kalkwasser and magnesium together

[GSnake]

is it possible to mix in magnesium into my kalkwasser bucke (32g brute)t for a more complete solution? my mag is falling behind. my kalk is used as ATO/ evap replacement

im also dosing the High PH DIY recipe, which i could alter for more mag too.

how much mag, and which type of mag can i put in the kalk for a balanced solution?

 

[Saltyreef]

Magnesium is consumed at a much lower rate than alkalinity and calcium.

It would serve you better just to dose it by hand once per week.

Get some esv Bionic mag or BRS mag.

Use a reef calculator.

 

[Dennis Cartier]

No, the high pH will precipitate the magnesium. So it will not work chemically.

 

[Miami Reef]

Correct, adding magnesium to kalkwasser will precipitate magnesium hydroxide. It will be very messy (like mud) and difficult to dose correctly.

Magnesium doesn’t require daily additions. Only dose as needed.

 

[Garf]

This happens;

 

[Troylee]

So how does brightwell kalk+2 work? It’s exactly this lol.. I used it back in the day and was thinking about going back to it since my mag is always running lower than I want.i top off with straight kalk currently.

 

[Doctorgori]

So how does brightwell kalk+2 work? It’s exactly this lol.. I used it back in the day and was thinking about going back to it since my mag is always running lower than I want.i top off with straight kalk currently.

Exactly what I was going to post…. I’ll just crawl back now

 

[Troylee]

@Randy Holmes-Farley

 

[WestMI-Reefer]

So how does brightwell kalk+2 work? It’s exactly this lol.. I used it back in the day and was thinking about going back to it since my mag is always running lower than I want.i top off with straight kalk currently.

I used the kalk+2 and posted about it here before. It’s just kalk, I noticed zero effect on mag.

 

[Troylee]

I used the kalk+2 and posted about it here before. It’s just kalk, I noticed zero effect on mag.

Interesting… I never tested religiously back then… now I have a trident so it’s testing 4 times a day and I pay more attention.. I’m really curious now..

 

[WestMI-Reefer]

Interesting… I never tested religiously back then… now I have a trident so it’s testing 4 times a day and I pay more attention.. I’m really curious now..

“Kalk+2 is a ridiculous product. It actually has less magnesium than food grade calcium hydroxide (both by Brightwell's own claims and confirmed by BRS testing), and what little is in it is useless since it cannot dissolve into the high pH of limewater” @Randy Holmes-Farley

 

[KStatefan]

So how does brightwell kalk+2 work? It’s exactly this lol.. I used it back in the day and was thinking about going back to it since my mag is always running lower than I want.i top off with straight kalk currently.

Marketing only.

 

[TheSheff]

So how does brightwell kalk+2 work? It’s exactly this lol.. I used it back in the day and was thinking about going back to it since my mag is always running lower than I want.i top off with straight kalk currently.

As far as im aware, the magnesium just ends up precipitating out into the bottom of the container. It's so simple to dose magnesium though just do it by hand. I dose about 100 mL once per month.

 

[Dennis Cartier]

As far as im aware, the magnesium just ends up precipitating out into the bottom of the container. It's so simple to dose magnesium though just do it by hand. I dose about 100 mL once per month.

Let's hope the Strontium ends up there, in the bottom of the container as well. If you look at the companies own analysis of the product, the ratio of Ca, Sr, Mg, when dosing to 420 Ca, would add 7.74 ppm Sr, along with 1.16 ppm Mg. The ratio of Sr is crazy high for an element that depletes slowly.

 

[Troylee]

As far as im aware, the magnesium just ends up precipitating out into the bottom of the container. It's so simple to dose magnesium though just do it by hand. I dose about 100 mL once per month.

It is easy to dose but I dose all sorts of zeo stuff by hand and if it’s one less thing I gotta dose daily then I’m all for it lol.. I tend to forget mag since it’s not a huge priority.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

So how does brightwell kalk+2 work? It’s exactly this lol.. I used it back in the day and was thinking about going back to it since my mag is always running lower than I want.i top off with straight kalk currently.

lol

It doesn't. Seriously, one of the most bogus product claims in the hobby.

