Magnesium Test

[psb]

Hello Everyone,
I wanted ask for some help from someone in the Lynnwood/Meadowdale area. I ordered a Magnesium Test from BRS and I was sent a Sailert. I ordered an Elos. My problem is i think the kit is bad. I do 10 percent water changes weekly in my 100 gallon softies reef tank. So I cant imagine i use much magnesium even though i havent tested at all or dosed magnesium very much. The test read 390ppm on my tank and when I did one gallon of "fresh salterwater it read even lower. I have an elos kit on the way but it wont be here till next week. All my other parameters are in range and I cant imagine I am that far off on Magnesium. I am planning to work toward an lps and then add sps corals but I want to make sure i get the chemistry dialed in first. Could I meet someone with a sample to find out where my Mag is? I just joined and I went to the psas meeting last month so I am looking forward to meeting people and getting involved with the groups. Thanks Paul

 

[ashton]

You can always try taking the test kit and some water to a LFS if you cant find anyone. I'd offer to help but im in Redmond so im not too close to you.

 

[Red C Aquarium]

we do free testing and sell red sea mag and seachem mag testkits

ARSA

 

[jrgilles]

What salt are you using? I'd think it should be higher. If you happen to be in seattle, I am centrally located in the city (near 23rd and jackson in the central discrict) and would be happy to let you use my elos kit, which is only a few months old and seems to read correctly.

 

[TotalVapor]

It is almost like you are reading the test wrong or running a test for cal not mag. I think almost all of us have made that mistake in the past.

I agree with everyone else take it to your LFS for testing.

 

[NC2WA]

Paul,

I have a Elos Mg test kit..You are welcome to swing by my house with some tank water and I can test it for you...

BTW, 390ppm is really low...if you are not dosing Mg, I would suspect your level should be around 1000-1100, ideally it should be around 1300.

Kirk

 

[psb]

Thanks for the replies.

I will try and answer the questions and I appreciate the offers of help.

1. I come down to redmond every wednesday so I may take you up on your offer ashton.

2. I thought that LFS tested just the "basics" and wouldnt test for mag. Sometimes it is the little things we dont think about that make a difference in this hobby and that is why the experience and knowledge in this forum is so helpful. Thanks Red Sea

3. Thanks jrgilles. i probably wont make it to downtown but thanks for the offer. I am using Instant Ocean till this batch is used up and then I will try and switch to a better salt Not sure which one yet.

4. I am using the test for mag and reading for mag as my ca reading is 440ppm. I have been reading that Sailert has been have some qc issues which may or not be true. I am not sure, so I want to do a test with another kit to compare if I am super low on mag or a bad kit. Thanks for the observations Total Vapor. It made me stop and double check everything. Still low the second time. Doing it by the book.

 

[psb]

Hi NC2WA (Kirk)

I just saw your post. I would like to meet you if possible. between 6 to 8 tonight if that works or Saturday. I was thinking the same thing for the mag that since i havent really dosed and i do water change it should be around 1000 ish. Since I am going to start dosing I wanted to know where i am before i start. Since I am starting to catch the sps and lps fever. I will make sure my contact info is correct in rf.

 

[jrgilles]

I've looked at some detailed analysis on salt (ie, making tons of salt water each with a different salt brand, then doing tons of tests on it) and the instant ocean doesn't seem bad at all. If its working for you, maybe don't need to switch?

I know switching salt can add stress to your system.

 

[NWDiver]

I very respectfully disagree with you on this one Rob, The IO (not reef) that I bought when I started my system, tests well below 900Mg (Elos). It may be that I got a bad batch.
I did indeed roll the bucket before mixing and testing...
I have heard a few others complain about that salt and the Mg level.
Again, I only opened ONE bucket, by no means a significant sample
On the other hand I have an unopened bucket that I will sell cheap!

-Todd

 

[jrgilles]

I may be totally off. I was just looking at comparisons online, because I was also thinking about switching off of instant ocean. Maybe I should reconsider changing.

It seemed to be holding my Mg at around 1100 without supplement, but I have been adding Mg supplement with water changes, so that is just from my initial test before I started supplementing.

I'm going to do some chemistry tonight to see where I'm at.

What kind of salt are you using todd? Maybe I should consider switching again

 

[NWDiver]

Oh for the love of God don't listen to me
My mag had dropped to 850 before I caught on... I couldn't get Ca to come up enough.
I switched to salinity. Yes I know, it looks expensive, but I did the math per gallon at 1.026 and I don't have to supplement near as much so I'm happy.
I did learn that the number of gallons that a bucket of salt claims to make can be VERY different, many use a much lower salinity when they do the math. I don't remember what IO was, but I think is was 1.022 or something weird like that.
Boomer says that any QUALITY REEF salt should be fine to use, I believe him. I would guess that the IO reef tests better, I just didn't know the difference at the time.
If you are getting good numbers I would stick to what you are using
-Todd

 

[NC2WA]

Paul,

Just LVM on you phone. Saturday is better for me and look forward in meeting you.
Bring enough tank water for Mg and Calcium tests..I have Elos kits for both.


Thanks
Kirk

 

[freakin]

390 has to be a bad result.

 

[lvsuckerfish]

390 can't be right are you sure they sent a mg tst and not a ca test you really have a bad batch of salt if thats the case.

 

[dragoneggs]

I very respectfully disagree with you on this one Rob, The IO (not reef) that I bought when I started my system, tests well below 900Mg (Elos). It may be that I got a bad batch.
I did indeed roll the bucket before mixing and testing...
I have heard a few others complain about that salt and the Mg level.
Again, I only opened ONE bucket, by no means a significant sample
On the other hand I have an unopened bucket that I will sell cheap!

-Todd

My experience too with IO... my Mag is always low... 900s with Salifert test. Maybe I need to think about different salt mixes. The low mag seems to hold my Alk and Ca down and as such it seems to require more dosing than advertised.

 

[psb]

Ok. Thanks to everyone for there help on this one. The final result appears to be a bad or mislabeled Sailfert Mag test. I tested my mag today and it was 1300 with an elos kit with the help of nc2wa and i tested my calcium and it was fine maybe a little high. For those suggesting that I was testing for CA and not mag, while it is possible. The instructions and the bottle was for a mag test. I cant determine the regents so I am assuming a bad kit or mislabeled kit.

 

[NC2WA]

Paul,

It was nice meeting you today, glad I could help.
If you need anything else, just holler.