Bumping mag up

[gbroadbridge]

Just trying to nail params so I can rule things out
Icp comes back Wednesday next week , perhaps I’ll find something

Despite what you may have read/watched, coral are not really fussy about any particular number for individual parameters. They just need to be in the ballpark.

What they do appreciate and reward is stability and consistency.

They also are happier in a biologically mature tank, but that is not found in a bottle - it simply develops over time.

Euphillia are difficult coral for some folks, I had many problems with them when my tank was under about 2 years old and then one day it they settled down.

 

[Lavey29]

Despite what you may have read/watched, coral are not really fussy about any particular number for individual parameters. They just need to be in the ballpark.

What they do appreciate and reward is stability and consistency.

They also are happier in a biologically mature tank, but that is not found in a bottle - it simply develops over time.

Euphillia are difficult coral for some folks, I had many problems with them when my tank was under about 2 years old and then one day it they settled down.

Agreed

 

[scotty333]

Well when I have my preferred numbers the doser will keep the big 5 solid as a rock ( sorry for the Tina quote)

 

[scotty333]

Well my calcium went up 10 % by doubling the 16ml in accordance with the kh dose for 5 days so 80ml for 43 ppm
If I do the same with the mag I guess 80ml will increase 4ppm ?
Kh is 1ml per 100ltrs = .2

Does this sound right?
I want to increase mag 75 ish so it would take a few litres! Can’t be right

 

[gbroadbridge]

Well my calcium went up 10 % by doubling the 16ml in accordance with the kh dose for 5 days so 80ml for 43 ppm
If I do the same with the mag I guess 80ml will increase 4ppm ?
Kh is 1ml per 100ltrs = .2

Does this sound right?
I want to increase mag 75 ish so it would take a few litres! Can’t be right

It takes a lot of a balanced additive to increase Magnesium by a significant amount.

It may well take several litres of the additive you are using.

If you seriously wish to increase by that amount you should look for food grade Magnesium Chloride on Amazon and use a calculator to work out how much.

As your Magnesium level is not low, I would not bother.

 

[scotty333]

Thanks
I’ve asked triton so will report back

 

[rishma]

You received some good advice but I know it hasn’t been satisfactory. I really think you are wasting your effort. I’ll share some thoughts, but apologize because I know I am not helping with your aim to hit an mag number.

Alkalinity is worth a lot of effort to hit a fairly narrow range and keep it stable. Thankfully test kits are pretty accurate. I test Alkalinity daily or 2x daily when I am trying to dial it in and then weekly when I have it stable to confirm.

Calcium is worth less effort. Corals thrive in a wide range. Test kits are reasonably
accurate so still useful but not worth messing with as long as it’s within reason. I test a handful of times per year.

Magnesium is worth the least effort because corals thrive in a wide range, it changes very slowly and test kits are horribly inaccurate. I never test anymore. I do look at the results from my occasional ICP but rarely do anything in response except change my next dose up or down.

I know this thread was shared before, but I’ll include it again in case you missed it. Best of luck.

Just say NO to magnesium testing: RMM is born

OK, this thread has been many years in the making, and I'm posting it here since folks in the chem forum are probably already tired of all the threads relating to problematic magnesium testing. I'm going to propose a method, let's call it the Randy Magnesium Method, or RMM for short. All good...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[scotty333]

You received some good advice but I know it hasn’t been satisfactory. I really think you are wasting your effort. I’ll share some thoughts, but apologize because I know I am not helping with your aim to hit an mag number.

Alkalinity is worth a lot of effort to hit a fairly narrow range and keep it stable. Thankfully test kits are pretty accurate. I test Alkalinity daily or 2x daily when I am trying to dial it in and then weekly when I have it stable to confirm.

Calcium is worth less effort. Corals thrive in a wide range. Test kits are reasonably
accurate so still useful but not worth messing with as long as it’s within reason. I test a handful of times per year.

Magnesium is worth the least effort because corals thrive in a wide range, it changes very slowly and test kits are horribly inaccurate. I never test anymore. I do look at the results from my occasional ICP but rarely do anything in response except change my next dose up or down.

I know this thread was shared before, but I’ll include it again in case you missed it. Best of luck.

