Dosing 2 part

[brick-brothers]

I took a break from the hobby due to my recent move. Now that I'm back up and running Ive been reading alot of threads so I can get back in the loop of things and to also educate myself on the latest gadgets and new ideas/methods of reef keeping. I noticed alot of dosing threads dont mention dosing Magnesium. Did we shy away from it?

 

[Calpoly2103]

I use ESV B-IONIC to dose Alk/Cal/Mag in my mixed reef. Check out Neptune Apex products, that's been the biggest technological leap for me in terms of reef keeping the last ten years.

 

[SaltISlife]

I took a break from the hobby due to my recent move. Now that I'm back up and running Ive been reading alot of threads so I can get back in the loop of things and to also educate myself on the latest gadgets and new ideas/methods of reef keeping. I noticed alot of dosing threads dont mention dosing Magnesium. Did we shy away from it?

I tried it once and then realized its wayyy easier and much much nuch cheaper to do a water change to up magnesium than buying magnesium from brs or what not. Do you know how many gallons of BRS magnesium i had to mix up to even up it by 120 points. Versus simply doing a water change with reef crystals ?

 

[brick-brothers]

I use ESV B-IONIC to dose Alk/Cal/Mag in my mixed reef. Check out Neptune Apex products, that's been the biggest technological leap for me in terms of reef keeping the last ten years.

I have apex products which I love being how it makes reefing alil easy. But I do like to try other brands especially if it fits my budget. Also when I was dosing kalk I dont remember adding Magnesium. Then again my memory is bad, lol

 

[homer1475]

Salt nowadays is high in mag then it used to be(IME). People who are doing regular WC's may never need to add MAG.

I use regular old purple box IO, and I rarely have to add any MAG. I'm typically in the 1350 to 1500 range.

 

[Calpoly2103]

Each tank is going to be different. If water changes are enough to keep your magnesium levels stable, then its definitely the way to go. My magnesium is consumed slower than my Alk/Cal, however I still can't keep it stable by water change only so I need to dose additionally. My tank is also 40 gallons, so I don't use that much. If you have a massive tank, then it'll get expensive quickly for sure.

 

[SaltISlife]

Salt nowadays is high in mag then it used to be(IME). People who are doing regular WC's may never need to add MAG.

I use regular old purple box IO, and I rarely have to add any MAG. I'm typically in the 1350 to 1500 range.

Ive never once had regular io above 1250. Are you sure your salinity isnt like 1.30 lol. Reef cryatals ive seen upwards of 1400. No where near 1500

 

[brick-brothers]

I tried it once and then realized its wayyy easier and much much nuch cheaper to do a water change to up magnesium than buying magnesium from brs or what not. Do you know how many gallons of BRS magnesium i had to mix up to even up it by 120 points. Versus simply doing a water change with reef crystals ?

Yes I recall having to mix alot of it before I started dosing kalk then having to add my Calcium reactor because my sps was taking off

 

[SaltISlife]

Each tank is going to be different. If water changes are enough to keep your magnesium levels stable, then its definitely the way to go. My magnesium is consumed slower than my Alk/Cal, however I still can't keep it stable by water change only so I need to dose additionally. My tank is also 40 gallons, so I don't use that much. If you have a massive tank, then it'll get expensive quickly for sure.

Do more than 5-10% water changes and i bet youll see your mag be more stable.

 

[homer1475]

Ive never once had regular io above 1250. Are you sure your salinity isnt like 1.30 lol. Reef cryatals ive seen upwards of 1400. No where near 1500

Been doing this for 30+ years, yes I know regular old purple box IO mixes right around 1500 and always has @ 1.026.

 

[SaltISlife]

Been doing this for 30+ years, yes I know regular old purple box IO mixes right around 1500 and always has @ 1.026.

Lol sure it does. Go make a video for me and show me you opening the box or bag mixing it and it being at 1500. never once in my life have i seen the purple bags mix at 1500 or 1400 or 1300.

Well maybe 1300 once.

I bet your test kit is wrong. Youre testing it wrong or mixing the salinity too high.. ever 1 or 2 points on salinity mag will go up 50 points on io or reef crystals.

Even reef crystals youd be hard pressed to get 1400 let alone 1500

 

[brick-brothers]

Lol sure it does. Go make a video for me and show me you opening the box or bag mixing it and it being at 1500. never once in my life have i seen the purple bags mix at 1500 or 1400 or 1300.

Well maybe 1300 once.

I bet your test kit is wrong. Youre testing it wrong or mixing the salinity too high.. ever 1 or 2 points on salinity mag will go up 50 points on io or reef crystals.

Even reef crystals youd be hard pressed to get 1400 let alone 1500

Soo which IO has the higher Magnesium?

 

[homer1475]

never once in your life? How long have you been mixing purple box IO? How old are you?

I apparently must be doing it wrong for 30+ years then.

 

[homer1475]

I don't need to make a video, I know what my salt mixes up to, I've mixed well over 200k boxes in 30+ years.

 

[SaltISlife]

Reef crystal does by alot. Every purple bag ive used has always been in the 1150-1250 range. And reef crystals ive seen in the 1250 on bad batchs to 1400-1450 tops.gone through hundreds of these bags and buckets in just the last few years. I stopped using the purple buckets and bags recently because of this.

And IO is the name brand for the whole line up of products fyi. Reef rystals is just a sub name.

 

[SaltISlife]

never once in your life? How long have you been mixing purple box IO? How old are you?

I apparently must be doing it wrong for 30+ years then.

Old enough.

 

[SaltISlife]

I don't need to make a video, I know what my salt mixes up to, I've mixed well over 200k boxes in 30+ years.

So aparently your salt must be magical because even spectrum brands doesnt list magnesium this high. You could call them and give them the barcode on your magical buckets and bags and they will tell you what the actual magnesium calcium and everything is from that batch. As they do testing and keep notes of it before anything is sent out for sale.

 

[homer1475]

Must be magical then.

And does any salt mix up to what the manufacturer says it's suppose to mix up to? Ever wonder why there are threads created all the time because the salt doesn't mix up to what the bucket/bag/box said it suppose to mix up to?


And yes 1350 is SUPPOSED to be what it mixes up to, but i regularly find it in the 1400 to 1500 range.

 

[Calpoly2103]

Do more than 5-10% water changes and i bet youll see your mag be more stable.

I definitely, definitely do more than 5-10% water changes. I have a fully stocked tank, and my big 3 consumption is unique, just like any tank depending on what you have and how much it consumes. It's important to know exactly what your tank consumes and how quickly. It's been successful for me

Do more than 5-10% water changes and i bet youll see your mag be more stable.

Not sure why you assume this or how its applicable to the consumption rate of the big 3 in my tank. Like I said depending on your tank stock and tank size everyones consumption will be different. If you have a tank of softies your consumption will be different than a tank of SPS.

My dosing pattern compliment my bi-weekly water change schedule as I'm sure is the same for everyone who doses.

 

[homer1475]

Ok so after all that......

If your MAG is above 1250 I wouldn't worry about it. People who do regular WC's may never need to add MAG as most salt mixes mix up pretty high on the MAG levels. And that is the reason you don;t see to many threads about adding MAG.