Brightwell aquatics mag. Help

20 gallon nano · Nov 29, 2015

Anybody know how to raise my magnesium levels with this stuff. I made a solution of 8 grams with 16 ounces of water , I dose this solution with the maximum rate of 10 ml per 20 gallons , which for me would be 30 ml since I have 60 gallons and my magnesium hasn't raise even by a few ppm. Am I doing something wrong? My magnesium level is at 1290.Calcium 420 and alkalinity at 8.9.I'm using seachem for my testing products.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Nov 30, 2015

Which product are you using?

The directions on their web site are wrong for their dry magnesium product. It does not raise magnesium as much as they claim. I suspect, but do not know for sure, that the same may apply to their liquid product. That said, most magnesium kits cannot easily distinguish small additions and if it has not raised enough yet, I'd look to add more.

Use this calculator and the entry for magnesium chloride anhydrous to get a very close estimate of how much is needed with their dry product. Dissolve it in fresh water before addition. For their liquid, I do not know how concentrated it actually is, since they seem to misunderstand magnesium chemistry, but using the calculator and the entry for B-ionic or Tech M should be within a factor of 2.

hatrix11 · Nov 30, 2015

I had the same problem. I also use brightwell. It turns out the way they explain raising ur mag on the packaging isn't explained well. If u goto bulkreefsupply.com they have a calculator. Brightwell isn't on the calculator but ur supposed to use magnesium sulfate instead I think, double check me on that. Anyways I was pouring in 40ml a day and getting nowhere when it turns out I should have been dumping in the whole bottle (~65 gallon system) to raise my mag 40 ppm per day

hatrix11 · Nov 30, 2015

By bottle I mean the 16oz solution. And corals and fish didn't seem to mind

Randy Holmes-Farley · Nov 30, 2015

Yes, it takes a very large amount of magnesium additives to boost magnesium.

20 gallon nano · Nov 30, 2015

Im using the magnesion-p powder. I'm thinking the reference they use is useful too , where it says 1 gram of powder for 1 gallon will raise it by 114, so that would mean if I have a 45 gallon tank I would just add 45 grams of powder in 8 oz of water and dump the whole thing and it would raise my magnesium to 114 ppm . does that sound right?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Nov 30, 2015

Paulbragin said:
Im using the magnesion-p powder. I'm thinking the reference they use is useful too , where it says 1 gram of powder for 1 gallon will raise it by 114, so that would mean if I have a 45 gallon tank I would just add 45 grams of powder in 8 oz of water and dump the whole thing and it would raise my magnesium to 114 ppm . does that sound right?

No, that is actually not useful. They do not understand their own product and that number is simply incorrect. I've pointed this out to Jack Kent, who now owns Brightwell, and he changed part of the description, but not that part yet. It simply is impossible.

Use the calcualtor as I suggested and use the entry for magneisum chloirde anhydrous, which this product mostly is.

20 gallon nano · Dec 1, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
No, that is actually not useful. They do not understand their own product and that number is simply incorrect. I've pointed this out to Jack Kent, who now owns Brightwell, and he changed part of the description, but not that part yet. It simply is impossible.

Use the calcualtor as I suggested and use the entry for magneisum chloirde anhydrous, which this product mostly is.

was this something you tried? and it worked for you? i tryed this method, i have a 45 gallon tank so with the calculator it tells me to add 33 tsp of powder, this bumped my magnesium from 1320 to 1500. not what i wanted. will this hurt my corals?i only wanted to go up 100 ppm

Randy Holmes-Farley · Dec 1, 2015

Paulbragin said:
was this something you tried? and it worked for you? i tryed this method, i have a 45 gallon tank so with the calculator it tells me to add 33 tsp of powder, this bumped my magnesium from 1320 to 1500. not what i wanted. will this hurt my corals?i only wanted to go up 100 ppm

What did you enter? Sure you did not enter magnesium chloride hexahydrate (the wrong entry for the Brightwell product)? Magnesium chloride anhydrous doesn't even have a teaspoon answer, but the hexahydrate does, and the hexahydrate needs about twice as much for a 100 ppm boost (33.8 teaspoons). So I expect that was the error.

Anyway, 1500 ppm magnesium is not a problem, although I generally do not recommend more than about 25 ppm boost per day out of concern for potentially toxic impurities in the supplement (ammonia, heavy metals, etc.). But I expect everything is fine. Many people raise magnesium a lot higher when trying to treat bryopsis.

20 gallon nano · Dec 1, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
What did you enter? Sure you did not enter magnesium chloride hexahydrate (the wrong entry for the Brightwell product)? Magnesium chloride anhydrous doesn't even have a teaspoon answer, but the hexahydrate does, and the hexahydrate needs about twice as much for a 100 ppm boost (33.8 teaspoons). So I expect that was the error.

Anyway, 1500 ppm magnesium is not a problem, although I generally do not recommend more than about 25 ppm boost per day out of concern for potentially toxic impurities in the supplement (ammonia, heavy metals, etc.). But I expect everything is fine. Many people raise magnesium a lot higher when trying to treat bryopsis.

I used bulk reef supply calculator for magnesium chloride, it didn't specify if it was anhydrous.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Dec 1, 2015

Paulbragin said:
I used bulk reef supply calculator for magnesium chloride, it didn't specify if it was anhydrous.

The anhydrous material is typically more expensive and more potent (and not any better), and I don't think BRS sells it. So their calculator for the magnesium additives are both hydrates.

Sorry, I seem to have left out the calculator link in my earlier post. This is the one to use for most purposes since it is clear what is being used and I have high confidence in the numbers:

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chem_calc3.html

20 gallon nano · Dec 1, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
The anhydrous material is typically more expensive and more potent (and not any better), and I don't think BRS sells it. So their calculator for the magnesium additives are both hydrates.

Sorry, I seem to have left out the calculator link in my earlier post. This is the one to use for most purposes since it is clear what is being used and I have high confidence in the numbers:

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chem_calc3.html

Yea I was trying to see if you posted a link of the calculator, I didn't find one so I looked on Google. I will wait few days to retest my magnesium since its already up to 1500, and then I will try that link you have provided. Have you tried it yourself? How did u get your correct dosing daily amount?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Dec 1, 2015

Paulbragin said:
Yea I was trying to see if you posted a link of the calculator, I didn't find one so I looked on Google. I will wait few days to retest my magnesium since its already up to 1500, and then I will try that link you have provided. Have you tried it yourself? How did u get your correct dosing daily amount?

The calculator itself is perfectly accurate. It is simple math.

I expect your magnesium will be adequately high for quite a long time and wouldn't dose more any time soon.

I maintain calcium and alkalinity with limewater (kalkwasser). I boost my salt mix for water changes (rather than the tank itself) with extra magnesium, when needed, although the salt mix itself seems to provide plenty since it has more than a natural level.