Just say NO to magnesium testing: RMM is born

OK, this thread has been many years in the making, and I'm posting it here since folks in the chem forum are probably already tired of all the threads relating to problematic magnesium testing. I'm going to propose a method, let's call it the Randy Magnesium Method, or RMM for short. All good...

www.reef2reef.com

My mags down from 1330 to 1300 in 3 weeks so yes I’ll intervene if it’s no problem to you
Thanks

 

[Garf]

My mags down from 1330 to 1300 in 3 weeks so yes I’ll intervene if it’s no problem to you
Thanks

That's well within my range of test error.

 

[rishma]

none of this is a problem to me. Just trying to help. Test kits are terribly inaccurate. I would not personally intervene in my own tank.

My mags down from 1330 to 1300 in 3 weeks so yes I’ll intervene if it’s no problem to you
Thanks

 

[scotty333]

none of this is a problem to me. Just trying to help. Test kits are terribly inaccurate. I would not personally intervene in my own tank.

I’m not testing it , reef factory are once a month

 

[rishma]

I’m not testing it , reef factory are once a month

Ok, at risk of not helping even though honestly that all I am trying to do, one more thing to consider….

If we assume the 30 ppm magnesium drop is correct, this would correspond to a calcium consumption of 300-600 ppm over the same period and an alkalinity consumption of 42-84 dKH. That would be an alkalinity demand of 2-4 dKH per day. Does that match your demand? That’s in the high side in my experience.

The numbers above assume the magnesium is being consumed through calcium carbonate formation like coral growth or coralline growth. If magnesium was being removed some other way, the numbers would not be correct but I am not sure what would cause that.

If the calcium and alkalinity demand doesn’t make sense, then I would consider normal test error. I am not familiar with reef factory so I can’t comment.

Perhaps @Randy Holmes-Farley can check my math.

Anyhow, hope your tank is doing well.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I’m not testing it , reef factory are once a month

Can you post the two results?

Small salinity changes can easily swing magnesium around by 30 ppm.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Ok, at risk of not helping even though honestly that all I am trying to do, one more thing to consider….

If we assume the 30 ppm magnesium drop is correct, this would correspond to a calcium consumption of 300-600 ppm over the same period and an alkalinity consumption of 42-84 dKH. That would be an alkalinity demand of 2-4 dKH per day. Does that match your demand? That’s in the high side in my experience.

The numbers above assume the magnesium is being consumed through calcium carbonate formation like coral growth or coralline growth. If magnesium was being removed some other way, the numbers would not be correct but I am not sure what would cause that.

If the calcium and alkalinity demand doesn’t make sense, then I would consider normal test error. I am not familiar with reef factory so I can’t comment.

Perhaps @Randy Holmes-Farley can check my math.

Anyhow, hope your tank is doing well.

Seems appropriate.

 

[scotty333]

Can you post the two results?

Small salinity changes can easily swing magnesium around by 30 ppm.

https://storage.reeffactory.com/share/692ce373b64ab0a759c612a82d217d3f25d086137937?t=1728660084956

https://storage.reeffactory.com/share/b4ea2d8a6e040bb012e249e2763db0bbdabed3d97730?t=1728660150769

Idk why the recent link is a 404

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I see the large concentration ions bouncing around. There may have been some magnesium consumption, but against a background of sodium and sulfate moving around, (which are not consumed), I think it’s hard to know how much.

 

[scotty333]

I see the large concentration ions bouncing around. There may have been some magnesium consumption, but against a background of sodium and sulfate moving around, (which are not consumed), I think it’s hard to know how much.

Mind boggling boss but thanks all the same

 

[rishma]

Mind boggling boss but thanks all the same

I think what he is saying is the test data posted has some noise in it so it’s hard to tell what is really going on. It’s another way to say what others have said, the magnesium change may not be real but rather normal variation in the test data. While that might be frustrating, it’s less frustrating than dosing and chasing numbers and not achieving what you are after.

 

[gbroadbridge]

I’m not testing it , reef factory are once a month

You appear to be placing a lot of faith in an untested new product.

There is no simple and accurate way of home testing magnesium levels despite manufacturers claims of accuracy.

There is no real point in worrying about a variation of +/- 100ppm Magnesium given that nothing in the tank cares about the level as long as it is over about 1150ppm.

Simplify your life and stop worrying about it.

 

[scotty333]

This is tritons response
I mean I thought having a 3 part was for controllability

I’m glad I switched to afr now cos they’re constantly selling stuff