[rutz81]

I was just wondering what all you SPS guys dose?? I have my calcium/alkalinity taken care of by my Geo Cal. Reactor. What else should I dose, is the calcium reactor enough by itself? I only have SPS in my tank(with a bunch of fish)

Thanks in Advance,

Dave

 

[rutz81]

anyone??

 

[mg]

Only addition I have is my calcium reactor. All trace elements are replaced via weekly or bi weekly water chnges. I was thinking about monitoring my magnesium levels a little more closly and possibly dosing a magnesium suppliment to see if I can get better color maybe up around 1400. I have only measured mag a few times and has always been around 1100.

 

[rutz81]

I never really test for magnesium, what would I notice if my magnesium were low? I do weekly 10 % water changes.

 

[Twitterbait]

if you do regular WC and your levels look fine then don't worry about dosing anything else.

 

[redwinger]

I find that even with a good water change regimen I still need to add Mg to keep the levels up. Otherwise nothing else gets dosed in the tank.

 

[rutz81]

Would low levels of magnesium affect my growth??

 

[Loverotties]

I add Kalk in my top-off.and sometimes alk.

 

[Krux]

be very carfeful with magnesium supplementation. it is important to keep the levels up and constant, but spiking it to bring it back up can lead to tank wide tip down recession. if you do dose it, go VERY slowly.

 

[Fly Guy]

be very carfeful with magnesium supplementation. it is important to keep the levels up and constant, but spiking it to bring it back up can lead to tank wide tip down recession. if you do dose it, go VERY slowly.

i just checked my magnesium levels for the first time and although i have been "thinking" i have been getting good growth, my levels were at 900-950. Ironically, i just finished the last dosing of Interceptor LRB treatments and I have performed 30-35% water changes twice a week for the last 3 weeks. Thats at least 3 times as often as usual.

Im curious to see how low the mg levels are under my "normal" water change program.

2 questions(sorry for the slight hijack rutz)

1. I use Reef Crystals....How is it possible that my levels were so low, ESPECIALLY under the water change regimen of late???

2. Krux, you warn of bringing the levels up too fast. Define what a reasonable level of increase/timeframe please.

 

[Krux]

you may want to test the magnesium in your salt, just mix up a fresh batch and go from there.

there are a lot of folks who have problems with oceanic salt, but one of the nice things about it was that it has a high magnesium content, so your water changes alone are usually sufficent to keep them at regular levels.

i think if you are trying to raise them with an addative, you probably dont want to go up more than 100 per week, 50 would be easier. a couple of notable reefs brought up their levels as little as 50 per day and started to see recession.

 

[Mike O'Brien]

A calcium reator supply's the whole host of element's, you really don't need to add anything else. The only thing lacking is usually magnesium because the ocean didn't have as much mag when the media was formed. Most media is really old. I just use dolomite in my reactor to make up the difference. About 10% of the total media will keep you're level's stable.

 

[rutz81]

Mike: You use dolomite in the same chamber as your aragonite(or other choice media)??

 

[Mike O'Brien]

Yep, I use a more pure dolomite then the normal garden store variety, but yes in the same chamber.

 

[Casey]

Good water changes and a kalk drip and Alkalinity booster and Advantage calcium is all I use and all levels come out fine nothing else ever added.

 

[trueblackpercula]

b-ionic and water changes

 

[Tim224DT]

Good water changes and a kalk drip and Alkalinity booster and Advantage calcium is all I use and all levels come out fine nothing else ever added.

Same here he got me on this routine and it works great!!


Tim

 

[Graham]

The only thing lacking is usually magnesium because the ocean didn't have as much mag when the media was formed.

I've never heard this.

Aragonite is primarily calcium and carbonate regardless of how "old" it is. It's not going to add much else to keep up with NSW levels. That's what your salt is for. Personally, I'd say it's mainly because corals don't incorporate magnesium to any large degree, so you wouldn't expect to find it in media. . Magnesium "poisons" the CaCo3 substrate and makes it harder for calcium to "fit" into the lattice. Which is the main reason to keep your Mg levels up - it reduces the formation of abiotic CaCO3 formation and makes it easier to keep Alk and Ca levels higher in the system.

As for adding it too quickly, you'd have to dump a whole bunch of supplement in even a 75 gallon tank to get your Mg up even 50. I wouldn't say it's the Mg effect as much as all the sulfate you're dumping in there with it - in most cases that's the other ion. Regardless, any time you're adding that much supplement, you want to keep up with water changes or your water chemistry can become messed up. Your best bet is to find a salt mix with good Mg levels and keep up with changes. I've found Reef Crystals to be right around the 1250 range....which is pretty much NSW levels.

 

[Mike O'Brien]

From Randy's article on magnesium

"
One other comment on seawater concentrations of magnesium. The magnesium content of seawater has not been constant since the oceans formed. Specifically, the magnesium content has often been lower, as in the late cretaceous period. As is discussed below, the amount of magnesium getting into calcium carbonate skeletons is a function of how much magnesium is in the water. Consequently, the magnesium content of ancient sediments can be significantly lower than more modern ones from similar organisms.<SUP>1</SUP> In addition to being an interesting fact, this result may also play a role in the suitability of certain limestone deposits in maintaining magnesium in aquaria. For example, such limestone is sometimes used in CaCO<SUB>3</SUB>/CO<SUB>2</SUB> reactors or as the raw material for making calcium hydroxide (lime). If it is low in magnesium, one may find additional supplements necessary to maintain modern seawater magnesium concentrations. These issues will be detailed more in future articles. "

 

[Mike O'Brien]

Not that I can say that modern formed media will maintain level's. But like I said that's what dolomite is for.