Increasing Mg levels

[rickjames]

Ok, so I know that the Mg issue has been brought up in a thread lately, but I just thought I would bring it up again.

I have a 150 gallon reef tank with stony corals, it has been setup for about 8 months. Most of the corals are frags or small colonies. For Ca/Alk supplementation I started out using Kalk and adjusting with Kent tech A/B supplements. Then I added a calcium reactor, and once that was dialed in and running I quit supplementing kalk because I was sick of mixing it!

My issue is during all this time I have never been able to sustain my Calcium level above 400ppm and my Alk above 8.3. It usually likes to sit at 390ppm and a dKH of 8.1. I test these levels with Salifert kits.

Now I know that these are good levels but I would like to see them slightly higher. I tried bumping my calcium reactor flow through and bubble count up but I just seem to maintain those levels. Currently I bubble about 60 bpm and a constant small stream of effluent into the tank.

Which led me to the Mg issue. I bought a salifert test kit and tested the Mg level, it was only 1100ppm! It would seem that the Kent salt I use is deficient in these levels.

Which leads to my question: has anyone had any success adjusting with Epsom salts? I read the articles in Bev's links (thanks Bev) and according to the article this should be fine as long as the sulfate levels of your salt are low as well. So searching for the sulfate levels of Kent sea salt, I found this:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/12/aafeature1/view

Most salt mixes are 850ppm+ low in sulfur content!?

So adjusting 200ppm Mg with epsom salts shouldn't be a problem, right?

Just looking for thoughts or experiences with this.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by rickjames

I have never been able to sustain my Calcium level above 400ppm . It usually likes to sit at 390ppm

good thats a perfect level. it is what I set as a goal level, so if mine is below 380 I bump it up if it is above 400 I drop it.

as for epsome salts, just but the reef advantage at 11 you won't need more than a Jar to get it to 1300 I guess. the reason is you are looking at it as a small amount so it should be ok, well every water change makes that amount bigger and unless some one can tell me exactly what they use for the additives than for Mg I will stick to the bought ones.

Steve

[rickjames]

Thanks Steve,

I have already been through one jar and that got me to about 1200 ppm. So I guess I will go through another jar. I read a previous post where you said that your calcium reactor was able to maintain your Mg levels, so I will bump it to 1300 and see if I can maintain it as well with my reactor.

[Beverly]

Brennan,

Kent salt may be slightly low in Mg, but it is more likely your corals have been using it, along with Ca, to grow, giving you such low Mg levels.

I have never used epsom salts to raise Mg as it can seriously mess with the ionic balance of a system. Don't ask me to explain ionic balance, because I'm absolutely cr*ppy with chemistry details. That's why I use the chemistry calculator and read all those articles, half of which I don't really understand

I would suggest using a commercial product or finding the chemistry article on ALL the DIY additives and go from there. Personally, I think it's just easier to use a commercial Mg product than try to figure out the DIY stuff.

JMHO.

[christyf5]

Some fun reading


Even more fun reading

[Chin_Lee]

Rick
I bought 11 lbs of this
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=16549

from LittlesilverMax in November 2005 and I have just finished using it up!!!
Bev is gonna be so proud of me cuz I had to continuously supplement to maintain my mg level around the 1350 mark. Like the other Mg supplements (commercial and DIY) they are not very "potent" in terms of Mg concentration. I've heard and read this from many users now. Eg.
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=22279 refers
Another friend used the Salifert product in a bottle and after dumping in the entire bottle, it raised their mg level by about 75 ppm!!!
I don't know who is crazier - me or this hobby? Its gonna be pricey to maintain mg levels in a high demand sps tank. Imagine 11 lbs of mg into my system in three months

Like another one of my feeble group buy attempts, I tried to get a large shipment out here to cut down/split on the shipping costs.... i think i'm just gonna give up on group buys from herein But I'm going to buy 30-40 lbs in the next month or so in order to have a year long supply of magnesium.

[rickjames]

Well i added another half jar today, will test and add the other half tomorrow. I am thinking that if my reactor can't keep up with the Mg levels then so be it, I'm not dumping anymore 11$ jars in. My corals grew fast before I added the Mg....

[Ruth]

I have also heard of people using - I think - dolomite stones - Steve help- in their Calcium Reactor to maintain Mg. I have quite a few SPS corals in both my large aquariums and don't really have to fiddle with it that much and when I do I use the Seachem.
You may want to consider switching salts if that is an option - it might be cheaper in the long run.

[christyf5]

Hey, Brennan I just found two jars of seachem reef advantage magnesium sitting here if you want them. I don't know when I'm coming down to Duncan though. You coming to Nanaimo anytime soon?

[rickjames]

Thanks for the offer Christy, I am up there every so often, usually to get a ferry or something. Let me wait and see what happens once I get my levels up, I might try the dolomite trick. Basically I am looking for laziest way to maintain the levels.