wanted to ask as it didnt seem right.

Did you find out if the dosing was correct in the end? I use the same system as you and had to dose a huge amount to raise my mag levels. Now stable at 1300, when I tested 24hrs apart it showed 15ppm useage which feels very high. Using salifert test kit.

 

[Hellybell80]

Well I used the salifert and the red sea test kits both about the same. It did take me a massive dose to get it up. I left it for a few weeks then tested again and it went down to 1010 I think it was off of the top of my head. So I did another big dose over several days to get it up. I started to dose 30ml a day and it was still dropping alot. I've now done it to 40ml a day and I'll see if that keeps it level.

 

[Hellybell80]

Don't know if it made any changes but I went back onto tropic marin pro salt , as the alk was alot higher then I wanted. Not sure if it had much to do with it but its not being used as much as it was before .

 

[ScottB]

Well I used the salifert and the red sea test kits both about the same. It did take me a massive dose to get it up. I left it for a few weeks then tested again and it went down to 1010 I think it was off of the top of my head. So I did another big dose over several days to get it up. I started to dose 30ml a day and it was still dropping alot. I've now done it to 40ml a day and I'll see if that keeps it level.

It takes A LOT of magnesium solution to raise levels up. I don't know why it is so diluted. So I get that part.

If I read correctly, you did dose it up to the correct level, but now it is falling super fast. That part really baffles me. Either the kits are bad, or the process is flawed, or you are losing salinity. Perhaps if your system is chewing through a liter or so of alkalinity each day, then this kind of magnesium consumption would make sense to me. How much two-part are you dosing each day?

 

[Hellybell80]

It takes A LOT of magnesium solution to raise levels up. I don't know why it is so diluted. So I get that part.

If I read correctly, you did dose it up to the correct level, but now it is falling super fast. That part really baffles me. Either the kits are bad, or the process is flawed, or you are losing salinity. Perhaps if your system is chewing through a liter or so of alkalinity each day, then this kind of magnesium consumption would make sense to me. How much two-part are you dosing each day?

At the moment I'm dosing fauna marine balling light set.
Daily dose
Alk 47.6ml
Cal 12.8
Mag 30.... not the 40. (I'll see how it is end of the week).
Salinity is spot on. Never have an issue with it.

 

[Jonesyg]

Don't know if it made any changes but I went back onto tropic marin pro salt , as the alk was alot higher then I wanted. Not sure if it had much to do with it but its not being used as much as it was before .

I checked my magnesium after leaving it for five days with no dosing to stablise and now the measurements are much more realistic. Maybe the dosing solution needs a long time to be absorbed? Anyway thanks !

 

[Aqua Nomad]

At the moment I'm dosing fauna marine balling light set.
Daily dose
Alk 47.6ml
Cal 12.8
Mag 30.... not the 40. (I'll see how it is end of the week).
Salinity is spot on. Never have an issue with it.

Hello

You have the same situation we have in 2 different client tanks in Finland.
Two different tanks and almost no consumption in Ca and Alk but Mg have to add every day to keep it up 1350 range. They are both using different products ( DSR for 800L tank and Tropic Marin All-For-Reef for 500L tank ). For the 800L tank, you have to add 340ml Mg/day and same time 0ml Ca and 30ml KH ( DSR ). For the 500L tank, you have to add 120ml ( Fauna Marin Mg ) and All-For-Reef 80ml to keep the ionic balance.

What is the same about these tanks is that they are both about the same age range 1,5 years old. Also, both of tanks have very few corals and fish.

We have tried to find the answers to this why, but we have not found the reason.

And no the problem is not the measuring, we have double-checked this on ICP.

 

[Hellybell80]

Hello

You have the same situation we have in 2 different client tanks in Finland.
Two different tanks and almost no consumption in Ca and Alk but Mg have to add every day to keep it up 1350 range. They are both using different products ( DSR for 800L tank and Tropic Marin All-For-Reef for 500L tank ). For the 800L tank, you have to add 340ml Mg/day and same time 0ml Ca and 30ml KH ( DSR ). For the 500L tank, you have to add 120ml ( Fauna Marin Mg ) and All-For-Reef 80ml to keep the ionic balance.

What is the same about these tanks is that they are both about the same age range 1,5 years old. Also, both of tanks have very few corals and fish.

We have tried to find the answers to this why, but we have not found the reason.

And no the problem is not the measuring, we have double-checked this on ICP.

I can't figure why mine is how it is. I'm careful with testing i always test twice use two different test kits. Both come back close enough to each other (redsea, salifert). All equipment gets thoroughly cleaned and rinsed with ro water. All chemicals are shaken between each drop added. If im testing wrong then.... well I pretty sure 90% of people are. No offence to anyone. But its not my testing. I wish it was. Even got a local lfs to do a test and a fellow reefer all got similar results. For some reason I can't keep my mag up. I don't know if its the mix I'm using. I have around 35 corals and probably a high bio load of fish. My alk is reasonably stable at 8.3 my cal is around 450.
my results over the last month or so and my dosage the last month are in the pics attached.