Mag keeps spiking from B-Ionic 2part??????

[scoobysnack77]

Well to make a long story short my mag was 1700 last week and i tested my reef chrystals salt to find out it was my second bad batch of salt from them (tested at 1600).Needless to say I'm done with reef crystals! but that didn't explain the other 100+ ppm it was off by. so i switched my salt to red sea salt (not coral pro) and did two large water changes and that leveled out my mag at 1400. after a week of having my doser do its normal thing of dosing B-ionic 2part (i never dose mag because the salt always kept it where it needed to be) i tested my mag tonight and it came up 1500??? so i look on the b-ionic bottle and it says there is magnesium in the calcium formula?????? why would they do that when you can dose mag separately ? i called ESV and they said its a small amount of mag and its not whats making my mag rise. but thats impossible since my mag has ALWAYS been very high since I've used their product and i NEVER dose mag due to that fact. So I'm thinking of switching my dosing liquid to red sea's foundation A & B because their 2 part doesn't have mag in their calcium formula and that goes the same for alk and cal. they are in their respective bottles ONLY . Anyone have experience with red seas's 2 part VS b-ionic and has anyone experienced high magnesium using bionic?

 

[leocom2000]

Have you checked your test kit? Every time I had results that didn't make sense, it was because of the kit.
What are your calcium and alkalinity?
I believe ESV add magnesium to keep the calcium carbonate from precipitating.

 

[scoobysnack77]

Have you checked your test kit? Every time I had results that didn't make sense, it was because of the kit.
What are your calcium and alkalinity?
I believe ESV add magnesium to keep the calcium carbonate from precipitating.

im using a brand new red sea mag testing kit. my alk is 8.5 and my calcium is 410. they said that exact same thing about the calcium carbonate precipitating. how come red seas's 2 part doesn't do that? is that good or bad?

 

[leocom2000]

Well, magnesium is also consumed along with strontium, but much slower than calcium carbonate. Having magnesium at 1200-1500 is fine. You did the right thing switching the 2 part for now. If you don't add it, it will go down.

 

[leocom2000]

This is also a good read:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/11/chemistry

 

[duke4130]

Get a Salifert or elos test kit and make sure you are getting the correct readings

 

[Jonreefer]

I will have to look at my bottle when I get home..i dont recall seeing mag on the calcium bottle. Bunch of other things but I dont think I saw mag.

 

[scoobysnack77]

I will have to look at my bottle when I get home..i dont recall seeing mag on the calcium bottle. Bunch of other things but I dont think I saw mag.

It's there , but I think it's to keep the calcium carbonate from precipitating. I didn't switch my 2 part yet. So my mag went from 1400 to 1500 in a week without me adding any mag. It's rediculous! I guess I just have to do a big water change again when it gets too high.

 

[Jonreefer]

Yea I see it on my bottle. I may test tonight as I never dose any other mag but I use red sea coral pro. So I am expecting mag to be high 1300 low 1400

 

[scoobysnack77]

Yea I see it on my bottle. I may test tonight as I never dose any other mag but I use red sea coral pro. So I am expecting mag to be high 1300 low 1400

Yea I'd test. I use Red Sea salt . I haven't tried coral pro because I don't want to spike my alk with it after water changes. It's got a high alk content . What's your experience with it?

 

[Jonreefer]

in the one salt thread I test my parameters on fresh batch made at 35ppt
Red Sea Coral Pro salt
made with RODI water
tested with a fresh calibration of my refractometer with Sybon 35ppt fluid
PH 8.1
Calcium 460
Alk 12
Mag 1400

its pretty close to what the bucket says
claims at 35ppt its 12.2-12.7 alk, 450-470 calcium, 1380-1420 mag