Question for the Chemistry Master after ICP test

[Hubtech]

Got my ICP results in and i've got a few questions.

Cal 533
Mag 1199
Alk 9.8 (red sea pro)

PH is currently a sore subject for the first 10 months of my tanks life, I've had the bragging rights of a PH that ran from 8.1-8.25 daily. . . currently its' more like 7.9-8.05. I have a big open house, no more people home than usual, I digress.

Mag is about 100ppm low . . . . I have 2,000ml of MG Plus from AF and a doser, I could dose 100ml a day over the next 11.5 days and get my MG up to 1299ish.

My question is this, my tank is doing awesome. Everything is growing. I never tested the water prior to this ICP, and i'm not sure why I'm driven to raise my mag and drop my cal ( i really do know that the cal is too high).

Just to add to the mess, i've never done a water change on this tank. And as a matter of pride i'd like to not, but i know that darn cal is too high now. someone talk some sense into me

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Watch the tank not the numbers.


http://packedhead.net/category/reefs-magazine/
Scroll down to the icp section.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-home-tank.296635/

 

[Hubtech]

I understand. Everything in the tank is happy. but.... could it be happier?

 

[Hubtech]

of the 1 year life of the tank, i have never added any mag, nor performed a water change. just FYI it made sense to me that it was low

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I understand. Everything in the tank is happy. but.... could it be happier?

And that’s why people chase numbers.

Add the mag slowly. See what happens. You can actually bump it pretty fast according to Randy F, but....

 

[Hubtech]

yeah. i figured 100ml a day would be 10ppm~ish daily which is 10x lower than the allowed 100ppm ive read about.

 

[User1]

There is a saying....if it isn't broke, don't fix it.

If you are itching to do something you can always go back through your notes to see what you have done over the course of the year and see if that warrants anything. ICP tests are nice to do every quarter if you are not doing water changes. But remember has your tank matures things will get depleted that may require something to be replaced be it by dose (additive) or water change. Time and depletion without anything being added isn't going to be successful for long. Just to try and put it into perspective.

I just sent off a ICP test (ATI) but I really only use it to compare what I test/measure. My Kenya tree and Xenia are my canary in a coal mine / early warning sign.