Is this ok for Mag mix?

[MichaelClark55]

Your receipe calls for 7 1/4 c Mag Flakes and 3/4 c Epson Salts. NO mag flakes available in FL. Can I use this?

Also to bring my mag up to 1800 this morning from the 1320 the dosage calls for 65mls per day. Doing it in my sleep at 5 AM I dumped in 2 doses. Should I freak or will the corals be ok? It was the last of my Red Sea Foundation.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

First things first, let's get the source material questions out of the way. I personally wouldn't use such a supplement in a reef tank. This stuff is not designed for human consumption (see the warnings on the back of the bottle: external use only). I also don't like that this stuff is not refined. The product description states that this stuff is basically dried seawater and contains other trace elements. Probably fine to put your feet into it, but if it's not even safe for humans to consume, I'd be concerned about putting it in my reef tank.

Also worth pointing out, the manufacturers of Mag Flakes explicitly recommends against using Mag Flakes in reef aquaria.

Personally, I would just get a bag of magnesium chloride from Bulk Reef Supply. The supplement you have costs over $18 on Amazon for 2.75 lbs. The magnesium chloride from BRS costs $23 for 7 lbs. The BRS stuff is only $3.28/lb, while the Life Flo stuff is $6.79/lb.

Now, second question.. why do you want to raise your magnesium to 1,800 ppm?

 

[MichaelClark55]

yeah I guess you have good point about the BRS product. 1800 to help with a bit of turf algae.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

yeah I guess you have good point about the BRS product. 1800 to help with a bit of turf algae.

Is the goal of the magnesium to kill the turf algae or help it grow? Either way, magnesium alone will probably not do either of those things.

 

[Gregg @ ADP]

A number of animals will eat turf algae. Use them.

 

[MichaelClark55]

Is the goal of the magnesium to kill the turf algae or help it grow? Either way, magnesium alone will probably not do either of those things.

I have found if I keep it a bit on the high side it helps keep the turf algae under control. It's not my objective to control algae with only the high mag. I try and keep the algae under control without using algaecides such as vibrant and flucon. I have a big time CUC. I had a Sea Hare as the Captain of the crew. After I sent him back to LFS it has became noticeable that he is gone. I have about 7 emeralds right now, they are about the only thing that actually eat the turf algae. I'm going to get even more soon. The only negative thing to them is they freak out the corals when they clean around them. Zoas and Duncans expecially. I also have tuxedos urchins although I don't think they help with the turf. I've heard some snails will but I seriously doubt that one.

I keep nutrients down in the low range with a 20 gallon refugium full of macro algae. I actually fertilize N03 & 4. As far as fish I keep a lawnmower blenny fat on algae. The only other fish I have are 2 green chromis and 2 adult blue devils and I only feed them once a day with a small amount of pellet mysis. I literally drop more in after I have witnessed the previous pellets eaten. I'm more into the corals than fish.

I don't mind having some algae as I think it is part of the reef system. Balance and stabilty is what I try to achieve. The higher mag I let drop a bit in last couple weeks just to let it go back to a normal 1400ish. Also the euphillias seem to thrive more with the higher mag I have noticed. I hope I didn't hurt anything this morning at 5 am when I double dosed the Red Sea Foundation! Anyway thanks for your input and feel free if you can think of anything else I can be doing to help keep the hell on earth turf algae under control. I am considering spot treating some of it with peroxide but I have never done that and not very comfortable going down that road yet.

 

[MichaelClark55]

A number of animals will eat turf algae. Use them.

I have urchins, emerald and hermit crabs as well as a lawn mower blenny. I would love to have a yellow tang also but I have to get 2 blue damsels out first. They are very large and in charge. I've several times tried to trap them and even used a line and hook to no avail. I'm tempted to throw a lion fish in there but that's really drastic. I'm not that desperate yet. Lots of LR and corals so chasing them is troublesome.

 

[Potatohead]

What kind of urchins? I have a couple tuxedos that eat turf algae like crazy.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

There's nothing inherent in magnesium that I'm aware of that discourages algae growth. Not at levels that are safe for reefs anyway. People used to attempt to treat bryopsis with Kent Tech-M magnesium, but it was never confirmed why this worked. For some users, it didn't work, and the effect was not seen when using any other additive aside from Kent. It's theorized that any algicidal effects were likely due to an impurity in the product rather than the magnesium itself.

