Raise Magnesium?
- Thread starter funman1
- Start date
brianbigoats
New member
if you have a calc reactor Zeovit makes a mag media
H20Sidhe
New member
Actually Randy Holmes-Farley recommends using a mixture of MagFlake & Epsom Salts if available & if not, then Epsom Salts alone will work.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php#6
Over time the Epsom Salts alone will raise the sulfate level, but this is mitigated by water changes & appears to be not that big a deal. MagFlake used alone raises the concentration of chloride ions relative to sodium ions, which isn't ideal either.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php#6
Over time the Epsom Salts alone will raise the sulfate level, but this is mitigated by water changes & appears to be not that big a deal. MagFlake used alone raises the concentration of chloride ions relative to sodium ions, which isn't ideal either.
John, there may be some interest in a group buy - do you want to conduct a survey?
Justin74
New member
This sounded reasonable.
http://www.twopartsolution.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=8
-Justin
http://www.twopartsolution.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=8
-Justin
I am question whether adding just MgCl really affects the concentration of chloride ions in any significant way. Natural sea water has the following ion concentraion:
Mg2+ 1284 PPM
Na+ 10781 PPM
Cl- 19353 PPM
If I add in enough MgCl to raise my Mg2+ concentration by 400PPM, then I also just added 400 PPM of Cl. That would raised my Cl conctration to 19753 PPM - or a raise of 2%. I just think that that raise is really insignificant.
Minh
Mg2+ 1284 PPM
Na+ 10781 PPM
Cl- 19353 PPM
If I add in enough MgCl to raise my Mg2+ concentration by 400PPM, then I also just added 400 PPM of Cl. That would raised my Cl conctration to 19753 PPM - or a raise of 2%. I just think that that raise is really insignificant.
Minh
MrMikeB
New member
Minh et. al,
I was worried about the same thing regarding the Chloride and Sulfate ions, however after I read the report many of my fears were alleviated. The key is, and should not be too much of a surprise, is water changes to keep the ions and salinity from building up over time.
I 'just' ordered bulk mix of twopartsolutions.com (as in came in today) - 32 gallon mix worth. If you would like some, I can give you enough to make a batch of it to test out. Should give you an idea on whether or not its a good thing - or - you can let me be the guinea pig and see what it does to my system. If my fish turn green and my corals grow fins, well, at least you were spared.
Speaking from personal experience, supplementing Mg and Alk supplements from Kent, SeaChem, etc. is horribly expensive and just not practical for larger systems.
I was worried about the same thing regarding the Chloride and Sulfate ions, however after I read the report many of my fears were alleviated. The key is, and should not be too much of a surprise, is water changes to keep the ions and salinity from building up over time.
I 'just' ordered bulk mix of twopartsolutions.com (as in came in today) - 32 gallon mix worth. If you would like some, I can give you enough to make a batch of it to test out. Should give you an idea on whether or not its a good thing - or - you can let me be the guinea pig and see what it does to my system. If my fish turn green and my corals grow fins, well, at least you were spared.
Speaking from personal experience, supplementing Mg and Alk supplements from Kent, SeaChem, etc. is horribly expensive and just not practical for larger systems.
H20Sidhe
New member
Mg has a 2+ charge. Cl has a 1- charge. Magnesium chloride contains 2 moles of Cl- for each one of Mg. So if you add only MagFlake the Cl- concentration will go up twice as fast as the Mg2+. Randy Holmes-Farley's recommendation is to mix up the anions a little - some Cl-, some SO4 2-. And note that since SO4 has a 2- charge, there is a one to one ratio of Mg to SO4, so you are only adding one sulfate for each magnesium. Adding a variety of anions, and therefore raising each of them to a lesser degree makes more sense to me.
And you might be right - it may be an insignificant increase.The other thing to check, if we want to replicate NSW is the actual Na+ and Cl- concentrations in the salt mixes we are using. Maybe our tanks could actually use the added Cl- , or the SO4 2- if they are not already in the salt mix.
And to add another level of chemistry complexity, some SPS gurus feel that their corals grow better with higher carbonate concentration than found in NSW. So some people aren't even trying to replicate the same ion levels found in NSW.
H20Sidhe
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9377348#post9377348 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tfp
i've often wondered...what if we are adding those same MG sulfates or chlorides to our makeup water to match our tanks levels?
i know i do. anyone make either a MG sulfate/chloride test kit?
i'm probably overanalyzing things
Tim,
Do your corals look like your chemistry is "off" in any way?:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
*DOH* and you'd think I would have caught that with a chemistry background. LOL
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9379447#post9379447 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by H20Sidhe
Mg has a 2+ charge. Cl has a 1- charge. Magnesium chloride contains 2 moles of Cl- for each one of Mg. So if you add only MagFlake the Cl- concentration will go up twice as fast as the Mg2+. Randy Holmes-Farley's recommendation is to mix up the anions a little - some Cl-, some SO4 2-. And note that since SO4 has a 2- charge, there is a one to one ratio of Mg to SO4, so you are only adding one sulfate for each magnesium. Adding a variety of anions, and therefore raising each of them to a lesser degree makes more sense to me.
The other thing to check, if we want to replicate NSW is the actual Na+ and Cl- concentrations in the salt mixes we are using. Maybe our tanks could actually use the added Cl- , or the SO4 2- if they are not already in the salt mix.
And to add another level of chemistry complexity, some SPS gurus feel that their corals grow better with higher carbonate concentration than found in NSW. So some people aren't even trying to replicate the same ion levels found in NSW.
