Optimusprime3605 Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 Beggin' for some advice from all the reefers...been struggling to maintain balance, as of late. My alk keeps rising and mag keeps dropping in my frag tanks. Been trying to stabilize alk between 8 & 9. Also, trying to keep mag around 1350. I run a calcium reactor, skimmer and a scrubber, that's it. I'm no expert by any means but, I think alk should drop, if anything. As for mag, who knows, I'm still trying to wrap my head around all of this...So, if you have any advice as to why, maybe, just maybe, I'll get them stable. TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youcallmenny Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 How's your calcium? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexinverts Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 What kits do you use? Some of the kits are not terribly accurate, and/or are hard to use. I recommend the Salifert tests. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimusprime3605 Posted August 19, 2016 Author Share Posted August 19, 2016 How's your calcium? 410, when tested this morning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youcallmenny Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 (edited) I keep mag at 1440. Any lower and alk/cal have gotten wonky. That said my alk stays at 10 and calcium at 450. Not sure if your slightly lower levels would change things but maybe raise your mag over 1400. Lex is right. Salifert is good. I personally use Red Sea and have no complaints. Edited August 19, 2016 by youcallmenny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimusprime3605 Posted August 19, 2016 Author Share Posted August 19, 2016 What kits do you use? Some of the kits are not terribly accurate, and/or are hard to use. I recommend the Salifert tests. Hey Lex, Red Sea is what I'm using at the moment. Are they on the list of inaccurate test kits? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimusprime3605 Posted August 19, 2016 Author Share Posted August 19, 2016 I keep mag at 1440. Any lower and alk/cal have gotten wonky. That said my alk stays at 10 and calcium at 450. Not sure if your slightly lower levels would change things but maybe raise your mag over 1400. Lex is right. Salifert is good. I personally use Red Sea and have no complaints. Thanks for the advice, you... I'll definitely try that, as soon as I get them stable, first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youcallmenny Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 That's kind of my point, friend. Mag is what stabilizes them. Raising it won't cause any damage and definitely shouldn't be causing any more fluctuations. Quite the opposite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimusprime3605 Posted August 19, 2016 Author Share Posted August 19, 2016 That's kind of my point, friend. Mag is what stabilizes them. Raising it won't cause any damage and definitely shouldn't be causing any more fluctuations. Quite the opposite. Hmmm...Keep mag levels around 1400, thus keeping alk/calc stable. Very good to know! 1400-1450 mag levels are NOT harmful to livestock or equipment? Thanks again, you... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youcallmenny Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 (edited) No. In fact, I've had mine over 1600 for the last two weeks to clear out some briopsis. Alk and cal have not budged and everything is happy! 1400 is still my bare minimum. Low mag is a huuuge problem. I won that fight so the mag is slowly coming back down. Edited August 19, 2016 by youcallmenny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimusprime3605 Posted August 19, 2016 Author Share Posted August 19, 2016 No. In fact, I've had mine over 1600 for the last two weeks to clear out some briopsis. Alk and cal have not budged and everything is happy! 1400 is still my bare minimum. Low mag is a huuuge problem. I won that fight so the mag is slowly coming back down. Well then, 1400 to 1450 it is! Good job on the briopsis! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youcallmenny Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 Let us know how it goes! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisQ Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 No. In fact, I've had mine over 1600 for the last two weeks to clear out some briopsis. Alk and cal have not budged and everything is happy! 1400 is still my bare minimum. Low mag is a huuuge problem. I won that fight so the mag is slowly coming back down. What did you use to raise and maintain that mg. level? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youcallmenny Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 (edited) Same thing you did. Tech m. I'm at 140g total volume. I am not even close to burning the bottle. Sorry to preempt your question, but I assume that was your destination. Have to say I'm confused and curious why yours was so stubborn. I have read mag gets exponentially more difficult to raise the higher above 1400 it gets. Edited August 19, 2016 by youcallmenny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisQ Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 Same thing you did. Tech m. I'm at 140g total volume. I am not even close to burning the bottle. Sorry to preempt your question, but I assume that was your destination. Haha! man you're good! Yeah, thats where i was going, i think i may have started with too low of a mg. level although i have seen some disappearance but had to bump it with BRS mg. and from what i understand it's some sort of impurity in the tech m that kills it. So yeah, i was just wondering if you were using tech m Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The ReefBox Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 Dodge, anything less than 1300 is when you need to go into fix it mode. Natural seawater is about 1295. As we talked about on the phone it's hard to maintain other elements when something gets out of whack. Bring your mag up slowly so as to not shock your corals.myou can use whatever mag supplement u are comfortable using. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisQ Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 This is a good read to try and help understand the relationship between Alk,Ca and Mg. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimusprime3605 Posted August 19, 2016 Author Share Posted August 19, 2016 Dodge, anything less than 1300 is when you need to go into fix it mode. Natural seawater is about 1295. As we talked about on the phone it's hard to maintain other elements when something gets out of whack. Bring your mag up slowly so as to not shock your corals.myou can use whatever mag supplement u are comfortable using.Hey, thanks Brian for giving me some quick advice to get things going. I'll test again tomorrow morning to make sure mag levels are going in the right direction. Hopefully, in a weeks time, mag levels will be around the 1400 mark. Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimusprime3605 Posted August 19, 2016 Author Share Posted August 19, 2016 This is a good read to try and help understand the relationship between Alk,Ca and Mg. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/ Before reading this write up, everything was clear as mud, now everything is cloudy but clearing up! In a weeks time, everything should be crystal! Thanks Chris! Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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