Saturation Levels of CaCl and MgCl in RO/DI Water

[Todd]

Originally Posted by littlesilvermax

Salifert test kits as of late are not that great.

I would add about 9 times the amount of MgCl vs MgSO4. Otherwise you get too high a sulfate in the water. Not a big deal though.

Try (what I always do) mixing the calcium and magnesium in the water BEFORE you add the salt.

FWIW if you get the IO water up to about 1380 ppm or so, it is unlikely that you will have to dose magnesium to the main tank. Unless you use a lot of kalk.

Great tips, particularly mixing the Mg before adding the salt. I will try that next time. Also good to know about the Sulfate accumulation, I could not find the reasoning behind the ratio's, but that makes sense.

I will have begin a dosing schedule to bring my Mg levels up in my display, while still bringing my water change water up before doing changes. Once I get my levels upto 'normal', then I will see if I can move away from dosing Mg. I am not using any Kalk, I will just be adding Calcium, Magnesium and Alkalinity via dosing pumps.

I guess I should try another brand of test kit. Any suggestions?

[littlesilvermax]

Originally Posted by Todd

Great tips, particularly mixing the Mg before adding the salt. I will try that next time. Also good to know about the Sulfate accumulation, I could not find the reasoning behind the ratio's, but that makes sense.

I will have begin a dosing schedule to bring my Mg levels up in my display, while still bringing my water change water up before doing changes. Once I get my levels upto 'normal', then I will see if I can move away from dosing Mg. I am not using any Kalk, I will just be adding Calcium, Magnesium and Alkalinity via dosing pumps.

I guess I should try another brand of test kit. Any suggestions?

Try the Elos test kits. So far they seem to work well for me.

Once you get your display tank up to about 1380-1460 ppm (what I recommend) you will likely not have to dose the tank at all. Just make sure your newly made up water for water changes has the above ppm of magnesium and you should be fine. The only time I could foresee you having a problem is if you had heavy kalk use.

Randy at RC (one of the resident chemists) has published a few articles about magnesium. I think his latest tests reveal that a 9:1 ratio of MgCl : MgSO4 was optimal. It is not at all critical (and actually depends a lot on the sulfate levels in your salt) but may as well get it close if you can.

You are right in magnesium being a very important key in keeping your levels up. I think cal, alk, and mag are the big three, too many times people don't mention magnesium. That is wrong! W/o the right magnesium levels you will never be able to attain NSW amounts of alk and calcium. That is why I got into bulk magnesium sales a few years ago.

[Todd]

Originally Posted by littlesilvermax

Try the Elos test kits. So far they seem to work well for me.

Once you get your display tank up to about 1380-1460 ppm (what I recommend) you will likely not have to dose the tank at all. Just make sure your newly made up water for water changes has the above ppm of magnesium and you should be fine. The only time I could foresee you having a problem is if you had heavy kalk use.

Randy at RC (one of the resident chemists) has published a few articles about magnesium. I think his latest tests reveal that a 9:1 ratio of MgCl : MgSO4 was optimal. It is not at all critical (and actually depends a lot on the sulfate levels in your salt) but may as well get it close if you can.

You are right in magnesium being a very important key in keeping your levels up. I think cal, alk, and mag are the big three, too many times people don't mention magnesium. That is wrong! W/o the right magnesium levels you will never be able to attain NSW amounts of alk and calcium. That is why I got into bulk magnesium sales a few years ago.

Thanks again for the info. I am looking forward to getting my tank back into that range! I will use the 9:1 ratio, as I really have no reason not too.

Reading over some of Randy's articles has shown me just how important Mag is, not just for the biological functions of corals but also the abiotic functions of preventing precipitation (thanks tang daddy).

I think that I will get a Elos test kit, as I have lost confidence in my Salfart kit.