Dosing magnesium? Calcium?

Honestly, I don't know to many folks that do dose here beside d2mini. There is vast amounts of info out there on different fourms that actually segment it by tank. I'm worried that when you add a new coral, your numbers won't be right where you want it and start adjusting again. Fill the tank and then maintain. That's my opinion.
 
So after I got my 3 trace elements where I wanted them, I then monitored the next day 24 hrs later to see how much it dropped. Not a lot but it did drop. I then proceeded to dose and then checked 4 hrs later to see the results and my numbers were right back where I wanted them. 24 hrs later I checked again, same drop I dosed checked 4 hrs later and it was back to normal. I think I may have it figured out. As of right now it's 2.5 ml of calcium, 5 ml of alkalinity and 5 ml of magnesium per day to maintain a steady reading of:
Calcium:440
Alkalinity :8
And magnesium :1400
Once the initial dosing to get my tank back up was over its pretty easy from there. I believe my tank had to play catch up for a week of me gradually dosing. I'm still going to monitor it like I have been for another few days just to be safe that I can dose confidently without testing everyday . after that would it be safe to say monitor it once a week or so? I'm really hoping after a month or so of keeping these numbers steady and consistent that I'll see some positive progress. :thumbsup:
 
OK I'm not really seeing any consistency in my drop each day. First it appeared 15 ml of each then 10 then it was like 2.5 cal and 5 of mag and alk. Well the past two days I haven't noticed a drop in my magnesium at all and the first day I dosed 14 ml of alk and cal now today I only needed to dose 10 ml of alk and cal. . My routine is at the exact same time every day I get home check my levels for mag, cal, and alk. I then check mag and alk again just to make sure there's no errors with the first. Since I have gotten the hang of the saliferts awhile ago my tests always match up,. Then based on my test results I dose. Aiming for mag 1400 alk of 8-8.2 and calcium around 440.then 4 hours later I test again to make sure it increased to the levels I am Aiming for, it always does. Then I repeat the next day only the drop is rarely if ever the same. Will this even out eventually.? My goal is to be able to dose everyday day without having to check it 3 times a day. Maybe once a week instead. Any light at the end of this long and winding tunnel? Lol. Is it normal to not need to dose magnesium once the other two are more consistent? Sorry for barrage of random scattered questions. My minds running overtime usually after work. :confused:
 
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Hey Washburn.

I just got my b-ionic mg, ca and kh one gallon jugs. I want to shot for your same numbers, I'm planning on dosing 1ml per 4 gallons like the instructions say, I have a 29 gallon tank, then increase as need it to reach the right numbers.

What do you think about this plan?

How have you been doing with your dosing?
Are you still testing everyday?
 
Hey zuatrapatuare. As for dosing 1ml per 4 gallons a day. It all depends on what your numbers are at right now if you have a long way to go I'd up it to 1ml per gallon . Make sure you account for live rock and sand and such. For example I have a 20 gallon tank I estimated 15 gallons for dosing. 1 ml per gallon will raise your calcium by 16 ppm and alk by 0.74. Not sure about the magnesium I'm using brightwells which raises it by 26 ppm. Your stuff may be different should say on the label. My dosing has been going well to. Except I did a water change last weekend primarily to clean some Cyano off my sand. For 4days before my WC I had stable readings it was dropping the same every day. I was adding 10 ml alk and 7 ml of calcium. My magnesium was holding steady. Then, I did the 11% water change. I even dosed my water before I added it to match my tank. Now my routine has been messed up. This week it has been only alk I've needed to dose and in very small increments. Some might say that's good but I'd rather it be consistent so I don't need to check those 3 parameters everyday. Test kits are far more expensive then the dosing mediums lol. So I'm back to testing everyday waiting for some consistency.
 
ccCapt said:
I would question the accuracy of your mag test results. Mag test kits can be hard to read. When calcification occurs (corals forming their hard skeletons and coralline algae growing) a set ratio of calcium, alk and mag is used. For approximately 18ppm of calcium used, 1meq/l (2.8 dKH) of alk is used and 2ppm of mag is used. So taking that into consideration, the drop you see in mag is way off. I would run a few more tests and see what kind of results you get.

On a side note, I'm not a fan of Reef Crystals, even though many people do like it. The reasons being it contains vitamins, but no one knows what they are, if they are needed and what they break down into. The parameters are also very much different (higher) than the average parameters of seawater out on the reefs. On average, Reef Crystals gives you around 490 calcium, 13 dKH alkalinity and 1440 mag. Natural seawater is around 420 calcium, 7 dKH alkalinity and 1280 mag. I use Instant Ocean, which mixes to around 400 calcium, 11 dKH alkalinity and 1350 mag.
Click to expand...
I've never had any luck with IO salt, even with dosing. Back in the 70's there were damn few salt mixes out there, IO and 40 Fathoms which is a local company. We used to joke that IO would kill brine shrimp back then. I used it in the 54 corner when I set it up, Reef crystals, and the tank went to hell in a handbasket. I now use Red sea or Marine Environment.
 
I've been using IO almost exclusively for around 30 yrs and never had any issues with it. I'm not saying it's the best or that others are better or worse, but it works for me and many, many others. There is a reason it's been around as long as it has. I've use the regular Red Sea and I do like it, but it's a bit more expensive than IO.

If it ain't broke....don't try to fix it. ;)
fts-r-l_11-26-12.jpg
 
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