Why is Magnesium dropping so fast?

[baslewprime]

I've been trying to maintain Magnesium at 1,440

the levels dropped from 1440 to 1260 in 10 days, using red sea pro test kit.

What could be causing the drop?

no coralline algae yet. just small dots of GHA

my other parameters

alk 10.8
mag 1280
cal 370
po4 undetectable ZERO with hanna ULR
no3 2ppm
salinity 1.026

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

If the cal is super low that could be a problem.
If the Po4 is low, it won’t feed the algae.

I suspect some test error.

 

[baslewprime]

If the cal is super low that could be a problem.
If the Po4 is low, it won’t feed the algae.

I suspect some test error.

CAL

day 1 390
day 10 370

what could be causing the drop?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

CAL

day 1 390
day 10 370

what could be causing the drop?

That’s within test error range of a hobby kit.
Or your cal and alk usage is that much. But your alk is actually high.
Thus my theory it’s test error.

 

[baslewprime]

That’s within test error range of a hobby kit.
Or your cal and alk usage is that much. But your alk is actually high.
Thus my theory it’s test error.

but my ALK never drop in 2 months , i dont know what to do.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

but my ALK never drop in 2 months , i dont know what to do.

Retest. What kit are you using?

And don’t sweat it hard.
If you don’t have a lot of stony corals and aren’t dosing , do regular water changes your fine.
So, let’s figure out what’s going on with the tests.

 

[baslewprime]

Retest. What kit are you using?

And don’t sweat it hard.
If you don’t have a lot of stony corals and aren’t dosing , do regular water changes your fine.
So, let’s figure out what’s going on with the tests.

red sea for everything except po4.

i have 8 small frags all lps. i do wc twice a month.

 

[Hella_Reef]

How old is ur system?
How many tests have you done?
Make a timeline of ur testing if u remember ur tests.

Magnesium is the slower of the main 3 to drop. And by slower I mean way slow.

Perhaps as said above the reason ur magnesium is so low is because ur calcium is at 370.


What is ur parameters a few hours after ur water change?

And what is it 2 weeks Later before ur water change?

Have u dosed anything?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

red sea for everything except po4.

i have 8 small frags all lps. i do wc twice a month.

Don’t trust the mag at all.
The alk should be ok. I go by that myself for dosing. Practice a couple times in a row if you haven’t.

Your probably not using much alk at all. Plus your doing regular water changes to replenish the alk.
Try this , test alk.each weekend. Do the water change. Then test. Skip a wise change and as the difference.

Now, that said , you may find that you are not using and alk. Then, depending on your nutrients, if they are low , you may not need to do quite so frequent water changes.

 

[baslewprime]

How old is ur system?
How many tests have you done?
Make a timeline of ur testing if u remember ur tests.

Magnesium is the slower of the main 3 to drop. And by slower I mean way slow.

Perhaps as said above the reason ur magnesium is so low is because ur calcium is at 370.


What is ur parameters a few hours after ur water change?

And what is it 2 weeks Later before ur water change?

Have u dosed anything?

How old is ur system? 5 months

How many tests have you done? once a week.

Make a timeline of ur testing if u remember ur tests. im using aquariumnote for android

What is ur parameters a few hours after ur water change?

alk 10.8
cal 390
mag 1440

Have u dosed anything? no dosing. im really afraid of that. i heard alot of nightmares and most of LFS dont recommend it. so i dont know what to do.

 

[baslewprime]

Don’t trust the mag at all.
The alk should be ok. I go by that myself for dosing. Practice a couple times in a row if you haven’t.

Your probably not using much alk at all. Plus your doing regular water changes to replenish the alk.
Try this , test alk.each weekend. Do the water change. Then test. Skip a wise change and as the difference.

Now, that said , you may find that you are not using and alk. Then, depending on your nutrients, if they are low , you may not need to do quite so frequent water changes.

ok buddy i will try ur advice :)

thanks i really appreciate your help