Raising Mag

I test Mag, Alk, and Ca. I get Mag on the level first, then Ca. Then I add baking soda/borate mix to get the Alk up, knowing it went down 1 dKH from where I measured for every 20 ppm I had raised the Ca. It all works out fine.

 

So i just added 3 teaspoons of the stuff to 1 and half pints of ro top up water, thing is it says adds 5mg/l rise in mag every teaspoon added, so that will be 15 if i only do this at top up time it will take me ages to get it to 1350, any tips anybody and would it hurt to top up more then 15mg/l?

 

You can go up to 25 mg/L according to the manufacturers instructions. I would not exceed that. Magnesium precipitation causes a mess and if your tank is acrylic, it will actually ruin it.

 

Can somebody please explain to me what is meant by precipitation?, thank you...

 

Chemistry and the Aquarium

Half way down the page.

 

Thank you, i understand what may cause precipitation, but what is meant by this, does it mean for example the added calcium would just disappear,fade because the magnesium is not sufficient to hold it?

Excuse me for being dumb...

 

The Magnesium precipitates out as well as the Calcium. (not disappear but it's not in a bio-available form anymore so it's useless).

If you add Mg too fast, not only are you going to be low on Ca, but you'll be too low on Mg too. Depending on circumstances, you might even precipitate Carbonates (Alkalinity). This, in turn, will drive down pH at the same time.

 

the last 2 days i have been adding 3 teaspoons a day to a litre of ro water and adding as top up water, is this ok to carry on every day until i reach my goal of 1350 currently its around 1200?

 

with mag you might as well dump the whole bottle in the tank
it takes a ton to raise it but it stays put for the most part once you hit the point you are after
try to find a reef calc and it will tell you exactly how much to add

 

3reef.com - Forums for coral reef aquariums, salt water fish, corals, inverts, protein skimmers, aquarium lighting and more! - Calculators Use the useful calculator right here on this site. Once you go to the calculators page, click additives. Then put in your total volume of water. current mag, desired mag, submit. And it tells you exactly what to do.