Test Kits, just got a Seachem Mag test

Hello 3reef. I currently own an API Saltwater Master Test kit that includes:
-PH Test
-Ammonia Test
-Nitrite Test
-Nitrate Test

Also picked up an API Calcium Test Kit.

So now I have ph, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, calcium.

i just picked up a Seachem Magnesium Carbonate Borate test kit for $20 at the Discovery World swap.


Will this test kit accurately measure magnesium and alkalinity?

So this will bring my test kit collection up to:
ammonia
ph
nitrate
nitrate
calcium
mag
alk? is there 2 different types of alkalinity I should measure? Or just separate terms, because I've heard several terms referring to alk like borate, carbonate, hardness etc.

I would like to keep my calcium levels perfect and my understanding is that Mag and Alk play a huge part.

When Calcium goes up, alk goes down. Keep mag stable to keep calcium and alk stable. Keep mag 3 times what your Calcium levels are running at. In natural sea water, the levels are around 1285 ppm. Does all of this sound about right? Any other tips that will help me out? I'm new to alk and mag. I will continue researching carbonate/borate etc. Are these common terms among reefing?

 

Thanks to reefsparky and missionsix for the following link....awesome article.
Reef Aquarium Water Parameters by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

 

Borate is a part of total alkalinity. It buffers pH and doesn't cause Calcium to drop. On the negative side, it's not usable by hard corals to make their skeleton. The other items that make up total alkalinity buffer pH, can cause Calcium to drop, but can be used by corals to make their skeletons.

As a general rule, one only needs to know total alkalinity. However, if ones pH is stable, Calcium is stable, but hard corals aren't growing....you might have too much Boron (borate) in your total alkalinity.

 

which one has boron, sodium carbonate(washing soda) or sodium bicarbonate
(baking soda)? in other words, which one is more usable by hard corals?

 

Washing soda/borax has borate

Boron isn't used by hard corals....it's just in all the buffering mixes to help elevate total alkalinity to keep pH buffered without forcing Calcium levels down.

 

So it sounds like this kit is 4 tests in one. Pretty good deal for 20 bucks. Anyone else use this kit?

So for $20 I received:
Magnesium (needed)
Carbonate Alkalinity (helpful but not needed?)
Borate Alkalinity (helpful but not needed?)
Total Alkalinity Test (needed and what I will mainly be looking at)

 

It's an excellent deal!!! Knowing your carbonate alkalinity and borate alkalinity can be useful often. In my local club, I was having perfectly healthy SPS frags stop growing or dieing in a number of my customers tanks. We couldn't figure it out because everything seemed fine in their tanks. Then one weekend, I went to a couple of peoples houses just to test their kits against mine. It turned out that a number of people were not taking care of their pH issues properly. They were just pouring buffers in not knowing what they were doing and were too high in Borate. For instance, the difference between Marine Buffer and Reef Buffer is the amount of Borate.