Mg impact on SG and Ca

Yeah ok. I don't think the CA had anything to do with salinity either. I see the readings for Ca changed, but the amount of CA in the tank didn't actually change... it's not like it vanished and spontaneously reappeared right. It was always there, somewhere. Only Mg levels actually changed.


But I would say trying to separate out the Chloride and sulfates of the Mg being used is splitting hairs. I mean, when I say I dosed Mg and it raised the sg a point, I suppose I technically mean "Mg supplement" but, really, I don't think that needs to be dissected and specified everytime I mention Mg ya know. It's not like folks use Mg that isn't chloride or sulfate (or combo).


So, folks, when P says he doses Mg and it raises SG (or whatever), it is implied that I dosed the Mg supplement from BRS... and it's the supplement doing this. Not necessarily Mg atoms. But, we all just call that Mg, so I think it's fine to say "Mg raised my SG".

 

Hehe, sorry I wasn't trying to be pedantic. I think lots of people aren't aware of these side effects of supplementing so was just trying to point that out, that's all.

Also, on another note which you might or might not be aware, it might be a good idea to check/clean your powerheads/pumps, depending how much demand you have for Ca/Alk, if you were auto-dosing more than your Mg could support you could have built up some precipitate on drive shafts etc. That happened to me on my old tank and froze up my return pump unexpectedly.

 

very good point. i bought two Mj1200 powerheads from a fellow reefer. im guessing they were dosing because when i opened the top of the powerhead (where those two vent holes are on top) there was a solid piece of white / yellow crust in there that was so caked up i used a screw driver to chip it out chunk by chunk. this was not salt build up thats for sure.

 

I just drop it in a glass of vinegar for a while, I'm lazy about chipping off precipitation heh.