Magnesium daily dosing calculations?

[lofty78]

For dosing MG (BRS 2 part MG mix) Magnesium chloride/magnesium sulfate mix. I did w 4 day spread on my mag test and it went from 1350 to 1320, So that equals 3.75ppm per day. How much Mag should I be dosing per day to recover at that rate? My calcium is a bit high at 500 and my DKh is 10 and I use the 2 part Cal/Alk mix

 

[tmg1286]

Go here:

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef-calculator

 

[lofty78]

I need to know what the daily maintenance dose would be, not to bring it up.

 

[bct15]

I don't understand your math, you said 4 days and used 30 ppm but got 3.75 ppm a day. Shouldn't it be more like 7.5 ppm a day?

Anyway, magnesium usually isn't dosed on a daily level. It is pretty much impossible to know how much mL I your solution will change the concentration in your tank. You need to do a little experimentation to figure it out. Add six ounces and see what it changed then do a quick conversion.

Use the calculator to do a weekly dose, up from 1320 to 1350 and divide it by how ever many day it took to drop from 1350 to 1320... Should maintain it at 1350.

 

[lofty78]

Eh.... for some reason I was splitting the 30 ppm in half... which was done late last night... but you are right. I've got my doser set for 8ml every 1.5 hours for calcium and 10 ml every 1.5 hours for Alkalinity and they both maintain well, although, I may lower the calcium a bit to get it down a smidge. I'll try the 6 oz (177.4 ML) over the next 2 days and test it (Approx 5 ml every 1.5 hours). That seems small enough to be a safe starting point and I can edge it up from there if needed. Any other thoughts?

 

[bct15]

Magnesium can climb fast, especially if you are doing regular water changes. Even though the test is a little bit of a pain, test your mag levels every day until you get it dialed in. Make sure to test after a water change as well.

For what it's worth, I rarely have to add any mag to my tank though.

 

[lofty78]

Lately I have not been able to do very regular water changes as I have been very busy with work and family, the doser has helped fill in the gaps, especially with my growing SPS, Acro and Monti collerction, everything has been thieving and I have been adding 50 ML of Britewell magnesion weekly...I have recently ran out of the magnesion and had the full BRS kit when I started dosing alk and cal, but I wanted to use up the magnesion before I started on the 2 part BRS mag.

 

[Singlefin]

Use the brs calculator. If you need to raise it 5ppm a day. Set the calculator from 1300 to 1305 and it will tell you how much solution will raise it 5ppm. That will be your daily dose.

 

[lofty78]

Use the brs calculator. If you need to raise it 5ppm a day. Set the calculator from 1300 to 1305 and it will tell you how much solution will raise it 5ppm. That will be your daily dose.

Again, I'm looking for the maintenance dose... I will do this to get it back up to 1350, but I want to keep it stable like I do my Calcium and Alk. Stability is the key to long term success with a reef tank

 

[bct15]

Your maintenance dose is the same as your consumption. So if you want to maintain it at 1350, your usage over four days is approximately 30 ppm, so your maintenance dose is about 7.5 ppm a day (that seems like a lot to me though). So go onto the brs calculator and see what they suggest for your sized tank for 7.5 ppm and start somewhere near there.

 

[Singlefin]

Agreed. Looks like you consume 7.5ppm a day so you need to replace 7.5ppm everyday. This is to maintain whatever number you are at. You need to raise it to your ideal number and dose 7.5ppm a day. Use the brs calculator as stated before to maintain it at that level. You need to bring it up to your number (1350) first. Then add 7.5ppm a day. This looks like a lot of mag. To be adding daily. I would make sure you have good test kits that are accurate. Usually you don't need to add much mag. I add 10ppm of calcium a day to a 40b tank. My mag dose is minimal. I would test daily for a week to make sure. If your mag is off, it will be hard to keep your alk and ca. Stable

 

[Singlefin]

Use the brs calculator and set it from 1300 to 1315 for your water volume and it will give you the fluid oz. or ml needed for two days of dosing. Divide by 2 for your daily dose.

 

[incloud design]

These calculations here make me wonder how any tank survives without dosing. I never checked for Magnesium, Calcium, or Alkalinity in 7 years and had a healthy, thriving, and successful tank with 0 losses and at least 80 species of coral. Over those 7 years I bought all the devices, chemicals, substitutes, additives, and so on. The money and time I spent on all of it was fun but now sits in my shed. I believe studying nature is far more supportive of a reef than chemistry and random opinions online. Just saying!

 

[Saltyanimals]

We've all heard the saying every tank is different. I've seen really successful low maintenance tanks, but then again I would ask what the inhabitants are. SPSs are notorious for the higher care needs hence the 'tinkering' to maintain. Fill a tank full of LPS and softies and it may go on autopilot once it settles in. I had a very low maintenance softie tank for years then I started getting into SPS. It's still on a semi-low maintenance, but that only means low maintenance on my part. There's a heck of alot of technology behind the scenes that enables me to tinker less. =)

Back to Mg. There's research that shows a very low consumption and I find myself never dosing it aside from what it gets from WC.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

I dont trust any info without a build thread or proof of reef, sorry but so much regurgitating of information it make me sick! Its good everyone watches brs videos and puts the same info out over and over with no actual practice or success. Idk I didn't get anything out of this thread .....mag tests suck 2. Common Hanna get in the game!