Magnesium Consumption

[Kaljaxias]

So I started manually dosing my tank and am new at it. I’m using RS Foundation products and testing with RS Pro kit. I’m averaging about a 100-200 ppm consumption daily, does this sound right? I have a hard time believing that I need to dose my tank that much daily. Please tell me if I’m all screwed up. I have about 30 corals in a 91 gallon/75 Gal display with 70 lbs of rock. Most corals are new frags, I would say my largest are medium size LPS/SPS. The ensemble is mixed reef. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Doctorgori]

I’m just following, but I don’t recall dosing that much but I’ll wait for more replies

 

[Kaljaxias]

I agree, there is no way consumption is that much. I’m pretty sure is my testing technique. I need to be consistent when I chart my color change. You can have a 5 drop transition of color which will change your results drastically if your just throwing darts at the color swing. I will try to stop the test right at color change and see how that goes over a week. I’d rather be 20 ppm low and consistent than have a 100 ppm swing every day lol. Thanks for the input Doc G.

 

[nereefpat]

I’m averaging about a 100-200 ppm consumption daily, does this sound right?

No chance.

How many days in a row have you seen that change?

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

What nereefpat said. There's no way your tank is using 100 - 200 ppm Mg daily.

For what it's worth, the Red Sea Mg test kit has been known to have accuracy errors. Try confirming your results with a Salifert or other kit.

 

[SPR1968]

I would throw the test kit away because its notoriously inaccurate, mine went in the bin ages ago following similar ‘wild’ readings

I can recommend the NYOS which is very simple to use and accurate to about 5 against a triton test

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Real magnesium consumption is about 1/10th of the calcium consumption or less. 2 ppm per day magnesium consumption is a lot.

 

[Kaljaxias]

So I started manually dosing my tank and am new at it. I’m using RS Foundation products and testing with RS Pro kit. I’m averaging about a 100-200 ppm consumption daily, does this sound right? I have a hard time believing that I need to dose my tank that much daily. Please tell me if I’m all screwed up. I have about 30 corals in a 91 gallon/75 Gal display with 70 lbs of rock. Most corals are new frags, I would say my largest are medium size LPS/SPS. The ensemble is mixed reef. Thanks in advance for any help.

Real magnesium consumption is about 1/10th of the calcium consumption or less. 2 ppm per day magnesium consumption is a lot.

So real culprit is me and my testing skills. What I’ve done is ran tests going slow, observing and stopping at the first color change. Was able to run 3 consecutive identical numbers. I’m new and learning, thanks for the information on the Mg consumption. I’m having a blast and corals are thriving with amazing color! Hopefully I can take that kick and turn it into skill. Thanks again.