trouble keeping mag/KH stable..need advice.

T

TexasDude

i've been using reef crystals for a while now and i've been having alot of trouble keeping my alk and mag in check. i've been dosing BRS mag/alk/cal manually atleast every other day and it will jump up a point every time i dose but sometimes its hard for me to dose since i stay out of town alot. even after a 20% water change the KH is around 6 or 7. has anyone else had this problem with reef crystals?
 
I have been using reef crystal's for over 5 yrs w/o issues, I also use BRS two part. You should not jump a point each time you dose, that is a severe swing and not good overall for your tank. You really need to determine your tanks daily ca/alk consumption and dose daily. Since Mg is used more slowly and impact's the other components, make sure it is in 1380ppm range first before determining the alk/ca consumption so you are getting accurate result's. After that you should really find a way to dose daily for optimum stability and health.

Cheers,
 
so how do u manage to get ur mag and alk up to that point if even after a water change its not where its supposed to be? i can test directly after a waterchange and my alk is at 8 and my mag is at 1050. this has been the case for a long time and I've been through several boxes of salt mix so i know its not an individual box that is out of wack. i did a water change friday and didnt dose saturday but did on sunday. today before dosing my alk was at 6. and mag is at 1150. cant get it up and keep it up where it needs to be.
 
Depending on waterchanges to maintain parameters is not practical when you do the math on anything other than a small tank. You need to use a magnesium supplement like the BRS one or the Tech-M brand, it takes a LOT of the mg supplement in order to raise mg levels. You can safely raise mg levels 100 ppm a day but that will take an ungodly amount depending on your tank size, the 1050ppm mg level is your issue here, once you get that in line then your alk/ca may fall into range without further supplementation. Get the mg in line first, do not try to raise all three up at once, there is too much interaction between ca/alk/mg. Here's a write-up on trying to control parameters using waterchanges. http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/rhf/index.php
 
ok. i do dose the BRS magnesium so i guess i will concentrate on getting that where it needs to be first. should i stop dosing the cal/alk till i get the mag up? thx for the advice.
 
Yup...get the mg inline first. Here's their calculator in case you don't have it, don't be alarmed by the amount you need to dose, just remember that 100ppm daily is the max and even then make sure your coral's still look ok. http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/reef-calculator#MagnesiumCalculator Since you need to increase mg a lot, keep an eye on your salinity as large mg increase will also raise your salinity.

Cheers,
 
Get your salinity at 1.024 - 1.025.
Then raise Alk to around 10.
Remove carbon as this absorbs lots of mag. If you like using carbon, put in a day or two before a water change.

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