Magnesium problem

[Andrew Zimmerman]

Hello everyone. I have a magnesium problem. My magnesium is constantly above 1500. Tested with Redsea, Trident, and triton ICP; all test read above 1500 at all times. This tank is just over a year old. I had a magnet that I found rusty in the sump so I currently have high levels of metals in the tank that I am dealing with.

My setup is
Reefer 525xl
Calcium reactor with Arm media
I do a 2 gal a day auto water change with HW reefer salt.
I dos tropic Marin trace elements. (I am under the impression that there is no magnesium in this product)
In addition to the calcium reactor I dos 2 part with the Trident controlled dosing. About 20ml a day.

I have never dosed magnesium to this tank and I have a healthy uptake of calcium and alkalinity. Any time I get my magnesium to drop a little it climbs right back up. My snails are constantly frozen in place. And I'm at a loss to what is going on. Thanks for the help.

 

[The Aquatic Arsenal]

It is mostly likely the salt you are using. What salt are you using?

 

[Andrew Zimmerman]

It is mostly likely the salt you are using. What salt are you using?

HW reefer

 

[The Aquatic Arsenal]

Alright, so according to BRS you should be seeing around 1380 ppm Magnesium. This may not make a difference, but when you make salt are you mixing it thoroughly before using it? Also, can you share your ICP test results with us?

 

[Andrew Zimmerman]

Alright, so according to BRS you should be seeing around 1380 ppm Magnesium. This may not make a difference, but when you make salt are you mixing it thoroughly before using it? Also, can you share your ICP test results with us?

I mix new salt for 2 days. I then have it on a timer to mix it for 15 min every two hours.

 

[The Aquatic Arsenal]

Are you dosing K+ elements. That does contain manganese.

 

[Andrew Zimmerman]

Are you dosing K+ elements. That does contain manganese.

manganese and magnesium are different elements

 

[The Aquatic Arsenal]

manganese and magnesium are different elements

I guess I am more tired than I thought lol.

#reefsqaud, can you all help with this issue?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

HW reefer

Salinity? How are you measuring it?

What are the actual values? 1500 ppm is not that high.

 

[Andrew Zimmerman]

Salinity? How are you measuring it?

What are the actual values? 1500 ppm is not that high.

35 ppt with calibrated refractomiter.
1500 mg is the lowest it goes.
I'm just trying to understand how it keeps rising if I have never added it. My initial thought was the Arm calcium reactor media but I didn't see anything that stated it contained magnesium.

 

[Acid King]

Well the ferrite magnet you found most likely didn’t contain any magnesium. Have you tested your salt mix before it gets added to the tank? From what I read 1500 isn’t bad. I know that very high magnesium will affect coral growth by bonding to the carbonate (CO3) in the water column which keeps the skeletal growth of coral down or to slow because the calcium won’t have any available carbon to form crystals.

From past users having the same issues even 20% water changes were still only affecting the Magnesium by about 40-50ppm

 

[Uncle99]

Your tank is absolutely beautiful!
Stability is everything rather than the level and 1500 is not out of the ballpark.
I would just enjoy your tank.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

35 ppt with calibrated refractomiter.
1500 mg is the lowest it goes.
I'm just trying to understand how it keeps rising if I have never added it. My initial thought was the Arm calcium reactor media but I didn't see anything that stated it contained magnesium.

Reactor media will contain magnesium, but it is not giving big boosts to magnesium without alk getting too high very fast.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Well the ferrite magnet you found most likely didn’t contain any magnesium. Have you tested your salt mix before it gets added to the tank? From what I read 1500 isn’t bad. I know that very high magnesium will affect coral growth by bonding to the carbonate (CO3) in the water column which keeps the skeletal growth of coral down or to slow because the calcium won’t have any available carbon to form crystals.

From past users having the same issues even 20% water changes were still only affecting the Magnesium by about 40-50ppm

I don’t know that I agree with the comment that elevated magnesium inhibits calcification, and especially not by that hypothesized mechanism which I can’t see happening at any level reefers encounter.