how quick to change a specific parameter?

[rayn]

So my little 20 long I have, and it has become my QT tank for my new carpet anemone. While everything "looks" good with it I ran the gamut of tests tonight. Here is what I came up with..

Instant ocean salt mix..sal 35 ppt
Temp 75
Cal 400
Mag 1020
All 9.8 dkh
Nitrate 10
Phosphate .22 first test .08 second test with Hanna checker
PH 8.0

So the glaring one is the mag. It needs to come up. I have the BRS two part dosing system and they say I need 13.7 fl oz. How much can I add at once without throwing the tank out of whack?

 

[Aquaph8]

Add it so that your raising your levels no more than about 100ppm per day

 

[beaslbob]

To get mag up use magnesium sulfate (epson salts) and magnesium chloride per the diy two part forumla.

Some just use epson salts for a one time correction

use the calculator to figure out how much and be prepared for very suprising amounts required. like a pound or two or so.

my .02

 

[Aquaph8]

I agree with Bob but also just realized I should have been more specific. I try to keep my level changes to the following...
Mag-no more than 100ppm per day
Cal-no more than 50ppm per day
Alk- no more than 1 dkh over the corse of a day.

Hope this helps better and sorry I was so vague the first time around.

 

[rayn]

It was all good aquaph. You said the same thing BRS says, I just wonders what other do. Some raise it quickly other follow directions. I just don't want to dose to much of any one thing and have corals or anemones suffer.

 

[evolved]

Any "quick" change in a reef tank is typically a bad change. Slow and steady wins this race.

 

[rayn]

So today is the eighth, been three days of dosing mag to bring it up to respectable levels. Tested, 1030! Last test the was 1020. I have dosed 100ml everyday. So I run the gamut of tests, all check out with cal being probably to high and dkh being slightly low at 8.4.

So I test my new salt mixed water, mag at 980. I am using instant ocean, but it makes no sense to m to do water changes when every time I do it just lowers my mag levels and raises everything else.

Can I dose the new mix to bring it up? What would be a better salt to use in the future?

 

[rayn]

So I dosed last night and dosed again tonight. Let the tank run for about a hour and checked mag levels again. Tonight I am at 1420 all of a sudden, twice. How the heck did it jump that much off of two doses, or my other test were inaccurate. Though I want to say I did them all the same.