If your system is prone to growing algae, have you considered using a macroalgae refugium or a turf scrubber? These two methods are much more natural than attempting to discourage algae growth with magnesium, plus you would no longer need to use the chemical additives to discourage algae growth.

 

[MichaelClark55]

What kind of urchins? I have a couple tuxedos that eat turf algae like crazy.

yup they do some thats what I have they are large and fun to watch

 

[wesman42]

Raising mag plays a role in limiting the growth of certain types of algae. Just not sure it plays that same role in hair algae. Google scholar the topic and you can find several decent studies relating to this.

 

[MichaelClark55]

There's nothing inherent in magnesium that I'm aware of that discourages algae growth. Not at levels that are safe for reefs anyway. People used to attempt to treat bryopsis with Kent Tech-M magnesium, but it was never confirmed why this worked. For some users, it didn't work, and the effect was not seen when using any other additive aside from Kent. It's theorized that any algicidal effects were likely due to an impurity in the product rather than the magnesium itself.

If your system is prone to growing algae, have you considered using a macroalgae refugium or a turf scrubber? These two methods are much more natural than attempting to discourage algae growth with magnesium, plus you would no longer need to use the chemical additives to discourage algae growth.

I've had a small refugium in my sump that was doing well growing cheto but I felt it was not big enough. I just started up a 20 gallon display refug plumbed into the sump. It sits next to the display. I have over 10 species of macro in it as well as a large growth of cheto that I took out of the small refuge and a large LR. Hopefully this will calm it down a bit just going to have to give it time.

I understand what you are saying about the mag relationship with algae but all I can tell you is that it has worked in my tank and the euphillias like it. I've never had it any higher than 1560. I keep a log of all my testing. After your comments I don't think I will go over that number. That seemes to be a sweet spot for me.

 

[MichaelClark55]

Raising mag plays a role in limiting the growth of certain types of algae. Just not sure it plays that same role in hair algae. Google scholar the topic and you can find several decent studies relating to this.

I don't have GHA. Yeah I hear ya, I study this to death, trust me.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

I've had a small refugium in my sump that was doing well growing cheto but I felt it was not big enough. I just started up a 20 gallon display refug plumbed into the sump. It sits next to the display. I have over 10 species of macro in it as well as a large growth of cheto that I took out of the small refuge and a large LR. Hopefully this will calm it down a bit just going to have to give it time.

I understand what you are saying about the mag relationship with algae but all I can tell you is that it has worked in my tank and the euphillias like it. I've never had it any higher than 1560. I keep a log of all my testing. After your comments I don't think I will go over that number. That seemes to be a sweet spot for me.

Understood. While magnesium generally hasn't been known to cause what you're describing, each tank is different. I can't say for sure that the magnesium wasn't causing the benefits that you saw.

If you ever get bored and want to try a new gadget, I would try a turf scrubber. I had trouble growing chaeto despite having a bunch of hair algae in my tank. My turf scrubber, on the other hand, has had no trouble growing algae.

 

[MichaelClark55]

Understood. While magnesium generally hasn't been known to cause what you're describing, each tank is different. I can't say for sure that the magnesium wasn't causing the benefits that you saw.

If you ever get bored and want to try a new gadget, I would try a turf scrubber. I had trouble growing chaeto despite having a bunch of hair algae in my tank. My turf scrubber, on the other hand, has had no trouble growing algae.

I have given that some thought and still may end up adding it now that I have freed up some space in the sump by shutting down the small refugium. Did you DIY or buy a pre-made model like Santa Cruz?

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

I have given that some thought and still may end up adding it now that I have freed up some space in the sump by shutting down the small refugium. Did you DIY or buy a pre-made model like Santa Cruz?

I used a commercial model from ClearWater. The model I got is not the best because the primary drain is way too small (CW-50), but the other models don't appear to have this problem. Turbo's Aquatics, a site sponsor, makes good scrubbers too, although he usually has a wait list since his are so popular.

Santa Monica (I think that's who you meant) makes good scrubbers too. I just prefer something that's more like a filter and can be plumbed in, like Turbo's scrubbers or Clearwater.

DIY ones work fine. I just didn't feel like tinkering and just wanted something out of the box that works.