Just say NO to magnesium testing: RMM is born

[diver22]

Thanks you,
I do not dose much, I use 22mls nightly on a 200 gallon including sump, would any epson salt do?

So 3 cups of epson salt to 5 cups of Mag gives me a gallon…

 

[TokenReefer]

Amazon.com

I use this... Get a lot more fwiw

 

[diver22]

Yes, that is much cheaper in the long run, will any epson salt do ?

What is you mix 3 cups epson and 5 Mag in a gallon ?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks you,
I do not dose much, I use 22mls nightly on a 200 gallon including sump, would any epson salt do?

So 3 cups of epson salt to 5 cups of Mag gives me a gallon…

If you are using calcium chloride for calcium, then that is the ratio.

Any Epsom salt that says USP on it is good. That’s pharma grade.

 

[TokenReefer]

Amazon.com

I went with this. Seemed clean. Used Randy's diy with both with no ill effects. Nowadays I use esv so haven't dosed mg alone in a while..

 

[diver22]

If you are using calcium chloride for calcium, then that is the ratio.

Any Epsom salt that says USP on it is good. That’s pharma grade

Oh boy I thought that was for the Mag dosing l, not sure why I got the calcium instead of Mag ratio let me take a look.

Is t this the mix for Magnesium mix… or I’m I reading wrong .

Sorry for all the confusion!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Let’s back up. How do you supplement calcium and alk?

 

[diver22]

Let’s back up. How do you supplement calcium and alk?

I dose Alk 100 ML a week, Calcium seems to be fine never had an issue nor had to dose and currently dosing Mag the mix BrS but gets expensive.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I dose Alk 100 ML a week, Calcium seems to be fine never had an issue nor had to dose and currently dosing Mag the mix BrS but gets expensive.

Then I dont think you should ever need magnesium.

If you really did or do need magnesium, the stand alone recipe ratio is here:


Do-It-Yourself Magnesium Supplements for the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

 

[PotatoPig]

Then I dont think you should ever need magnesium.

If you really did or do need magnesium, the stand alone recipe ratio is here:


Do-It-Yourself Magnesium Supplements for the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

Hi Randy,

I’m trying this and had a couple questions about the calcium part, and my apologies if these are ones you’ve answered to death already. I have tried the search, but after a while came up empty. Maybe using the wrong terms.

1. In the substitutes for the Dow flake you list Prestone driveway heat. Looking at the ingredients list it gives sodium chloride and strontium chloride, at “proprietary” percentages. Are these also ok?

2. I ordered from Amazon from a food vendor “calcium chloride” and when mixed to 50% concentration from your recipe a brown sediment precipitated out. Is this normal?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Hi Randy,

I’m trying this and had a couple questions about the calcium part, and my apologies if these are ones you’ve answered to death already. I have tried the search, but after a while came up empty. Maybe using the wrong terms.

1. In the substitutes for the Dow flake you list Prestone driveway heat. Looking at the ingredients list it gives sodium chloride and strontium chloride, at “proprietary” percentages. Are these also ok?

2. I ordered from Amazon from a food vendor “calcium chloride” and when mixed to 50% concentration from your recipe a brown sediment precipitated out. Is this normal?

Prestone driveway heat was OK years ago based on it's pedigree (Dow material that had known analyses) and on the fact that folks used it OK. It certainly may have changed since then. As to the strontium, they certainly do not add any, but it is presumably present as an impurity based on the SDS, and I'd be cautious for that reason.

Brown sediment from calcium chloride is not a particular concern. probably just some iron precipitating.

 

[SliceGolfer]

I test Mag once per month. In the past year, I found two times the value was not my preferred number. Was it grossly out of balance? No, not in the least. Off by 20 points. I'm onboard with this line of thinking.

I dose Kalkwasser in the evenings and have found the same to be true with Calcium. Test it once per month, it's always at 440-460. It's another "Why bother testing" element for me.

For the heck of it, I decided to test Mag in two of my tanks yesterday. I think I did so because the test kit expires next year and I need to feel like it was worth the $14 investment

I tested Mag 45 days ago in tank one. The end result was 1440ppm. I tested yesterday and the value was, wait for it, 1440ppm. I maintain Alk and Ca in this tank with daily additions of Kalkwasser and TM K+ and A- elements. No other additives.

