Low Magnesium

[d2mini]

I tested my mag last night and it was 1000. :shock:
I dosed the maximum amount and this morning it still tested at 1000.
I know, could be bad test kit, but what else would cause low mag? Should the high dose have made a change that quickly or it it normal to not see a change yet?
Currently my alk is around 7.5 and calcium around 400. I'm surprised i have halfway decent alk and cal with mag that low.
I hate buying new test kits. :grumble:

 

[Piratefish]

What do you call a high dose. Did you use the reef calculator? And what type of Mag did you raise it with.

What is your Ph at?

 

[d2mini]

I dosed the max amount on the bottle's directions.
Ph is around 8.0 and climbs a little during the day.

 

[fastrd400]

What Mag additive are you using Dennis? And which test kit?

 

[Hiker4twenty]

+1 To all so far. Could be a bad test kit. You can dose quite a bit of Mag at one time to get it to raise. I find that Sailfert is a pretty good kit for Mag. Also, stable mag will help to keep your alk and calc more stable.

I use BIonic alk, calc and mag to dose my tank. I only need to dose mag 1x per month. I do about a 1/3 of a cup and my mag holds strong at 1300-1350.

 

[sen5241b]

Get an LFS test.

 

[Piratefish]

If you are using the Binoic Mag there is a maintance dose and a dose for raising the Mag. In my 55 it took 320ml to raise it from 1280 to 1350.

 

[d2mini]

Ya, i'm realizing now that it takes a ton to raise it. It's the AquaVitro Ions.

 

[fastrd400]

I had that same problem a while back with mine Dennis. I was told by ccCapt that the store bought supplements are just that, and really not made to raise the content much, more just to stabalize it. At that time I was using Brightwells Mag, I ended up switching over to the BRS stuff which managed to bring it up and keep it up after about a week of dosing.

 

[Piratefish]

I had that same problem a while back with mine Dennis. I was told by ccCapt that the store bought supplements are just that, and really not made to raise the content much, more just to stabalize it. At that time I was using Brightwells Mag, I ended up switching over to the BRS stuff which managed to bring it up and keep it up after about a week of dosing.

Thats what I am using now, BRS system Its way cheaper than Bionic.

 

[Hiker4twenty]

I just bought the BRS kit so I will be switching to it in a few months. I still have about a 1/2 gallon of the Bionic kit left.

 

[tankedchemist]

the BRS stuff is basically epsom salt. Use that. it's just magnesium sulfate. you can get it anywhere-- grocery stores, pharmacy, wal mart....

 

[Brian_G]

Dennis, dont you have a constant water change system? if so the nsw you put in alone would have higher mag than that.

It has to be a bad test kit.
it would take a while of no dosing and no wc to get down to 1000

 

[Brian_G]

the BRS stuff is basically epsom salt. Use that. it's just magnesium sulfate. you can get it anywhere-- grocery stores, pharmacy, wal mart....

the only downside being the sulfer. epsom salt, its too high. thats why in randy holmes recipe he mixes it with magnesium chloride hexahydrate.
Thats what I use and it works great.

 

[d2mini]

ya, it could definitely be my test kit. But the water doesn't matter. No tank I have ever owned has been able to keep up with mag, calc and alk. The corals are sucking that stuff out so how could a couple gallons of new water per day in a 150g system keep up???

 

[Brian_G]

ya, it could definitely be my test kit. But the water doesn't matter. No tank I have ever owned has been able to keep up with mag, calc and alk. The corals are sucking that stuff out so how could a couple gallons of new water per day in a 150g system keep up???

i didnt know the rate you changed every day, I figured about 4 gal a day or so. Just a thought. you do have a bunch of nice corals though so you're prob right, a few gal a day doesnt make much difference