It actually has less magnesium than food grade calcium hydroxide (both by Brightwell's own claims and confirmed by BRS testing), and what little is in it is useless since it cannot dissolve into the high pH of limewater as folks have noted..

 

[Troylee]

lol

It doesn't. Seriously, one of the most bogus product claims in the hobby.

It actually has less magnesium than food grade calcium hydroxide (both by Brightwell's own claims and confirmed by BRS testing), and what little is in it is useless since it cannot dissolve into the high pH of limewater as folks have noted..

Good to know lol! I use brightwell mag the big jug and I’m pouring in tons to get a slight raise lol.. I need to find an alternative.

 

[Miami Reef]

lol

It doesn't. Seriously, one of the most bogus product claims in the hobby.

It actually has less magnesium than food grade calcium hydroxide (both by Brightwell's own claims and confirmed by BRS testing), and what little is in it is useless since it cannot dissolve into the high pH of limewater as folks have noted..

I was in another group, and I mentioned how kalkwasser has the same proportions of calcium and alkalinity in the uptake of calcifying organisms. I said that using kalkwasser over a long period of time will have calcium creep up because some magnesium will get in place of calcium during calcification.

Someone responded by saying this: ”
Might or could. Depends on the types of calcifying organisms present. Not all calcification at the same ratio.”

Is that true, do different organisms have different calcification rates? Does that mean kalkwasser won’t always have a slight creep of calcium? I was under the impression that calcification/precipitation of calcium carbonate always uses the same ratio.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I was in another group, and I mentioned how kalkwasser has the same proportions of calcium and alkalinity in the uptake of calcifying organisms. I said that using kalkwasser over a long period of time will have calcium creep up because some magnesium will get in place of calcium during calcification.

Someone responded by saying this: ”
Might or could. Depends on the types of calcifying organisms present. Not all calcification at the same ratio.”

Is that true, do different organisms have different calcification rates? Does that mean kalkwasser won’t always have a slight creep of calcium? I was under the impression that calcification/precipitation of calcium carbonate always uses the same ratio.

Your statement is entirely accurate, and it's only the degree of effect that varies. It will always show a creep unless one has only those few corals that incorporate little magnesium, and hence you might not readily detect the creep (fyi, strontium causes the creep too).

See my table 1 in this article. No coral takes up no magnesium, but some certainly do take up more than others:

Aquarium Chemistry: Magnesium In Reef Aquaria

This article details the nature of magnesium in seawater, how it is added, measured, and removed from marine aquaria, and how it impacts the maintenance of calcium and alkalinity.

reefs.com

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

FWIW, this paper also shows that simple abiotic preciptiation of aragonite incorporates magneisum, and that when organics are around the values rise (see,f or example, Figure 9)

Frontiers | The incorporation of Mg2+ ions into aragonite during biomineralization: Implications for the dolomitization of aragonite

In our laboratory experiments, the content of Mg2+ ions in biotic aragonite is higher than that in inorganically-precipitated aragonite and we hypothesize th...

www.frontiersin.org

Conclusion​

Our experiments show the Mg2+ contents in biotic/organically-precipitated aragonite is much higher than those in inorganically-precipitated aragonite. The bacteria B. licheniformis Y1 create alkaline conditions leading to the precipitation of aragonite. The EPS, cell wall and periplasmic space provide templates for the nucleation and growth of biotic minerals. An important role of biomolecules for the incorporation of Mg2+ into biotic aragonite is demonstrated. Acidic biomolecules (like HA) produced by bacteria during the biomineralization process can significantly reduce the energy for the incorporation of Mg2+ into aragonite. Our experiments also suggest that in a bacterial system with Mg2+, dolomite is able to grow on the biotic aragonite surface with the increase in culture time. These results may provide some insights towards a better understanding of the dolomitization of aragonite.