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    Thread: Magnesium 1600+!

    1. #1
      BADCHEV is offline Registered User
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      Magnesium 1600+!

      Hello, I have been struggling with this 25g tank for a while now, Temp at a constant 78deg, High No3 in the beginig I added a cheato reactor while dosing Nopox, the levels came down and I stopped the Nopox, I also learned I had way to much activated charcoal in my filter sock and corrected the amount for my size tank, 3 table spoons. I thought I was on my way to criuse control but my Mg keeps climbing and climbing even after religous 25% water change's once a week., I did a 50% water change yesterday (which I don't like to do) and the Mg is still 1600+ The only thing I can think of is the cheato reactor has a film built up inside maybe its a Mg storage? All my other readings are as follows...

      temp- 78.0-78.9deg
      Alk- 8.0-9.0
      No3- 2-5ppm
      PO4- .0- .25ppm
      Cal- 450
      ph- 7.8-8.0
      ammonia- 0ppm
      salenity 1.025-1.026...this is a struggle because of evap, (I need a auto top off)!

      I feed benepets ¼ tbs and ¼ tbs of pellets in the morning and 1 cube of misis shrimp and ¼ pellets in the evening. I do not strain the frozen cube of misis shrimp. I feel I have max'd out the livestock in my tank, mainly coral's with one maroon clown, one fire shrimp, and about 10 hermit crabs and 5 snails... I have a deep sand bed, and Im sure there are a few bristlle worms hiding out. I try to suck clean my sand bed, the parts I can reach from time to time, and clean my glass daily. My light is a Hydra 32 on a 12hr 9am-9pm with a high ramp middle of the day. I coppied it from a reefer from the manufactur web site, but stretched the lenght out so I can enjoy the tank when I get home from work.
      Any advise is greatly appreciated!
      Thank You












    2. #2
      crustaceon is offline Registered User
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      Magnesium 1600+!

      Your salt mix is probably high in MG, so the more water changes, the more you’re essentially dosing mag. It also sounds like you’re doing A LOT of things, which in total is going to be counter productive to having a successful tank, especially if those things aren’t critical changes. The simple thing to do here is switch to a salt brand that has less MG (1600 isn’t going to hurt anything btw) and in all honesty, I’d stop nopox dosing and running carbon and chaeto. IMO it’s extreme overkill and is only going to cause you headaches in balancing nutrient levels which is actually more critical than balancing alk/cal/mg. On a tank of that size, I’d ONLY do water changes and test nitrates and phosphates several times a week to make sure you’re not bottoming out your nitrates and phosphates. That way, you can adjust the weekly water change amount as needed and better dial in your required nutrient export. For reference this is the exact strategy I use on my 200g acro-dominant sps tank. I really doesn’t have to be so complex.


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      Last edited by crustaceon; 08-15-2021 at 10:04 AM.

    3. #3
      TysTanks is offline Registered User
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      Quote Originally Posted by crustaceon View Post
      Your salt mix is probably high in MG, so the more water changes, the more you’re essentially dosing mag. It also sounds like you’re doing A LOT of things, which in total is going to be counter productive to having a successful tank, especially if those things aren’t critical changes. The simple thing to do here is switch to a salt brand that has less MG (1600 isn’t going to hurt anything btw) and in all honesty, I’d stop nopox dosing and running carbon and chaeto. IMO it’s extreme overkill and is only going to cause you headaches in balancing nutrient levels which is actually more critical than balancing alk/cal/mg. On a tank of that size, I’d ONLY do water changes and test nitrates and phosphates several times a week to make sure you’re not bottoming out your nitrates and phosphates. That way, you can adjust the weekly water change amount as needed and better dial in your required nutrient export. For reference this is the exact strategy I use on my 200g acro-dominant sps tank. I really doesn’t have to be so complex.


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      Crustacocean just spelled out some really great advice above.

      To add to it - when you can’t explain a source for a high/low parameter test your freshly mixed saltwater to see where it’s coming in at.

    4. #4
      BADCHEV is offline Registered User
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      awesome advice, thank you guys!

    5. #5
      Joseserrano is offline Registered User
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      You also need better test kits. Sounds. Like you are using api

    6. #6
      BADCHEV is offline Registered User
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      red sea test kit's and Im OCD about acuracy, I clean and dry my glass vials with RO, I test at the same time, I set timers and I follow the instructions to the "T"...

    7. #7
      dizzyjay is offline Registered User
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      “OCD about acuracy” might be my new favorite quote

    8. #8
      Sicklid is offline Registered User
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      Magnesium 1600+!

      I hate testing for Mag, never get it right


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