Cant get MG up-Need advise

I have been dosing with Brightwell Aquatics Magnesion-P.

My situation is I cant seem to get above 1200ppm, my question is has anyone heard that having a salinity at 1.023 can keep me from getting to 1350ppm.
My LFS guy said that, and I have never heard that before, or even read that anywhere.
I understand I was being to cautious with the dosing only raising it 15-18ppm per day, as I understand (now, afer reading some sites-bulkreefsupply.com and others) I can dose up to a MAX of 100 ppm, ie tank at 1100, briniging it up to 1200ppm in a single day is max.

Anyone hear the salinity thing before HELP, I want to get to 1350ppm. I plan on ordering the magnesium chloride, but when I got the Brightwell products I did not know of "bulkreefsupply"

Thanks in advance
Brad

 

I have not heard of the SG thing, not sure if that is true.
BA's products are good, I use them and have always been happy. Now, it can take quite a bit of MG additives to get it up. Also, what are your CA and dKH levels at? If they are not proper, it may be inhibiting the MG.
I would also double check results with a different test kit before ordering or doing anything else. Could just be that your test kit is having trouble registering above 1200.

 

Agreed, but I think that your under-dosing your Mag supplement.


Luna

 

While this is usually more of an issue with someone trying to get their Ca to 450 and alk to 10~11 dKh (i.e. NSW), the same principle applies. You won't be able to get NSW levels of Ca, Mg, and C (alkalinity) AT THE SAME TIME unless you have your SG at a NSW levels of 1.026.

You can only have a certain number of ions in solution at once. The higher the SG, the more ions that can stay in solution without a precipitation event.

 

So Inwall, you are agreeing that my SG needs to be 1.025-1.026? Thats is what I was told but have not found anything else to support that, again the reason I posted my thread.

Sorry for being such a nube, I know better

KH 10.8
Ca 450
PO4 .02
NO3 10

I finally got my calc reactor dialed where it maintains the Kh and Ca AT THE LEVELS ABOVE, i JUST CANT GET THE (oops caps lock) Mg right, granted I was following the directions that limited me to about 20ppm a day and after a few weeks I got frustrated and spent some time online-hense seeing I can go as high as 100 ppm.

I just started Vodka dosing yesterday so hopefully PO4 and NO3 will be coming down-just takes a few weeks-I read-LOL-sorry off topic!

Are the other folks that replied keeping there Mg at 1350 with an SG less than 1.025/1.026?

Thanks again for the fast replies!!!!!

 

If you get Mg to 1350 @ 1.023, your Ca or Alk has to go down.

 

This is going to be highly paraphrased from Anthony Calfo's "Book of Coral Propagation" (because I haven't read it in 5 or 6 years). It's not 'entirely accurate' but it gives people a visual aid to understand this.

You have a bowl that holds 100 marbles exactly. You have a certain number of red marbles, a certain amount of blue marbles, and a certain amount of yellow marbles. If one wanted to increase the blue marbles by 10%, the only way that can happen is if some of the red and yellow marbles were pushed out of the bowl.

Obviously, the bowl represents your SG.

Now, get a slightly larger bowl. You can now pour in all of the marbles plus add 10% more blue marbles before any other marbles fall out. (or precipitate)

 

Inwall....in getting to the other thread before the analogy, I am not caring to kep my Sg at 1.023 nor ph Mg at 1350.

My goal is the best possible parameters, with that, I thought;
Ca-450
KH 10-12
Mg 1350
SG 1.023
as well zero on PO4 and NO3

If I understand you you are saying that I can not have MG at 1350 with SG at 1.023 and Ca and KH at current levels? Is this correct?

Again end goal best possible parameters, if that means bumping my SG to 1.025/.026 to get Mg 1350, Ca 450, KH 11 than I am down with that...or I can leave my Mg at 1170-1200 and Ca 450KH 10.8 and find something else to do-

Please give me your thoughts or suggestions, and while you are at it, what are your tanks params??/

 

It's not impossible but it would be a pain and would require constant re-balancing. It's easier IMO to just run at 1.025. That way if you run a little high due to evaporation, you're not going too high.

Either way. Stony corals can use Mg, Sr, and Ca interchangeably. In fact, stonies are not Ca-limited until it's less than 380 (without Sr or Mg). That's the reason I worried about Alk a lot more than I ever worried about Ca.

All my tanks are zero.....LOL. I just moved so all I have are glass boxes with air in them. Seriously though. I worried about pH and alkalinity levels. I kept my reef tanks at 1.025 but other species tanks might be 1.026 or 1.022 depending on whether it was a mantis tank or a FO tank.

I did the same thing at the shop. My coral pond in the QT warehouse was at 1.025 as were the clam propagation tanks. The fish QT ponds were at 1.022~1.023. The hospital tanks were a mix of 1.022~1.023 and 1.009~1.010 for hypo if a fish came in really bad with ich. The store itself was also mixed. Reef systems were at 1.025 and FO systems were usually 1.022~1.023.

 

Real good Curt thanks, I just recall someone telling me that 1.025 was high and it was posed like "why would you do that, or want it that high"

My thought was DUH, I am trying to emulte NW you bone head-LOL
anyway it just seemd everyone (the greater majority) ran at 1.023 so I joined the band wagon.

Its a little odd that you are the only one "chiming in", makes me wonder what other folks have the Ca,KH,Mg and SG at??????
Maybe a good polling question if one does not exist.

Well I will shut of my top-off since I don't fluctuate SG, when it evaporates elecrtical shut off valve kicks the pump on from the RO/DI res. and my water levels are always consistent.

Thanks again, I will still watch this just incase others have feedback as to their experiances with levels and keeping their params in check.

This place rocks!!!