Saltwater - Calcium & Alkalinity Dosing - Reef Tank Corals
Reef tank 8 years ago 8,042 views
2 part dosing techniques and why to always dose the same amounts of Alk and Ca to maintain stability in your reef tank. Balanced Saltwater Video Link: https://youtu.be/D9aGatxlr2o?list=PLy2ZwPZp7oyNtGvtVGHAQK_Dhm87Z-Txp
In most cases, Magnesium is used very slowly in a saltwater tank. This is because the Magnesium is primarily used as a buffer that keeps calcium and carbonate from binding together and precipitating out of the tank. So the issue of your tank using more Mag one week and not so much the next is most likely attributed to fluctuations in the amount of Alk and CA your tank is consuming. Dose your Alk and CA levels go up and down (maybe significantly)? Another possibility is little fluctuations in your testing. i know personally I can test MAG twice, using a Salifert test, and be off 20 points even though I appear to do the same thing in every test.
Although there are some serious reasons to worry about magnesium, try not to worry about keeping the Mag level spot on. You have a lot of range in the Mag level that is acceptable for you tank although ideally Mag should be x3 your CA level. For example, lets say your CA is 450 and your MAG is 1290. Sure the Mag is a little low, and should be at 1350, but you really dont have to do something about it until you get to 1250... Make sense?
It took me a while, and some sps death, before I learned this. Glad the info helped you.