Ca and Mg High

IAReefer · Jun 24, 2020

Tested my Nuvo 40 today. My Ca and Mg are always high and I can’t figure it out. Frogspawn has lost heads and zoas are partially closed. I’ve been doing 2, 5 gallon water changes per week to bring the N03 down. I only feed once per day about a nickel size piece of Reef Frenzy. Have 2 clowns, 1 stripped blenny, 1 6 line wrasse, 1 blue damsel. Tank is about 1.5 years old. Coralline growth is good, no real algae issues besides a bit of bubble algae. I’ve been dosing Vibrant to rid of that. Chaeto started dying due to the Vibrant, so I removed it until done dosing. Dose Red Sea 2 part daily (equal amounts, 4ml). Any advice appreciated!

Parameters:
NO3- 50 Salifert
PO4-.03 Salifert
Ca- 650 Red Sea
Dkh-9.0 Red Sea
Mg- 1600 Red Sea
Sg- 1.025 Red Sea refractometer

blasterman · Jun 24, 2020

Advice? Yeah...stop dosing.

Heres yet another example of why two part dosing doesnt work for tanks without high calcium uptake corals, which are most salt water tanks.

Two part dosing is designed for tanks with high SPS loads. Your tank is not that. Alk however is consumed as part of a normal biological process. Young tanks can consume alk at a massive rate. So, you end up with high calcium and normal dKH because you dont have anything consuming calcium.

Stop dosing calcium. Stop dosing magnesium. Normal water changes will replenish those. Alk should be checked a couple times a week and a reading of 8-9 is fine.

IAReefer · Jun 24, 2020

blasterman said:
Advice? Yeah...stop dosing.

Heres yet another example of why two part dosing doesnt work for tanks without high calcium uptake corals, which are most salt water tanks.

Two part dosing is designed for tanks with high SPS loads. Your tank is not that. Alk however is consumed as part of a normal biological process. Young tanks can consume alk at a massive rate. So, you end up with high calcium and normal dKH because you dont have anything consuming calcium.

Stop dosing calcium. Stop dosing magnesium. Normal water changes will replenish those. Alk should be checked a couple times a week and a reading of 8-9 is fine.

Thanks for the reply. I don’t dose Mg, so not sure why that’s high too. Maybe the Red Sea test kit is off...

Miller535 · Jun 24, 2020

I wonder if your salinity is higher then you think it is. It would at least partly explain your numbers.

IAReefer · Jun 24, 2020

Miller535 said:
I wonder if your salinity is higher then you think it is. It would at least partly explain your numbers.

I don’t think it is, I calibrated with 35ppt juice right before I took the salinity reading. The tank consumes Alk at a decent rate, but not Ca. I always heard to dose 2 part equally, does anyone else dose unequal amounts?

Miller535 · Jun 24, 2020

IAReefer said:
I don’t think it is, I calibrated with 35ppt juice right before I took the salinity reading. The tank consumes Alk at a decent rate, but not Ca. I always heard to dose 2 part equally, does anyone else dose unequal amounts?

There has to be some explanation why your Mag especially is 1600. No salt mix is anywhere near that. Especially when you are not dosing it.

IAReefer · Jun 24, 2020

Miller535 said:
There has to be some explanation why your Mag especially is 1600. No salt mix is anywhere near that. Especially when you are not dosing it.

I use Fritz RPM salt mixed to 1.025. Not sure why the Mg is so high, unless the Red Sea test is off a lot.

Miller535 · Jun 24, 2020

IAReefer said:
I use Fritz RPM salt mixed to 1.025. Not sure why the Mg is so high, unless the Red Sea test is off a lot.

Fritz RMP is supposed to mix to Magnesium: 1300-1400 ppm at 1.0264 salinity.

So mixed at 1.025 you should be under 1300. 1300-1600 is a very big difference. Being that you Cal is also very high, I still suspect your salinity is high. If possible i would have another fellow reefer double check or a LFS. They usually will do it for free.

