high mag 1800+ ? reef crystals

derek yoonie · Jan 25, 2018

is this the norm? or is my red sea mag test kit faulty, please share your experience with RC, including alk and ca

chewy tabacca · Jan 25, 2018

derek yoonie said:
is this the norm? or is my red sea mag test kit faulty, please share your experience with RC, including alk and ca

I have had high readings in my red sea kit before, some people say the read high, in my opinion, the rest has to be done as they have the directions. 1 drop of A mix for 15 seconds, 2nd drop of A mix for 15 seconds, ect. 5 times. Then 5 drops of B, mix for 60 seconds if memory serves me right. I actually pull out a timer for this. Also the bottle has to be held perfectly upside down to create uniform drops. The 2ml of tank water has to be 2 ml no more no less.

BRS does a really good webisode on this. They explain the quality and the problems with each test kit. If in doubt you can always take a sample in a clean water bottle to your LFS and they will test it for you. Even better if they use the red sea kit to test it for you, you can have them show you how they do it.

derek yoonie · Jan 25, 2018

hmmm the local fish store around here arent that great

lol I may take a sample of ocean water and test it , since it is 1 block away

ocea water should be really low like 1200 to 1300 correct?

chewy tabacca · Jan 27, 2018

derek yoonie said:
hmmm the local fish store around here arent that great lol I may take a sample of ocean water and test it , since it is 1 block away ocea water should be really low like 1200 to 1300 correct?

That's where the ocean sits for sure, what is your alk and salinity? It may be worth it to see if you can get those reading, I am not sure how to really test ocean water though haha, I would imagine you may have to get away from shore a little bit to get away from all the human factors that go with it.

derek yoonie · Jan 27, 2018

(SALINTY 1.023- 1.024 alk is holding at 7.4 , even a week without water change it stills holds at 7.4 hanna URL / wc 5 g brings it to 7.5 / 40 gallon with about 33 pounds of live rock/ trigger cube sump 10 to 15 gallons . MAG at 1400 red sea test/ CA at 450 give or take.

chewy tabacca · Jan 28, 2018

derek yoonie said:
(SALINTY 1.023- 1.024 alk is holding at 7.4 , even a week without water change it stills holds at 7.4 hanna URL / wc 5 g brings it to 7.5 / 40 gallon with about 33 pounds of live rock/ trigger cube sump 10 to 15 gallons . MAG at 1400 red sea test/ CA at 450 give or take.

Do you got your mag in check now?

derek yoonie · Jan 28, 2018

well honestly what is the idea mag for reef tanks ? 1400 okay? if soyes i got it in check lol

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 28, 2018

1400 pm magnesium is fine.

John3 · Jan 28, 2018

I’ve read mag should be around 3.25 times your calcium. I’m running reef crystals and my calcium is 420 and mag is 1380 after my water change today. I was supplementing ca/mag between changes but found I really didn’t need to. I’m mainly just supplementing alk between weekly changes now.

madweazl · Jan 28, 2018

Usually mixes up around 1375 for me at 35ppt.

chewy tabacca · Jan 28, 2018

1400 in my opinion is perfect, I run a mixed reef with fish

derek yoonie · Jan 28, 2018

sounds great guys thanks a bunch just hung my ati fixture after hitting 8 times into a beam or a pipe LOL

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 29, 2018

John3 said:
I’ve read mag should be around 3.25 times your calcium.

IMO, such ratios are not an appropriate way to target reef chemistry values. Just because calcium is excessively low or high is no reason for magnesium to be excessively low or high.

Both should be independently targeted to optimal levels, regardless of the value of the other.

chewy tabacca · Feb 9, 2018

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
IMO, such ratios are not an appropriate way to target reef chemistry values. Just because calcium is excessively low or high is no reason for magnesium to be excessively low or high.

Both should be independently targeted to optimal levels, regardless of the value of the other.

I completely agree with this, I feel that you shouldn't take to many people advise as they may have success with one way of keeping things and you may have another. I target 1400 Mag, 410 calcium and 8 DKH to grow my sps. But that has been working for me. Stability is key. I don't even test my PH and that just works for me. If you have T5's your water parameters will be different then someone with led's. What you run in your sump will differ from what other people run which can have different parameters. As long as you are in the ballpark of most parameters you are good. Listen to your corals and fish. If you are in tune with your tank they will tell you everything. Whenever I do a water change my Duncan's will ask me what the heck I just did. They close for a hour and we open when it stabilizes. Fish will swim at the top of the water if there isn't enough oxygen. Definitely do not chase other peoples advice, unless you are having tank troubles.

madweazl · Feb 10, 2018

chewy tabacca said:
I completely agree with this, I feel that you shouldn't take to many people advise as they may have success with one way of keeping things and you may have another. I target 1400 Mag, 410 calcium and 8 DKH to grow my sps. But that has been working for me. Stability is key. I don't even test my PH and that just works for me. If you have T5's your water parameters will be different then someone with led's. What you run in your sump will differ from what other people run which can have different parameters. As long as you are in the ballpark of most parameters you are good. Listen to your corals and fish. If you are in tune with your tank they will tell you everything. Whenever I do a water change my Duncan's will ask me what the heck I just did. They close for a hour and we open when it stabilizes. Fish will swim at the top of the water if there isn't enough oxygen. Definitely do not chase other peoples advice, unless you are having tank troubles.

Why is that?