7 1/4 cup magflake-3/4 cup epsom salt mag mix question

salty joe · Apr 2, 2023

The MagFlake I used to use had fairly large crystals while the BRS mag chloride I now use has the appearance of table salt.

The epsom salt I used to use had the appearance of table salt, while the BRS mag sulfate I now use looks like powdered sugar.

Is the 7 1/4 cup mag chloride to 3/4 cup mag sulfide good to use with my BRS products. It seems like the finer grain size would make a difference. Maybe not enough to matter. IDK.

Also after dissolving the mag chloride and mag sulfate separately, the solution immediately turned pure white when I combined them. It has not settled out yet, is that expected?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 3, 2023

salty joe said:
The MagFlake I used to use had fairly large crystals while the BRS mag chloride I now use has the appearance of table salt.

The epsom salt I used to use had the appearance of table salt, while the BRS mag sulfate I now use looks like powdered sugar.

Is the 7 1/4 cup mag chloride to 3/4 cup mag sulfide good to use with my BRS products. It seems like the finer grain size would make a difference. Maybe not enough to matter. IDK.

Also after dissolving the mag chloride and mag sulfate separately, the solution immediately turned pure white when I combined them. It has not settled out yet, is that expected?

A common occurrence is some precipitation when mixing clear magnesium sulfate and clear magnesium chloride. I believe that is due to calcium impurity in the magnesium chloride, producing insoluble calcium sulfate on mixing. That material will redissolve in the tank and it is OK to dose it, or to just ignore it.

I would not worry about changes in the relative bulk density of the materials in question. The exact ratio is not critical. You can weigh them if you want, but size alone doesn't change bulk density. Spherical particles of one size have a certain dry bulk density that is independent of particle size. For example, the closest possible packing of spheres leaves 26% air space, regardless of particle diameter, and a more typical random packing will leave about 34% air space.

The packing density does relate to particle size distribution (small particles can pack in between larger particles) and to particle shape.