Calcium Magnesium question

[76Frags]

Is it safe to assume that if my Calcium stays consitantly at 460-480ppm with a 2 part additive that my Magnesium levels are good without dosing Magnesium? Is there enough contained in IO salt to suppliment with regular water changes?

I don't notice major drops in my ppm of Calcium when I stop dosing with 2 part, so it makes me believe that my Magnesium is fine. (I'm sure I'm totally wrong though) - and no I don't have a magnesium test kit at the moment

I've never dosed magnesium on any system I've had in 14 years, nor have I tested for it. I'm seeing a lot lately focusing on the topic - so now I'm curious!

 

[Xtremedave67]

jumping on this one for FMI

 

[lvsuckerfish]

nope it is not safe to say that as mag depending on live stock will can use more Mg then ca..... take chalice's for example they are Mg lovers reason my tank dropped so far in Mg and bringing it back up slowly.

but with regular water changes it should be ok to keep in the general area 1300 is a target for most systems but regular meaning ever week or ever 3 months lol. every week you should be good.

 

[NC2WA]

no it is not safe to assume....I normally test once a week for Ca and Mg, but definitely test after a WC..I use Elos test kit for Ca and Mg..

as lvsuckerfish stated, Mg level should be around 1300-1350 level and Ca around 450-480...if I had to make an educated guess, most people Mg level is around 1000-1100 as they prolly dont dose for Mg.

 

[grassi]

I test once a week too with Elos. After a few weeks of dosing I'm now able to keep it in the 1300 range with little adjustments, probably once a month or so

 

[76Frags]

what corals other than chalices consume high amounts of Mg?

 

[NC2WA]

this thread might help you:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1179702

 

[76Frags]

Thats a great thread! very informative. I'm saving that one for sure! Thank you

 

[Boomer]

Coralline algae will also take out ample Mg++. If you do 30 % monthly water there should be no issue with IO.

 

[vimal]

whats the best best alkalinity lvl,mag and cal??

 

[Aquanaut]

If you have a calc reactor you'll want brightwell mag

My heavy sps stock struggled w/ 950-1100mag untill using a 50% dose to bump it up in the reactor. I use IO and find it lacking unless the sal.ppt was +1.026. Current stable reads are: 11dkh, 420ca, 1450mg, 8.3ph, 1.027ppt sal.

Mag is important for proper coral formation. There was a time when the tissue grew faster than the coral support and distorted the growth with a sagging tissue effect on monti cap., hydnopora, stylopora and digitata. And the coraline wouldn't color-up. The monti cap & coraline is kind of my canary on the mag. Deep color is good, blanch is bad balance.

whats the best best alkalinity lvl,mag and cal??

 

[mike_dani]

My heavy sps stock struggled w/ 950-1100mag untill using a 50% dose to bump it up in the reactor. I use IO and find it lacking unless the sal.ppt was +1.026. Current stable reads are: 11dkh, 420ca, 1450mg, 8.3ph, 1.027ppt sal.

Mag is important for proper coral formation. There was a time when the tissue grew faster than the coral support and distorted the growth with a sagging tissue effect on monti cap., hydnopora, stylopora and digitata. And the coraline wouldn't color-up. The monti cap & coraline is kind of my canary on the mag. Deep color is good, blanch is bad balance.

+1 on the above post...

I dose three part at a 1 to 1 ratio meaning in my system I dose daily 9oz of ALK, CAL and MAG. I also do weekly 10% water changes on Saturdays and on Sunday I verify all levels in the system and hand dose to keep things stable.

My dose pump doses over the course of a 12 hr. period at night when the PH lowers, I do this to try to keep it consistent over night. My system is 320 Gallons or so and is packed full of SPS and very little LPS and softies if that helps.....

 

[Boomer]

Mag is important for proper coral formation.

Yes, kinda. Your issue was not due to low Mg++/say, as hard corals have very little Mg++, on the order of 0.5 % on avg and many much less that that int eh hard skeleton. Some, such as Porites can be as high a 1 % Mg++. Hard Corals have more Sr++ than Mg++. They are made of Aragonite and Mg++ does not fit well at all into the Aragonite crystal lattice, where as Sr++ does. Meaning, Mg++ is only a inclusion, as an impurity, within the crystal lattice. However, Corals have a strong biological control over the magnesium composition of the skeleton. Magnesium may be used by the corals to control, actively, the growth rate of various parts of the skeletal. Your issue was the coral was not precip'ing enough Aragonite. The amount of Mg++ in reef tank water is more than enough to support any kind of coral growth. If for the sake of argument, it was low Mg++, it was not due to a lack of Mg++ for coral skeleton growth but due to a lack of Mg++ biological control of skeletal growth. As far as color goes various ions can change that. Corallines are a different issue, as they use ample mounts Mg++ and incorporate it into their crystal lattice. With all this said I do not think it was due to low Mg++900 - 1100. When Mg++ gets this low it takes away CO3- and HCO3- need to make Aragonite. Now, maybe a ample amount of the Alk is going to abiotic precip of calcite. Thus, the coral is deprived of Alk for growth.



vimal

whats the best best alkalinity lvl,mag and cal??

Akl = 2.5 - 3.5 Meq/ l

Calcium = 410 - 450 ppm

Magnesium = 1300 -1350 ppm

 

[vimal]

thanks boomer,my calsium is currently is 520 and mag is 1040..what should i do now..?

 

[Boomer]

Who's kit did you use and how did the Calcium get that high ? See if you can get somebody else to test that Calcium with another kit. What is your pH and Alk ? What is in this tank ?

 

[vimal]

is kh and alkanity the same??well i will update you the brand of my test kit.my ph is 8.2 and currently in the only got live rock,snail,shirmp and fish.its a 30 gallon tank..i got no idea how the calcium raised so high..maybe i dose alot of calcium.

 

[Boomer]

Yes, they are the same. You need a Calcium and Alk test kit.

 

[vimal]

ok,my alk is currently at 8.so how should i reduce the calsium??

 

[NC2WA]

AFAIK, water changes is the only way to reduce calcium (and then don't dose).

 

[returnofsid]

Vimal, stop dosing. Don't dose anything that you don't test for. Also, don't dose anything that you aren't sure that your tank needs. Allow your calcium to drop, naturally, and through regular water changes. Once it's within an acceptable range, you can start dosing, AS NEEDED. In the meantime, learn about Alkalinity, Calcium and Magnesium, their relationship to one another and how they each effect your tank inhabitants and why they're needed. It's important to keep them balanced, with one another, and within acceptable ranges.

There's lots of great reading, on this forum, to help you learn all of these things.