Green Slimer Problem

[roblou]

My magnesium levels are on par along with my calcium at 500, hardness 10 or so and now my phosphates are almost at zero, less than .25 and now.

Hi: glad to hear your coral is recovering now. In regards to your readings, I just wanted to clarify:

1) Mg should be approx 3x the level of your Ca (i.e. if Ca is 400, then Mg should be roughly 1200)

2) 500 is a bit on the high side for Ca, but probably ok (I think seawater ranges from 380-450 for Ca).

Based on the above, I normally target ~450 for Ca, which puts my Mg target at ~1350.

IME, Mg is something that I test for about once every 2 months or so, and I will normally find that I need to add Mg supplement to bring it back in line. (Ca & Alk I dose on a daily basis).

HTH,

Rob

 

[TheNobleSavage]

So the more magnesium I add, the more the calcium will drop? I just want to make sure. If this is so, This will allow me to contol the calcium level in my tank. I just want to see how these things work.!

 

[roblou]

Hmm, not really. I don't have a full understanding of the relationship of Mg to Ca & Alk, but I do know that if Mg is too low it becomes hard to keep Ca & Alk at approriate levels (i.e. if Mg is low, Ca & Alk end up being low too).

If your reading your Mg at 500ppm, I would suggest:

1) double check your reading, either with a 2nd test kit or maybe have your LFS verify
2) dose to bring up to approx 3x your Ca.

 

[TheNobleSavage]

Ok, that seems quite logical. I can take a water sample to my local Fish Store and have them do a complete test to ensure that my test chemistry is accurate. Also it will allow me to see how they use different test kits. Ill bring in my test kits and we can compare results. I have a Red Sea Magnesium test kit and I am completely lost on how to figure out the results. I think I did get an accurate reading of around 1480 of magnesium and my calcium reading was around 500. The Calcium kit is an aquarium pharmacuticals while the Magnesium is Red Sea. Now I have a full test kit from Seachem but I found it to be in accurate on all levels, especially with my phosphates. Seachem showed my phosphates being through the roof even using a phosphate reactor. I even used water directly being drained from my reactor to check and it was still through the roof while the aquarium pharmacuticals seemed more on par. Also the Seachem kits I got were on sale since they were expired by about 5 or 6 months. That might have something to do with the false readings. I also like aquarium pharmacuticals because they are easy to use and simple to read. Less steps and ever since I got into the hobby prior to my 15 year sabbatical, Aquarium Pharmacuticals was always pretty darn accurate!!!

 

[TotalVapor]

The relationship for MG and CA is pretty simple when you think about it. The reason you want your mag 3 times the CA is so the CA is broken down correctly and evenly.

 

[TheNobleSavage]

I just tested my tank and my parimeters are around

Calcium 460-480
DKH 9-10
Magnesium is around 1400
Phosphates are at 0 to .01 ( I have 3 tests and each one gives me a different reading but the average is 0 to .01)

 

[Imjussjoshin]

Are you testing your salinity with a hydrometer or refractometer? 1.026 is already on the high and and I have found that hydrometerers tend to be .004-.006 off. So your salinity is actually higher than what it's showing. Find a friend with a refratometer and calibrate your hydrometer with it. (find the difference). I have found that acros do well at about 1.023-1.025 for me. That's 1.019 on my hydrometer. If all other perameters are what you say then maybe that will help. I dont think the light is an issue. I've had green acro youngei do well at the bottom of the tank as well as the top with 10 watts a gallon halide/pc mix. Good luck!

 

[TheNobleSavage]

I test using a refractometer that is calibrated by ro/di water. So it is pretty accurate.