I tested Mag in tank number two. This tank is newer, 75 days old at this point. Alk was 6.5 and I have been slowly raising it over the past month with daily additions of Kalkwasser. Testing 45 days ago, Mag was 1440ppm. Yesterday it tested at 1410ppm. One quick adjustment with TM Bio Magnesium and problem solved.

Wanted to share the results and support the discussion!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

For the heck of it, I decided to test Mag in two of my tanks yesterday. I think I did so because the test kit expires next year and I need to feel like it was worth the $14 investment

I tested Mag 45 days ago in tank one. The end result was 1440ppm. I tested yesterday and the value was, wait for it, 1440ppm. I maintain Alk and Ca in this tank with daily additions of Kalkwasser and TM K+ and A- elements. No other additives.

I tested Mag in tank number two. This tank is newer, 75 days old at this point. Alk was 6.5 and I have been slowly raising it over the past month with daily additions of Kalkwasser. Testing 45 days ago, Mag was 1440ppm. Yesterday it tested at 1410ppm. One quick adjustment with TM Bio Magnesium and problem solved.

Wanted to share the results and support the discussion!

Thanks, slice.

 

[ReeferZ1227]

My experience with Magnesium testing - all over the place with saliferts kits. My original test kits (dropper and powder) and the new test kit (just the dropper) varied 200ppm.

I bought the NYOS and my plan is just to take an avg of salifert and NYOS, have the LFS do a test if I suspect its time, and make quarterly corrections, slowly, if needed.

Thanks for all of your contributions RHF. Youve made this hobby and chemistry interesting and precise, opposed to frustrating and guess-work, at least for me.

 

[rennjidk]

How would you feel about raising mag to 1500ppm, and then manually dosing with quarterly icp testing back to this level? I'm still using kalk in the ato, and biweekly 10% WCs. If mag is consumed so slowly, and these swings would not cause coral stress, that would be very convenient for my setup.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

How would you feel about raising mag to 1500ppm, and then manually dosing with quarterly icp testing back to this level? I'm still using kalk in the ato, and biweekly 10% WCs. If mag is consumed so slowly, and these swings would not cause coral stress, that would be very convenient for my setup.

I personally wouldn’t target a level that high, but in general the idea seems reasonable to me.

 

[Mikeltee]

Just stumbled upon this. Should the 5-10% be applied to B-ionic and/or AFR as well? I'm under the assumption that they already contain Mg. I do see people hand dose a little Mg throughout the week though when using B-ionic.

As an aside, what's a good trace element AIO if I decide to stop doing water changes? I also plan to dose a little Reef Energy a couple of times a week.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Just stumbled upon this. Should the 5-10% be applied to B-ionic and/or AFR as well? I'm under the assumption that they already contain Mg. I do see people hand dose a little Mg throughout the week though when using B-ionic.

As an aside, what's a good trace element AIO if I decide to stop doing water changes? I also plan to dose a little Reef Energy a couple of times a week.

Those products already contain magnesium and the RMM says to not measure it ever because the measurement is as likely to be off as to be useful.

That said, both B-ionic and AFR cannot be perfectly designed for the magnesium consumption in every tank relative to alk or calcium, because the types of organisms using them will have variable mag consumption. Coralline uses a relative high proportion of mag since it actually deposits a high magnesium calcite, rather than aragonite, and so if coralline is a big user of alk in your tank, mag demand will be higher than a tank with certain hard corals as the main user.

It's also not entirely clear to me that ESV B-ionic adds any magnesium to offset consumption, rather than to just offset the salinity corrections issues. In my DIY, I add mag for both needs, but ESV may well not.

 

[Shawnman]

So I mixed up a new 30 gallon batch of Tropic Marin Classic that's supposed to have a magnesium content of 1210 to 1310. I tested with a Salifert magnesium test that measured only 1050 ppm. So either my test is highly inaccurate which seems the case or my salt mix is way off. I quit testing my tank shortly after this thread come out and glad that I did.

 

[gbroadbridge]

So I mixed up a new 30 gallon batch of Tropic Marin Classic that's supposed to have a magnesium content of 1210 to 1310. I tested with a Salifert magnesium test that measured only 1050 ppm. So either my test is highly inaccurate which seems the case or my salt mix is way off. I quit testing my tank shortly after this thread come out and glad that I did.

Or your salinity is incorrect