Raising Magnesium

[NicksMixedReef]

Had a mishap and need to raise my magnesium back up to 1400 from 1170.

I currently use ESV salt mix and there is a bag of magnesium sulfate heptahydrate. Can that be used dissolved in tank water to bring it up?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It can, and you may never notice any problem if you do, but it will result in elevating sulfate. A better way is using a mixture of 10 parts of magnesium chloride to 1 part of magnesium sulfate.

This has more:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-07/rhf/index.php

 

[NicksMixedReef]

I went out and just bought the magnesium supplement from ESV instead, better to be safe than sorry.

My magnesium is at 1230 right now in a 65 gallon tank, how much can I safely dose to bring my levels back up?

 

[reefbeard]

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

 

[NicksMixedReef]

Hmmmm that calculator says it's safe to do 510 ml of magnesium a day... That's 3/4 of the bottle. Is that right dr?

 

[NicksMixedReef]

Excuse me I read the ml wrong on the bottle, it's basically half the bottle

 

[reefbeard]

What is the actual water volume of your tank + sump minus water displacement of sand and rock? http://reef.diesyst.com/volcalc/volcalc.html

 

[NicksMixedReef]

60 gallons

 

[reefbeard]

I would also divide the required dosage over a 7 day period. Example: If it takes 1000 ml to get your tank to 1400 ppm, I would dose about 140 ml/day. Test daily until you reach your target.

 

[reefbeard]

Some more info on Mag by Randy. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-07/rhf/index.php

 

[NicksMixedReef]

Okay I'll dose 4.4 ounces a day until I get where I want.