Mag or Gag: Do you test magnesium?

[bkhunt]

I have never tested magnesium. I do however toss a handful of ReMag in the calcium reactor when I do maintenance on it.

 

[DJF]

Nope because Randy says I dont need to I dose it according to alk uptake

 

[Tide2water]

I voted yes, because I do...sometimes... quarterly to bi-annually, just to make sure nothing odd is happening.

 

[Peter Houde]

I think I tested it once several years ago. Popular wisdom was that Mg was never a big concern because it is typically high. I change water weekly and add mystery supplements daily (previously Purple-Up/Coral-Up until the latter was discontinued, next Tropic Marin A-/K+, and I just started All-for-Reef yesterday).

 

[JHSteepat]

It’s pretty common;

https://www.bulksupplements.com/products/l-aspartic-acid-powder?variant=32133417926767&utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=United%20States%20English%20Multifeeds&utm_content=L-Aspartic%20Acid%20Powder&utm_campaign=20881193213&utm_source=g&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=&utm_term=&ad_id=685311441577&wickedsource=google&wickedid=EAIaIQobChMI-Jmpt8_yhwMVezcIBR3J2guoEAQYASABEgKTUPD_BwE&wickedid=685311441577&wcid=20881193213&wv=4&gad_source=4&gbraid=0AAAAAD46g0DQhhfuvmYeuegmeca5HNEID&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-Jmpt8_yhwMVezcIBR3J2guoEAQYASABEgKTUPD_BwE

Aspartic acid (Asp, D) is an amino acid. Is it present in amino supplements, or are you (or others) suggesting supplementing as a sole amino acid supplement?

I may have missed something. And I don’t want to hijack the Mg thread, so sorry.

 

[Defiant One]

I've just recently resumed testing for magnesium again following a bryopsis outbreak. Aiming to bump it up to ~1500, previously was in the 1300 range

Same for me for the same reason! Briopsis is my second worst nightmare in my reed tank. Can you guess the first?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Aspartic acid (Asp, D) is an amino acid. Is it present in amino supplements, or are you (or others) suggesting supplementing as a sole amino acid supplement?

I may have missed something. And I don’t want to hijack the Mg thread, so sorry.

It is typically present in amino acid supplements for reefers. I’m not really encouraging folks to dose it except purely as an experiment.

If you believe Brightwell’s claim, for example, then it must be present.

Free-Form Coral Amino Complex for maximum coloration and growth of all Corals & Their Allies​

Overview​

• Complex of free-form amino acids in the same ratios found within tissues of stony corals.

 

[Greenm4ch1ne]

I only test mag when things seem off.

 

[JHSteepat]

I test Mg about once every two weeks but my tank is only a year old and I am trying to track its stability. Salifert test seems consistent enough enough to track trends.

 

[lil sumpin]

I test Mg about once every two weeks but my tank is only a year old and I am trying to track its stability. Salifert test seems consistent enough enough to track trends.

I'm curious what folks experience is testing Salifert against other mag tests, hanna, nyos, etc

 

[Labridaedicted]

Mag is pretty important. Behind calcium and alk, probably number 3 in terms of importance to scleratinizing corals. Most tanks tend to not be deficient in it by much, but elevated levels have a number of benefits including suppressing some types of nuisance algae and it can be a factor that limits coral growth if kept low (in some instances).

That being said. I run moonshiner so I am doing pretty regular ICP tests as well as testing daily with triton (accuracy is debatable) and testing the big 3 once a week with the Hanas (alk daily).

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Mag is pretty important. Behind calcium and alk, probably number 3 in terms of importance to scleratinizing corals.

There's no doubt magnesium is important, the question (IMO) is whether kit testing is better than not testing and just dosing based on calcium consumption.

 

[reefiteasy]

Never test mag anymore. From prior testing it is used up so slowly in my tank, regular water changes replenish it sufficiently

 

[Cichlid Dad]

It took well over a year to finally get coralline algae to grow in my 24 gallon AIO cube. I never added any of the coralline additives on the market, just waited for the purple stuff on my snails to take off. I was thrilled because the consensus is that coralline is a sign of a mature, stable tank. Yay!

The CA took off, covering every rock and the back wall. However, I noticed that there was an upper limit to the coralline on the back wall. It abruptly stopped about 4 inches from the top. It is as straight as a ruler, without a single spot of CA above. I first thought maybe it was a lack of light, so I adjusted the light to make sure the top four inches were well lit. It made no difference. The CA refused to grow above this apparently arbitrary line.

Then I finally saw what was causing this strange phenomenon. When I do a water change each week, I remove 5 gallons. I realized it was like trying to Buy Ozempic Online Without Prescription—both are risky and cause unforeseen issues. The coralline apparently cannot tolerate being out of the water, even briefly (20-30 minutes).

Has anyone else noticed this in their tanks?

Yes it will die almost as soon as it dries. If you keep your lights on when out of water it happens faster.

 

[Dburr1014]

Hello

Hi, welcome to r2r!