What About Mag???

[Krish]

I was just sitting there reading the article Mojo put up on the homepage about calcium reactors where they touched on alk as well and magnesium crossed my mind. In all of the years I've been reefkeeping, I never once had to dose anything to raise my mag levels. All of my tests always came back fine with mag within the my target range. Are there people out there that actualy have to dose for magnesium and if so, what do you use? On that same note, what about cases where your mag levels are too high. How do you go about lowering them? There isn't usually much talk about magnesium so I thought it might make for a good discussion.

 

[NC2WA]

oh my !!!!!

I have done my fair share of Mg dosing. I use Kent Tech M and buy in bulk, as I dose using the 1gal jugs. Currently my Mg level is 1400. Currently, I'm checking Mg and Ca levels once a week as I am trying to get both levels up. But when Mg and Ca levels are in the acceptable ranges, I normally check levels every two weeks during a WC. ( i use IO Salt where Ca levels are low).

 

[Red C Aquarium]

I love MAG!!

 

[Krish]

Haha!! I never had to dose in mag ever. Just calcium and alk. I would run through a bottle of the 2 part B-Ionic calcium a lot quicker than the alk, but mag, never needed to supplement. I've read where people raise their mag to deal with bryopsis?? Is that very effective?

 

[NC2WA]

I've read where people raise their mag to deal with bryopsis

YES it works, but IME it needs to be Kent Tech M.

 

[donrando]

yes, has to be kent tech m to deal with bryopsis, because it is magnesium sulfate, not magnesium chloride, apparently the sulfates attack the bryopsis at a molecular level and it kills off the algae, not to mention adding excessive amounts of mag helps your coralline algae take off!

 

[skinz78]

Until I set up my current tank I too never had to dose mag, now it seems like I can't ever keep it up high enough. I dose Brightwells Magnesion.

I've also had to lower mine once, it got up to 1900, I had a bad bucket of salt and didn't know it. I slowly lowered my SG to 1.021 and this dropped it a little bit. Then I didn't do any water changes till it was down to 1500. Once there I stared bringing my SG back up via water changes with new salt.

 

[mojoreef]

MAg plays an important role in your water chemistry as it has somewhat of a controlling effect on your Alk and Calcium. When a Alk ion meets up with a calcium ion in your water it binds and looks to precipitate out of solution. So what you end up with is calcium and alkalinity joining and beginning to form a crystal that is made up of calcium carbonate, magnesium ions now begin to bind to that crystals surface and envelop it. The result of that is that the precipitation stops and that crystal cannot attract anymore carbonate or calcium ions to it. So to put it in simple terms, is that calcium and carbonate would all just precipitate out of our water if it was not for mag stopping the process, if it precipitates then its not available for the other things that want to use it.

So folks that have lower then normal Mag levels will run into a brick wall when it comes to raising the calcium level in the water as no matter how much they does it he carbonate will take it out of solution. On another note their are a few things that also use mag directly (corraline algae for one) so it will be naturally reduced (not quickly) so one needs to keep and eye on it.

Mojo

 

[steven11]

If dosing mag will kill bryopsis, won't it knock out a fuge as well?

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