High Calcium and Magnesium

[DannyB]

So my Calcium and Magnesium are both pretty high.

Cal 500
Magnesium not much more than 1500

Both on Salifert test kits.

I use Red Sea Coral Pro salt mix and when I have mixed a new batch, both Ca and Mg are elevated to higher than these levels, hence the high levels. So this makes it so i can't do WCs to lower it and basically discourages me from doing WCs because when I do i have to deal with this aftermath.

I like the Red Sea. I have had good results using it and bad results using other salts.

I am wondering if it is a bad idea to mix 2 different types of salt to try to get a lower Ca and Mg. I was thinking regular IO, due to it having lower Ca and Mg.

I don't know what negative impact this could cause or if it is just generally a bad idea to use 2 different salts, but if i can solve this issue I am going to implement a daily water change system.

Hopefully someone can shed some light on this for me it would be appreciated but if @Randy Holmes-Farley could provide an opinion as well I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It is fine to mix salts, and IO is a good choice for lowering calcium. Not so much for magnesium since it is not especially low, but it is lower than 1500 ppm.

 

[DannyB]

Thank you for the reply. Hopefully i can find a ratio easily enough. I appreciate your help.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You're welcome

FWIW, 500 ppm calcium and 16500 ppm magnesium is not generally a problem.

Good luck!

 

[DannyB]

You're welcome

FWIW, 500 ppm calcium and 16500 ppm magnesium is not generally a problem.

Good luck!

The issue i really have with the levels is I have done one small WC the last 2 months and I would like to be able to do them more frequently. It is hard to justify doing a WC when the WC creates a swing in parameters.

 

[Ronald Brown]

I am having the exact same problems and I am using IO reef crystals.

 

[Dr. Reef Verified Sponsor]

Regular IO has cal 410 alk 10 mag 1300
Reef crystal has cal 500 alk 12 mag. 1440

 

[Ronald Brown]

My mag is over 1500
Calc is over 500
Alk between 7 and 8
Also I have been using the same salt for over a year. The spikes started about 2 months ago. I am not dosing with anything at the moment because of this

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

My mag is over 1500
Calc is over 500
Alk between 7 and 8
Also I have been using the same salt for over a year. The spikes started about 2 months ago. I am not dosing with anything at the moment because of this

Those values wouldn't generally be a problem if you are maintaining at least 7 dKH for alkalinity.

 

[Ronald Brown]

Since the spikes started happening my few corals aren't happy at all

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Spikes in what? Elevated calcium and magnesium do not generally harm corals.

 

[Ronald Brown]

And nitrate as well. The calcium is starting to precipitate out and leave deposits all over my tank and sump

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

And nitrate as well. The calcium is starting to precipitate out and leave deposits all over my tank and sump

That's sounds like a problem other than elevated calcium. Even 1000 ppm calcium shouldn't usually do that unless alkalinity and pH were also high.

Did you overdose something?

To get an actual calcium value, use a second syringe of titrant to get to the endpoint so you can see the actual value.

 

[Ronald Brown]

My pH runs from 8.25 to 8.30
Alk: is 7 to 8
I Haven't dosed Anything in a while since I started to notice the rises. I only used coral vite, purple up, iodide, essentials

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

OK, I doubt the calcium and magnesium values are any concern. They do not rise on their own.

 

[Ronald Brown]

How can I lower them and keep a stable happy tank

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

How can I lower them and keep a stable happy tank

It is fine. Trust me. It is not a problem. Only way to lower them is by water change (but the salt mix is likely where they came from in the first place), or supplement alkalinity and very slowly they will decline.

 

[Ronald Brown]

My little friend here is breaking and looks like melting and there is a brown spot on it also. I frag get the pieces hanging off a ready in hopes to get them to grow. How high should my alk be?

 

[Dr. Reef Verified Sponsor]

Problem with coral is not related to magnesium levels. I have kept happy reef with levels as low as 1100 and as high as 1800. Lots of people keep mag at higher levels around 1800 to fight off algae.
Your levels are just fine don't try to fix what's not broken.
So let's look for problem somewhere else.
What are nitrates and phos levels?
What type of lights are u using?
Light on hours? ph?
What type of coral is it?

 

[Ronald Brown]

Nitrates: 10- 20 using api
Phos has been steady at .25
Lights: aquaticlife edge reef light. There are 3 variations and the first low lights come on around 10 am and off at 7pm the night blues off at 10 pm
The one melting is a chalice but I have palys, zoas, xenias, green star polyp, and an umbrella leather