Balancing Mg CA and dKh

[bford]

I have been slowly getting my tank back in shape. 110 gallons with sump. I am attempting to find the balance in the system for Mg CA and dKH and looking for guidance on where to go. Have some good data, but it seems to be all over the place... looking for some help in steadying the ship and making sense of where the tank's balance is.

Magnesium is lagging as of late. Chart below shows where I've added 20 ml Aqua Vitro ions. (raises magnesium). Doesn't seem to have a correlating effect.

Calcium seems to fluctuate up and down, opposite of magnesium. Using ESV B-Iconic Calcium Buffer system #1 and #2 (20 ml each solution). Ca/dkH doses are in the chart below.

Alkalinity is steady and responsive to Ca/dKh dosing. Ph has remained steady at 8.2

Other items...
Nitrate 10
Phosphate 0.075
one small coral in tank. Coraline Algae is growing

 

[k2-]

+1 following -

I am running a calcium reactor along with manually dosing short falls every few weeks before they go out of hand.

One quick observation though - I dose KZ 1-4 system for trace elements and every week when the dosing happens i see calcium rapidly depleting , However loose correlation doesn't translate into causation.

 

[90's reefer]

I run esv 2 part on my 45 frag system. I dose 20ml 2x a day.

If calcium is low add more ca than alk until it levels off.

For mag I run dsr ez trace and control the amount by testing mag and K levels.

Esv 2 part is very stable for alk and ca. Been using it for almost 7 years now. Same with ez trace.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Magnesium changes are probably test error or salinity changes. Real magnesium consumption is not more than about 1/10th of the calcium consumption, and neither rise on their own. I'd just stop monitoring magnesium. The ESV B-ionic adds a reasonable amount and it isn't going to change much in a month less.


The calcium will also be held pretty constant by dosing both parts fo the ESV in equal volumes to maintain alk, and fluctuations are likely test error and/or salinity changes.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

This is likely testing error. CA and MG test kits are relatively accurate, but small testing errors add up because of the values measured. For calcium at 450 ppm, a 3% testing error would result in a reading that's 15 ppm lower or higher than the actual value. For MG, a 3% testing error can account for almost 50 ppm (!) in either direction at 1,350 ppm. Coincidentally, this appears to be about how much your values are swinging.

Throw a linear trend line on the graph for CA and MG. This is likely around where your actual values are.

 

[hsosa]

you have to add more corals and fish to find a balance .

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

you have to add more corals and fish to find a balance .

Why?

 

[hsosa]

Why?

why because the corals and fish create a biome and fish create waste and the corals update the nutrients . you need to have a good load its not going happen with just one coral and a fish..

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

why because the corals and fish create a biome and fish create waste and the corals update the nutrients . you need to have a good load its not going happen with just one coral and a fish..

The thread is about alk, calcium and magnesium. Those can be in balance before adding creatures at all.

 

[hsosa]

The thread is about alk, calcium and magnesium. Those can be in balance before adding creatures at all.

thats true .once u add fish and corals then the chemistry changes at this point . your balancing alk mag and ca

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

I run esv 2 part on my 45 frag system. I dose 20ml 2x a day.

If calcium is low add more ca than alk until it levels off.

For mag I run dsr ez trace and control the amount by testing mag and K levels.

Esv 2 part is very stable for alk and ca. Been using it for almost 7 years now. Same with ez trace.

Same but is use the Esv Mg.

 

[hsosa]

my point is that there's only 1 coral and 1 fish in the tank

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

my point is that there's only 1 coral and 1 fish in the tank

Which may be a reason to not worry much about the levels, but there is nothing going to happen in the future of his tank that will “stabilize” those values. In fact, they will begin to decline faster and faster.