Should I care that my mg is 1620?

[chris k.]

My old red sea test kit i was reading around 1400. I just got a new red sea test kit and my mag reads close to 1600. Same water.

 

[hllb]

I tested it tonight after a wc and it was 1580. I’m apparently incompetent since it should’ve gone up if the fresh water was what I tested - not down. Maybe I’ll get along better with the Salifert test...

 

[hllb]

Tested tonight with Salifert at 1515. My mix is definitely super high in Mg. Seems like the 2400 in the freshly mixed water is right. I hate to get rid of an entire bucket of salt but that’s just way too high. I’ll mix up more water and recheck. If it’s still super high, Might contact the company and see if they’ll replace it.

 

[Tastee]

I run Aquaforest Reef Salt and dose AF 3 part and my Mg is always high ~1580. I have tested my NSW and it is around that mark also. Tank is 2 years old and going very well, so I have no issues with the high level.

 

[homer1475]

We used to raise MAG to 1600 with brightwells to combat bryopsis with 0 ill effects. My MAG runs right around 1600 with 0 problems and has for years.

While I have never checked my NSW, I'm assuming IO mixes up pretty high to begin with, but I don't have any issues so I don't test for it but about once a month and it's always super high.

 

[The Aquatic Arsenal]

Are you sure you're testing correctly? I mix my water with reef crystals and always get 1360 ppm magnesium

What test kit are you using?

 

[McFly]

I use RC and my mag is always slightly over 1600.

No issues, and I don't have to worry about dosing Mg anymore.

 

[hllb]

What test kit are you using?

Both Red Sea Pro and Salifert.

 

[Halal Hotdog]

I tend to have high magnesium as well. There are a few negatives. It can kill your snails due to have it affects their musculature and their inability to move. Can also affect how rapidly your crabs and shrimps molt. Unfortunately there are not great ways to lower magnesium, so I would leave it alone. Apparently mangroves absorb magnesium, but I don't know to what level. My montis seem to love high magnesium, they color up and grow very rapidly. As fast as a softy.

 

[hllb]

I'm not super concerned with the Mg level the tank is at now (it was 1515 at the last test) but I'm concerned that my fresh mixed saltwater is over 2400 Mg. So every week I'm raising the Mg in my DT. Since I switched to RC, my Mg has risen. Here are tests, most are with Red Sea, the last one was Salifert:

9/16 (all IO water): 1300
9/21 (all IO water): 1300
9/28 (after a WC with RC, about 10%): 1660
9/29 (This made me think the 9/28 test was user error): 1460
10/12 (After 1 or 2 more WCs with RC): 1620
10/13: 1580
10/14 (Salifert kit arrived): 1515

Around 10/12 or 10/13, I tested fresh saltwater with my Red Sea kit, multiple times, at 2400 Mg. I haven't yet taken a sample to my LFS. I also tried rolling the bucket around to mix the salt up, but it still tested at 2400 Mg.