Reef chemistry question and Elevated Magnesium

[UABsleeper]

Ok guys so I have been a bit dumbfounded by my magnesium level in my sps/lps mixed reef.. a couple months ago I swapped from dosing ati essentials 3 part system to esv bionic 2 part with magnesium as needed the thing is my Mg has been running consistently high I have not needed to dose mg in over two months and still today my mg was 1500 on my Red Sea titration test.. any input as to why my mg is not dropping at all?

Tank is a Red Sea Reefer 350 ~90g
Currently tank dosing schedule on a doser
ESV part A 5ml total dose
Esv part B 5ml total dose
Acropower dosed 5ml every 24 hrs
Salt mix liveaquaria salt with a salinity of 34

Tank parameters
Dkh-8.5
Ca-450
Mg-1500
PO4-0.00

Where the arrow was pointed was last water change 10g liveaquaria salt mix @ salinity of 35

Any idea as to why my mg is high.. My current thoughts are..possibly maybe my sand and rock are leeching mg, 2 maybe acropower is high in mg.. 3 live aquaria saltmix is really high in mg.. Any input appreciated

 

[shred5]

Might be the Redsea kit. I just got new regiments and they are reading over 100 ppm more than my other kits. Mater of fact the Redsea kit ends at 80 percent used titrant and 1600 ppm and mine is over that using almost 90 percent of the titrant.

I am actually going through some issues with mag too..

I have 3 salt and 3 test kits and all are reading high especially my red sea test kit. I have tested 3 different salt brands and with 3 new kits all different brands too and all read high.. I am at a loss.
So what is it 3 bad salt or 3 bad kits?

Rarely have I test for mag because it never had a issue...

I am getting tired of throwing money at the issue..

 

[UABsleeper]

Might be the Redsea kit. I just got new regiments and they are reading over 100 ppm more than my other kits. Mater of fact the Redsea kit ends at 80 percent used regiment and 1600 ppm and mine is over that.

I am actually going through some issues with mag too..

I have 3 salt and 3 test kits and all are reading high especially my red sea test kit. I have tested 3 different salt brands and with 3 new kits all different brands too and all read high.. I am at a loss.
So what is it 3 bad salt or 3 bad kits?

Yeah not sure.. I know that it def could partly be the test kit showing it’s a little bit elevated however I’m more looking at the trend of mine and how it is not dropping the pic I showed is over a month and was not dosed just two water changes performed..

On a side note I have been using the same test kit for the last 6 months I also don’t use syringe provided by Red Sea I work in the medical field and have access to more accurate syringes.. so for the titration portion of the procedure I use a hypodermic syringe(tb syringe) which allows much more accurate drops so I’m pretty confident that testing consistency is not really the issue

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I agree it may be the kit. Red Sea magnesium kit causes lots of apparent user issues.

FWIW, you also likely will not need to dose magnesium when using B-ionic. I'm not certain how much magnesium they account for, but in my DIY, if you use it fully as directly, it is unlikely you'd need additional magnesium.

I'd assume it is fine and then ignore it for a long time.

 

[UABsleeper]

I agree it may be the kit. Red Sea magnesium kit causes lots of apparent user issues.

FWIW, you also likely will not need to dose magnesium when using B-ionic. I'm not certain how much magnesium they account for, but in my DIY, if you use it fully as directly, it is unlikely you'd need additional magnesium.

I'd assume it is fine and then ignore it for a long time.

Interesting! I was not aware that they accounted for magnesium in their formula!Thank you for the info Randy I will have to look into Getting another test also!

What test kit do you recommend for checking Mg?

Will also have to look into your dosing DIY formula when my ESV-Bionic runs out

 

[lmm1967]

I've never been able to get a reading from a Red Sea titration test kit - tried multiples. Always tests "off the chart". If I just keep adding and calculate out they always showed over 1700 (3 separates sets of reagents).
I was convinced I was doing the test wrong - spoke to the Red Sea rep, showed him what I was doing, how long waiting in between drops etc and he confirmed he saw no issue with my method.

Switched to Salifert titration test kit and now am able to generate realistic readings. Generally always between 1400 and 1500.

I have not had that issue with the Red Sea CA kit so I still use it some times - but the Hanna CA is a little bit easier so most of the time I use it now.

 

[rkpetersen]

Concur, Salifert is far and away the best hobbyist Mg test currently available. I bet your actual level is closer to a nice 1400.

 

[GlassReef]

Most who have discussed the matter, online, agree that LiveAquaria Salt is re-branded Fritz RPM. There have been a number of threads on the boards lately talking about the fact that Fritz RPM has been having some problems with very high Mag levels - 1500 to 1600. Have you tested your newly mixed salt?

 

[UABsleeper]

Most who have discussed the matter, online, agree that LiveAquaria Salt is re-branded Fritz RPM. There have been a number of threads on the boards lately talking about the fact that Fritz RPM has been having some problems with very high Mag levels - 1500 to 1600. Have you tested your newly mixed salt?

No but I ordered a salifert mg test kit and next time I mix up some water I’m going to check the parameters and see what I get.. I imagine it will be higher than stated on the container.. if that’s the case I will just end up diluting it probably to around a salinity if 33.. at least until I finish this container of salt

 

[UABsleeper]

I agree it may be the kit. Red Sea magnesium kit causes lots of apparent user issues.

FWIW, you also likely will not need to dose magnesium when using B-ionic. I'm not certain how much magnesium they account for, but in my DIY, if you use it fully as directly, it is unlikely you'd need additional magnesium.

I'd assume it is fine and then ignore it for a long time.

Checked mg with salifert and y’all were right mg was 1395 yesterday 1365 today! I’m good with that!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Sounds good.

Happy Reefing.

 

[UABsleeper]

Sounds good.

Happy Reefing.

You to! Appreciate your help!

 

[phixman]

I wouldn't worry about it too much, my magnesium is 1500 + at the moment, at least that's what salifer says, I think it may be around 1450- the high level could be explained by user error and margin or error of the test kit. I've seen people with much higher levels with no real affects. Also, magnesium takes a while to drop, my major way of dropping it, is by doing water changes since my fresh batch test around 1275.

 

[phixman]

I just read through all the comments and realized you solved the issue, lol.

 

[UABsleeper]

Sounds good.

Happy Reefing.

While I got you in my thread I have an off topic question I have a skimz cheato reactor that has recently started to be taken over by green hair algae I read somewhere where you posted about iodine def being the issue sometimes.. what test kit do you recommend for testing iodine..?
Thanks
Spencer

 

[Adele]

I just read through all the comments and realized you solved the issue, lol.

I was lurking on the thread since my Salifert is consistently reading at 1500 with no drop in over a month, so even though OP was solved, I was still interested in the issue

 

[UABsleeper]

Sounds good.

Happy Reefing.

Scratch that I just read several other threads where you no longer dose that or think it should be dosed sorry ha

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

While I got you in my thread I have an off topic question I have a skimz cheato reactor that has recently started to be taken over by green hair algae I read somewhere where you posted about iodine def being the issue sometimes.. what test kit do you recommend for testing iodine..?
Thanks
Spencer

Actually, I doubt that was me. Iron maybe, but I don't think iodine is needed. Both are easy to dose however.

i don't really have an iodine kit recommendation, except maybe Salifert which I used years ago. Don't ever bother trying to measure iron as it is usually too low to detect (and should be).