Tank Parameters. Help with magnesium?

ReefOG311 · Dec 10, 2018

So levels seems to be balancing out pretty well. Magnesium seems to drop after water changes. Should I dose magnesium? What do u think of my other parameters?

Last 2 weeks:
Calcium stays around 420 to 450
Alk 10 and 12
Mag 1200 today but higher last week at 1360

I make 5 gallons of pickling lime Ro/Di. I use about 6 tsp per 5 gallon. I drip 1 gallon a day.

GoVols · Dec 10, 2018

I'll take a shot:
I like to keep mag at about 1400 to 1420. It does not hurt anything to keep at that range.

One purpose for magnesium is to keep your cal and alk ions separated so your corals can take those in.

If your mag gets too low your cal and alk will bind together and in-taking will shut down.

So, Magnesium is kinda like oil to your car's engine.

FWIW:
Really don't like the Red Sea mag kit.
To me Salifert is more stable from test to test, and a lot easier to preform.

So, Yes I'd raise it, but stay within the daily max dose of the product that you use.

Hope that helps

Martin Kuhn · Dec 10, 2018

Mg typically is consumed only little

So it is not unlikely that your Test Kit is of with the readings or it is human (testing error)

Also, there are some salt mixes that are low on Mg.
This might be another reason for Mg decreasing.