Magnesium: The magic that holds your reef tank together
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- čas přidán 13. 09. 2024
- brs.li/BRSMagne... Did you know that magnesium is the element that essentially makes reefing possible? Magnesium is used by corals for metabolic function to stay healthy and grow. However, since it's not largely or quickly consumed, it's pretty easy to maintain with infrequent additions of a supplement like magnesium chloride, or even just water changes.
So, what's the magnesium doing in your tank? Let's back up a bit.
If you caught our last two videos, you know that the corals in your tank are pulling both calcium and alkalinity (which we'll refer to as carbonate) from the surrounding water to support its overall health and growth. The problem is that the calcium and carbonate ions also have quite the affinity for each other, and will join in the tank to form calcium carbonate crystals. You might see the results of this as a white buildup on on your heaters and pumps, or even tiny particles settling in your sand bed.
Here's where the magnesium comes in! The magnesium ions in the tank prevent the calcium carbonate crystals from growing by incorporating itself into the growing calcium carbonate crystal, which makes it unattractive to additional calcium and carbonate ions. This is what makes it possible to maintain appropriate levels of calcium and alkalinity. Low magnesium levels will likely cause you problems when trying to maintain proper calcium and alkalinity levels.
How can we raise and maintain our magnesium levels? You have two options: magnesium chloride and magnesium sulfate. Magnesium chloride is the most abundant ion in natural seawater, which makes it the most popular option for reefers because additions have minimal impact to overall water chemistry.
The first step to finding out how much magnesium your tank needs is testing your tank for current levels. Two of the most common test kits are made by Salifert and Red Sea. We like the Red Sea kit because it's high quality and has inexpensive refill kits, which makes it the lowest overall cost in the long run.
Once you know your current levels, you can use the reef calculator (www.bulkreefsup...) to identify the amount you need to add to reach your desired levels. 1350ppm is an ideal level, however, anywhere from 1320ppm to 1380ppm is recommended.
You can select which product you want to use to raise your levels. We recommendation keeping a jug of magnesium solution premixed and on hand. Ideally, this is a mix of 7 3/4 cup magnesium chloride and 3/4 cup magnesium sulfate, with enough purified water to make a gallon of solution. If you don't have magnesium sulfate, most reefers find it acceptable to skip and just use 8 cups of magnesium chloride.
A few notes on mixing; use purified water like distilled or RO/DI, and shake until fully mixed. There's a lot of salt being mixed here, so this will take some shaking! If you see salt crystals at the bottom of the jug, let it sit overnight or float it in some hot water.
It's worth noting that the BRS magnesium additives are pharmaceutical grade, so as long as you use purified water it should result in a crystal clear solution.
Finally, it's pretty common for salt mixes to be low in magnesium, probably because its one of the more expensive components. You can add magnesium directly to your salt mixing container to give it a boost prior to a water change.
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Six years after this video and it's still amazing! - Thanks!!
What would cause magnesium to deplete/precipitate quickly? I have a pico frag tank (3 gallons); and in one day, my magnesium depleted by 100ppm, while my alkalinity and calcium remained more or less within their original levels the day before. My ph is maintained at 8.2.
I'm lost here , is magnesium a daily dose? or once you doce is every other week , I don't understand. Please help
Can I add megnesium with calcium at the same time without any issues?
Thanks for the info, great job
Is it possible to dose magnesium chloride in conjunction with kalk in an ATO?
Hello Dear Ryan,
how to reduce magnesium level from 1600 to 1350?
1600 is acceptable. Just let us reduce naturally over time
I don't understand the reason for having a different mix ratio for people who dose your two-part. I really need to order some magnesium but not sure what I need to buy.
What would the mix be just using magnesium sulfate only????
Whats the coral tolerance to magnesium flactuations? Will it have negative effect to corals if there are big changes to magnesium?
Question? If you need a 1000 mils. of Magnesium mix according to your calculator. Are saying that you can put 500 mills in your tank over 2 days. That sounds like an awful lot.
My green montipora is looking really dull is there a reason why? could it be the lighting or lack of magnesium?calcium?alkalinity?
What effect does kalkwaser have on magnisium levels
My tank is consuming A LOT of Magnesium. It seems like a am dosing it either every day or every other day. Why is my tank consuming so much?
32 g Bio with lid removed
20 gallon sump w/ bubble maggus skimmer
300w LED
2100 g/hr of flow
Significant amount of chatomorpha in sump (algae filter)
Tank has been up for 1 year
PH-8.3
KH-9.2
Ca-4-20
Temp.- 77-78
Mg-1280 (dosing 15 ml = 1400)
Some softies.. Primarily SPS dominated
Using KENT magnesium
any plans on updating the clown harem tank? Curious to see how its progressing
@bulkreef supplies, so am I correct in understanding your video in saying that it is best to get the magnesium level correct before dosing calcium & alkalinity to avoid precipitation?. As you say that magnesium hold the tank chemistry together it should be correct to say that if magnesium levels are off then one will not get the calcium & alkalinity levels up?.
Exactly! If Magnesium is too low in the water, it is likely that Calcium, and Alkalinity will precipitate out. Therefore you want to correct these levels first to account for this.
Bulk Reef Supply thank you so much for the reply.
Which order should kg, Ca and Mg be added to the system?
It is less about order, and more about the time frame in between dosing. I would space the time between Alkalinity, and Calcium to avoid causing precipitate issues.
@@BRStv . Thanks. I have a 5 minute delay between all additions via my peristaltic pumps and additives are added in liquid form directy near the return pump inlet so get a very good mixing.
Thanks for the info. Doesn't Kalkwasser have Magnesium?
Thanks! You guys are awesome. My tank comes tomorrow!
Come check out my nano tank. Sorry for no narration on the video.
I seem to be using more of my RedSea Foundation C a lot more than my A & C, but I thought you go through Calcium & Alkalinity quicker than Magnesium
Pls Pls Help! as I am very confused and I am now reluctant to dose and more.
Randy Holmes wrote that Magnesium Chloride would be 5cups and Magnesium Sulphate 3 cups in a Gallon of water? I am a little confused as to what way to dose?
Use Randy's method if you are using two part. If not go with BRS mix method. Randy's method has less chloride but more sulphate residue, since chloride is the residue from two part dosing and it will cause imbalance if chloride is in excess. BRS method use less sulphate since most people are afraid of increase sulphate and sulphur dioxide gas pockets.
I have bought Magnesium Chloride and Magnesium Sulphate from Intralabs here in the UK
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