[johnnypal]

I went out and picked up a jar of Seachem Magnesium to raise the levels in my tank because from what I have read, it plays a major part with alk/cal which them levels are low as well. When I first started, I took a reading and got 900ppm. After a week, the jar was empty and now the reading was only 1180ppm. The jar says "300g treats 1200 gallons". My tank is 65g with 25g sump/fuge. This whole jar only raised the level 280ppm in a week.

Is there something out there that is maybe alittle better than this stuff or should I get another one and do the same thing till it comes up to right levels? It is $8 for 300 grams.

 

[sebaeo]

don' go overboard with dosing mag because if you get it to high it can be lethal i heard, maybe from this point at 1180 try some water changes to get it in that 1200-1500 range.

 

[DLBerlin]

I dont add magnesium but the first thing I'd suggest is trying another test kit.
Quickly

 

[johnnypal]

I did the test again, with a new Salifert test kit and it is 1110ppm.

As for water changes, I use IO and I have read that it does not contain much Mg, so water changes wont help. Plus, I dont want to mess up the water too much.

This is about a 7 month old tank and everything in it has grown very well! I would just like to have levels a bit higher.

Could there be something in the fuge (algea) that is absorbing it up really fast?

 

[rmkj]

I am not sure about the Seachem Magnesium you added to your system,
but I know that some supplements take a few days to show it’s effect.
For example I had originally used Aragamilk for my calcium.
After adding it in for a few days it barely made a difference in my calcium level.
Figuring that it was not working I went out a week later to get something different,
but before I added this new stuff I thought I would check the calcium level again.
Much to my surprise it was at like 600 where before it was only measuring 360.
During that week nothing new was added it was just that the Aragamilk
took some time to show it’s effect in the water’s chemistry.
So you might want to wait a few days and check it again.

Rick

 

[mopar man]

Are you using kalk for your top off water? Kalk will disipate magnesium.

 

[johnnypal]

No, I am not using kalk for just that reason.

It has been about 3 days since I last added the Mg, and the test readings are now lower.

 

[Jimbob]

~1000 is plenty fine for Mg... Randy Holmes-Farley, the chemistry guru over on RC has posted tons of stuff on this subject and written numerous articles on it. He runs ~900 on his tanks.

 

[chi]

I read on RC that nigari was a good cheap alternative for mg suplement.

Chi

 

[sean]

In my opinion i really wouldnt worry about dosing unless you are keeping sps's. Because if you mainly just have softies, they should be getting enough from water changes.

 

[chi]

I've read that low levels of Mg can inhibit corraline algae growth. Therefore, if you are having a difficult time growing corraline algae and your alk and calcium levels are correct than Mg supplement might do the trick. Doesn't matter if you have an sps or softy tank.

Chi

 

[PaintGuru]

Cool, if it inhibits coralline growth, I'll have to drive mine down. I hate the stuff.

 

[chi]

Show off!

 

[sebaeo]

if you want you can use epsom salt but its not as stable, because its sulfate instead of chloride or the other way around, thats what i used to raise mine and it has stayed in the 1200-1400 range since, and since that my coraline has grown like crazy.

 

[chi]

Like Sebaeo said, you can use epsom salt which is magnesium sulphate but this may overly raise your sulphate level. I don't think anyone is sure of what too much sulphate does but I wouldn't want to be the one who finds out, so use with caution.

Chi

 

[Chris L]

It takes a lot of suppliment to raise magnesium levels. I was having a discussion with Randy Holmes Farley (Reef Central) about this same situation a year or two ago. I used ESV (liquid Magnesium) to raise mine. It took about a gallon or more of the stuff. Do a search in Reef Central. Oh yeah this happend with my old 120 gallon, not my current tank.

 

[chi]

Chris, once your mg levels were corrected did you notice any difference in your tank? Coraline grow better, sps grow better?

Chi

 

[Chris L]

Chi,

Its really hard to say if it really made things grow better....because I had just set this particular tank up.

 

[ystmarroon]

Just like you stated, mag has alot to do with your calcium and alk levels. Have you checked them? If your alk is low your mag won't get any higher. Also if your calcium is high or you dose it frequently above normal levels, it will keep magnesium down.

As for the seachem magnesium, it works well. You have to use the proper dose to get it to the level you want then figure out the dose to sustain it once it is reached. Look at the advanced method of dosing.