funky magnesium instructions

[fishcounter]

I need some help on this one. I am trying to get my tanks water parametes ready for when I start putting coral in. So, I tested my water for magnesium today using a salifert kit and it came in at 1185 ppm. I have been reading that I should be in the 1300 range, is this correct?

To bump it up, I purchased the Kent Marine Tech M Magnesium supplement. On the bottle the instructions say "add at rate of 1ml per gallon aquarium capacity per day to bring the level between 1250 and 1350 ppm. This will raise the level by 18.3 ppm per day."

Alright, so here is my quesiton. My tank is 90 gallons, but with the sump its 125 gallons. So, are the directions telling me to add 125 ml per day of this stuff or is it saying to add 1 ml per day for 125 days?

If its telling me to do the first option, I am going to use up this bottle real quick:p
I really think its the second option. If its the first option that seems like it would be harmful and wipe everything out.
My alkalinity tested at 9.28 dkh and I am still waiting for my calcium test kit to come in the mail. it should be here today. Anyway, what do you guys think?

[V]

yeah i read the bio on the product in question
\Tech M Magnesium supplement is a ionically balanced product which will safely raise the magnesium level in any marine system without upsetting the ionic balance of the system. Tech M is very concentrated, containing over 70,000 ppm of cationic magnesium, and is nitrate, phosphate and gluconate free!

Contents:
Deionized water containing the following elements (as ions): magnesium, chlorine, sulfur, calcium, potassium, bromine, strontium, boron, fluorine, lithium, rubidium, iodine, iron, molybdenum, zinc, nickel, copper, manganese, vanadium, cesium, cobalt, tungsten, selenium, and chromium.



its a liquid form, by the sounds of the instructions its 1ml per gallon in the system.
dosed everyday till u reach your desired level, this might sound like abit, but your not that far off the mark! 1300 is NSW

what salt are u using for water changes & top-offs?

[wwest]

With rate being in the sentence i would say 125ml per day but im not so sure i would. what i have always done with new kits is add some (in your case i would add 10-20ml and then wait two hours and test. that would give you an idea of how the doses will affect your tank, but i have no experience with magnesium so this is just what i would do. i am sure other people will speak up. :)

[V]

125ml is half a cup, its nothing when the volume is 125gal. just slow drip in the system if possible.
its adviseable to raise anything over 200ppm over a few days, following the instructions it raises it 18points.

[wwest]

not to stray from the topic but what benefits do you get using magnesium?

[V]

we have a mag thread around here that might answer all your questions ww

[fishcounter]

alright. So, since the bottle is like 475 ml. it will be gone in 4 days! and it will only raise my mag by 72 ppm by using the whole bottle. Since I am at 1185 I would then be at 1257 which is getting there. So, once I get my mag to 1300, what do I do to keep it there? Do I keep buying bottles of this stuff and duming it in? That seems like a ton. Oh and V, I am using instant ocean. Once this bucket runs out I am probably going to switch to instant ocean reef crystals.

[V]

this is only my opinion & id like to stress this point.
but after the course of that bottle u should be close enough. im going to leave the mag content in the salt mixes up to others to chime in with because of specific brands, but if u have a decent salt mix with normal change overs, your mag levels should stablise.keeping an eye on perodic tests or if u notice any change in colour of your animals.
you will notice all your levels will change in this regard, namely CA if your corals are using more!

having manual means to up the mag levels..MgSO4.7H2O, is essentually epsom salt, a cheaper means for a quick top up ok

[V]

this is the link for the mag thread on this site
http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1052&highlight=magnesium

[V]

blubber, u mentioned about the Mg replacement through change overs, but specificly the volume changed correct. what salts over there have balanced Mg levels among other elements?

[pham411]

i get the same problem, i use salifert test kit and my test results always are around 1200. i use seachems powdered magnesium and i dose alot, i mean ALOT. the results are always around the same ball park. i guess im not using enough. im already drip 6 tsp with 2liters of r/o water each day or every other day for a 75gal. i find it quite difficult to raise my mag levels. ne1 else have the same problem??

[bubbletip]

If I can give you another option in raising your magnesium, pham, I have been using E.S.V.'s liquid B-Ionic magnesium and have been over the readings of the Salifert test kit shortly after my tank cycled. I did not dose for 10 days when I noticed my mag went down to 1260. I am sure the consumption in your tank is a lot higher than mine currently, but this really works. Might be expensive on a larger system as they recommend 1.5ml per gallon of water. Supposeably this raises mag 15ppm per day. When starting at 1200 and ending at 1440 after 5 days, I would have to say there calculations may be off at least for my system. It is worth a try and you can get a large bottle online for $10. There may be a possibility that it works great for me a sI also use E.S.V.'s B-Ionic 2 part as well. There Calcium Chloride will get your Calcium to 450 no problem. I would just test daily as you are dosing to see where you are at. You may not need as much as is recommended. Good luck, Pham...