Magnesium

[Madreefer]

Have been using epsom salts but there was a posting before about some kind of ice melter. What brand is it and how much is usually added as compared to the small sized grains of epsom? I now use 160grams to 5 gallons of fresh water in my top up resevoir.

[mark]

check littlesilvermax post (here) talks about his stuff and lot use it. There's also the Holmes-Farley MG DIY article that a lot is based on.

[whatcaneyedo]

Littlesilvermax and a few other sellers carry pharmaceutical grade magnesium chloride hexahydrate which generally comes to $4 or $5 a pound after shipping so its not too bad cost wise. However Lonnie discovered that at Atco Wholesale in town we can buy regular non-pharmaceutical grade for less than $1 a pound. The product is call Absolute Zero Melt Down and sells for under $30 for a 50 pound bag. He has been using it for about 2 years I guess and I've now been using it for a year as well without any apparent side effects. So weigh the options, the slight risk might not be worth the cost savings but that is for you to decide.

I had a thread about it last year http://canreef.com/vbulletin/showthr...=absolute+melt

I believe the rate you mix it with Magnesium Sulfate is either 10:1 by volume or 7.1:1 by weight.

The other ice melting product available which Randy talks about in that article is quite difficult to get in Canada.

[Madreefer]

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo

Littlesilvermax and a few other sellers carry pharmaceutical grade magnesium chloride hexahydrate which generally comes to $4 or $5 a pound after shipping so its not too bad cost wise. However Lonnie discovered that at Atco Wholesale in town we can buy regular non-pharmaceutical grade for less than $1 a pound. The product is call Absolute Zero Melt Down and sells for under $30 for a 50 pound bag. He has been using it for about 2 years I guess and I've now been using it for a year as well without any apparent side effects. So weigh the options, the slight risk might not be worth the cost savings but that is for you to decide.

I had a thread about it last year http://canreef.com/vbulletin/showthr...=absolute+melt

I believe the rate you mix it with Magnesium Sulfate is either 10:1 by volume or 7.1:1 by weight.

The other ice melting product available which Randy talks about in that article is quite difficult to get in Canada.

Thanks! So you still have to mix it with epsom salts? Stupid questions I know, but when it comes to "chemistry" I'm a little on the retarded side. So that would be 7lbs of melt down/1lb of epsom?

[whatcaneyedo]

Originally Posted by Madreefer

Thanks! So you still have to mix it with epsom salts? Stupid questions I know, but when it comes to "chemistry" I'm a little on the retarded side. So that would be 7lbs of melt down/1lb of epsom?

Down near the bottom of the article this is what it says:

"3. A certain mixture of magnesium chloride and magnesium sulfate has no net effect on seawater's major anions (chloride and sulfate). All that is necessary for such a recipe is to add these two ingredients in such a ratio that they add chloride and sulfate in the ratio naturally present in seawater (which is 7.1 to 1 on a weight basis and 9.6 to 1 on a per ion basis).

To perfect such a recipe, it's imperative to know the amounts of sulfate in Epsom salts (39%), the amount of chloride in magnesium chloride hexahydrate (34.9%), and their bulk densities, because most aquarists will use a volume based measurement (1.05 g/cm3 for Epsom salts and 0.85 g/cm3 for magnesium chloride hexahydrate solids). Taking all these factors into account, the desired volume ratio is 10:1, MAG flake to Epsom salts, as a supplement; for instance, 10 cups MAG flake and 1 cup Epsom salts."

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-07/rhf/index.php

However Littlesilvermax uses an 8.5:1 ratio based on direct recommendations from Randy. http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=26590

Pick a ratio and just mix the two salts together. I personally prefer to then add it to my new water change water at only 1 cup per 27 gallon garbage can and use it that way. If you dissolve it into your top off water like you said you were doing and then pump your top off water through a kalk reactor like you were you might be creating problems for yourself. Kalkwasser reacts with and dissolves into pure freshwater not saltwater so if you add magnesium salts to that fresh water it probably affects the kalkwasser's ability to then dissolve into it.

[Madreefer]

I forgot to mention that I no longer use the kalk reactor and most likely wont again. I just got my alkalinity running stable at 10 with my calcium reactor and the rest of my parameters are good. It used to be at 15 until I took both of the reactors off line for 2 weeks.I had my kalk reactor setup so it would pump in to my sump seperately when the pump for the freshwater turned on. So it was somewhat seperate from the top up water that I have the epsom salts in.