Rybren · Jun 24, 2020

I suspect testing error for Mg. A lot of people have issues with the Red Sea Mag kit. I switched to Salifert.

It will take quite a while for your Calcium to drop even if you stop dosing it (which I recommend). Only 18-20ppm of Calcium will be consumed for every 2.8 dKH of alk.

Just dose alk for now.

IAReefer · Jun 24, 2020

I’ll double check the salinity with another refractometer. I’ve been dosing Ca so I get why that’s high if my tank isn’t using it at an equal rate as Alk. I’ll stop dosing it and continue the Alk. Yeah, the Mg has to be the Red Sea test.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jun 24, 2020

IAReefer said:
I use Fritz RPM salt mixed to 1.025. Not sure why the Mg is so high, unless the Red Sea test is off a lot.

Many folks have problems with that specific kit.

have you tried both kits on your new salt water?

I think it unlikely they got there via dosing.

IAReefer · Jun 24, 2020

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Many folks have problems with that specific kit.

have you tried both kits on your new salt water?

I think it unlikely they got there via dosing.

Mixing some new salt water now, I’ll check them here in a bit and see

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jun 24, 2020

IAReefer said:
Dose Red Sea 2 part daily (equal amounts, 4ml).

Is this the product you are using?

CA | KH/ALK | MG Foundation supplements complete starter pack Red Sea

CALCIUM+ | KH/ALKALINITY | MAGNESIUM ,Foundation supplements complete starter pack Red Sea

www.redseafish.com

IT IS NOT DESIGNED FOR 1:1 dosing.

Concentration:
1ml will raise the Ca level of 100 liters (25 gal) by 2ppm.
1ml will raise the Alkalinity of 100 liters (25gal) by 0.036 meq/l (0.1dKH)
1ml will raise the Mg level of 100 liters (25gal) by 1ppm.

Equal parts has way too much calcium and even more too much magnesium.

IAReefer · Jun 24, 2020

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Is this the product you are using?

CA | KH/ALK | MG Foundation supplements complete starter pack Red Sea

CALCIUM+ | KH/ALKALINITY | MAGNESIUM ,Foundation supplements complete starter pack Red Sea

www.redseafish.com

IT IS NOT DESIGNED FOR 1:1 dosing.

Concentration:
1ml will raise the Ca level of 100 liters (25 gal) by 2ppm.
1ml will raise the Alkalinity of 100 liters (25gal) by 0.036 meq/l (0.1dKH)
1ml will raise the Mg level of 100 liters (25gal) by 1ppm.

Equal parts has way too much calcium and even more too much magnesium.

I don’t think so, just Alk and Ca

((FORDTECH)) · Jun 24, 2020

I think that is same product randy posted

IAReefer · Jun 24, 2020

((FORDTECH)) said:
I think that is same product randy posted

Don’t think so. That’s the 3 part dosing, I just do the 2 part.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jun 24, 2020

IAReefer said:
Don’t think so. That’s the 3 part dosing, I just do the 2 part.

I think it is the same, and is not a 1:1 product.
Do your boxes or instructions give a dose amount like I posted?

IAReefer · Jun 24, 2020

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
I think it is the same, and is not a 1:1 product.
Do your boxes or instructions give a dose amount like I posted?

Here’s a pic of the contents, I think it’s just Ca and Strontium

Ryan Wolf · Jun 24, 2020

My advice— stop manually testing. If you can afford it, go to automation. Best thing I did was purchase a Neptune Trident. The comfort and knowledge of having 4 tests daily have allowed my tank to flourish. Look into it. You won’t regret it.

hllb · Jun 24, 2020

My tank runs 1500-1600 mag too for seemingly no reason. I had a batch of salt (reef crystals) that tested at 2400 mg that started it. But I’ve been through a couple batches of other salt since (Red Sea coral pro and currently using HW Marinemix Reefer). I still test over 1500 most times I test without dosing. No idea why.