Which Mg supplement is good?

fishcraze2002 · #1 07/31/2007, 10:35 PM

I plan to buy some Mg supplement - the powder and concentrated stuff - to raise my tank Mg level when needed.. I never buy the powder stuffs before but seeing quite a bit brandname out there like on this website:

http://www.customaquatic.com/customa...keyresult5.asp

So i see Seachem, Salifert, Warner Marine, Tropic Marine, and custom aquatic even has their own granular magnesium chloride for cheap... Would like to hear your inputs on these different brands? Thanks.

plyle02 · #2 07/31/2007, 10:56 PM

I use the 3rd part of the 2 part system... I dose 12.5ml, every 72 hours, and do water changes every 2 weeks.... I have also used ESV, with about the same dosage. BTW, for my 75 system....

sailfish2 · #3 07/31/2007, 10:58 PM

i am interested in this myself.
It takes some much of this stuff to make changes if it falls and you don't catch it.

I know people use mag flake and epson salt
what if any draw backs are there to these.

Is epson salt just as pure as seachem or other products?

I have used seachem dry but seems prices for how much it takes to make a change.

If i were you i would use a reef calculator to see how much of what ever you buy to make sure you buy enough i used 2 bottles 1.3lb of seachem to correct my problem.

Any suggestions were to buy mag flake local not on internet stores in any city.

Thanks for any replys

Jasonincuritiba · #4 07/31/2007, 11:41 PM

I use SeaChem their products are lab grade, I would never use mag flake or epson salt because of their impurities being industrial or food grade.

Amphiprion · #5 07/31/2007, 11:47 PM

Seachem magnesium products weren't balanced, last I checked. I have used both Kent's magnesium and am still using Randy's 3rd part.

Jasonincuritiba · #6 08/01/2007, 12:11 AM

They dont need to be balanced, thats why you test magnesium and dose it if you need it.

hiepatitis · #7 08/01/2007, 01:52 AM

twopartsolutions has magnesium ingredients in bulk for cheap

manderx · #8 08/01/2007, 02:13 AM

Quote:

They dont need to be balanced, thats why you test magnesium and dose it if you need it.

i think he's talking about chloride vs sulfate (MgCl2 vs MgSO4). the seachem stuff is apparently mostly or maybe even entirely epsom salt.

i got a bag of magflakes last winter and used it twice with waterchanges to bring the fresh IO up to ~1250 and got horrible algae blooms each time. shortly after the tank stared to dive and i took it down. can't say for sure it was the magflake, but i'm never gonna use it again.

when i get it back up and running, i'm gonna mix io/oceanic 50/50. oceanic is *loaded* with mag.

dukes707 · #9 08/01/2007, 07:00 AM

i personally used just epsom salt to raise my Mg level more than 100 points and had horrible results and would advise against it. lots of corals browned out on me, i think cause of high sulfate levels. randy goes into detail about the compounded effect of sulfates when dosing just epsom salt alone and any way you look at it its just not healthy for your tank, unless you are doing frequent water changes. even still he advises against it. i recently have been using the 3rd Mg supplement in his two part and have had no ill effects. use the reef calculaor, but you gotta know your water volume you are working with. got my supplements cheap from twopartsolution, and will continue to do so in the future. check his articles in the reef chemistry section. HTH

-dukes

Amphiprion · #10 08/01/2007, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by manderx
i think he's talking about chloride vs sulfate (MgCl2 vs MgSO4). the seachem stuff is apparently mostly or maybe even entirely epsom salt.

i got a bag of magflakes last winter and used it twice with waterchanges to bring the fresh IO up to ~1250 and got horrible algae blooms each time. shortly after the tank stared to dive and i took it down. can't say for sure it was the magflake, but i'm never gonna use it again.

when i get it back up and running, i'm gonna mix io/oceanic 50/50. oceanic is *loaded* with mag.

Yes, that is what I meant. I should have typed ionically balanced.

RichConley · #11 08/01/2007, 11:08 AM

Theyre all either Magnesium Sulfate (epsom salts) or Magnesium Chloride (driveway melt). None of them are any better than the others, theyre just more expensive.

surfnvb7 · #12 08/01/2007, 02:26 PM

if you use magnesium sulfates exclusively, you are going to increase your sulfate ion concentration way above NSW. so i wouldn't advise this unless you are religious about water changes to balance out your ion concentrations.

thats why the 3rd part of Randy's 2-part recipe (part 3A) calls for both magnesium sulfate and magnesium chloride to balance out those chloride and sulfate ratios.

i've been doing 2-part for several years, and just went to automated dosing pumps a little over a year ago...with fantastic results.

when my dosing bottles are empty, i add a mix of magnesium chloride (magflake) and magnesium sulfate (epsom) per randy's 2-part recipe. and when i do water changes, i spike my IO salt with the necessary amount of calcium chloride (dowflake) and magnesium chloride (magflake).

i've had wonderful results, so no reason to change....

chromafi · #13 08/01/2007, 03:59 PM

Seachem reef advantage calcium contains magnesium chloride and is the perfect additive for top off water.

DarkXerox · #14 08/01/2007, 06:12 PM

Yeah I use Randy's 3rd part (MgCl2 + MgSO4). It is a whole lot cheaper than buying anything at the LFS and it's probably going to last me years.

fishcraze2002 · #15 08/01/2007, 09:38 PM

Thanks for the input guys. A friend of mine used epson salt on his tank and had bad experience w/ it so I'd steer clear of it.

DarkXerox · #16 08/01/2007, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by fishcraze2002
Thanks for the input guys. A friend of mine used epson salt on his tank and had bad experience w/ it so I'd steer clear of it.

Probably because he didn't balance it with MgCl2 just like dukes707 said. As long as you are maintaining the proper ionic balances like Randy said, there shouldn't be any problems. Take a look: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php FYI, Seachem's Reef advantage Magnesium is basically Epsom salts (MgSO4) and is not balanced.

Most of the supplements are MgCl2 based and as long as you buy a brand that has a chemical assay attached (again see the article) you shouldn't have any problems. Randy had it down to $32 per pound of actual magnesium for Kent Tech-M, versus $3.50 for MagFlake.

The stuff you buy is exactly the same at the LFS, just marked up.

orangekush4 · #17 08/02/2007, 08:20 AM

Salifert or ESV are the only ones i would use.I use B IONIC and it has
Mag in it.

Amphiprion · #18 08/02/2007, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by chromafi
Seachem reef advantage calcium contains magnesium chloride and is the perfect additive for top off water.

Actually, Seachem magnesium is based largely on magnesium sulfate. Look at the crystals and see how similar they are. As far as commercial supplements go, Kent's is much better, since it is based upon magnesium chloride.

Lobster · #19 08/02/2007, 10:37 AM

Do-It-Yourself Magnesium Supplements
for the Reef Aquarium
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-07/rhf/index.php

Note that there are two different recipes for Randy's magnesium supplement; one is used with his two-part recipe, and uses more magnesium sulfate than the stand-alone recipe.

For a stand-alone magnesium supplement, mix 7¼ cups magnesium chloride (hexahydrate) and ¾ cup magnesium sulfate (epsom salts) with 1 gallon of water. Its best to dissolve each ingredient separately and then mix together to minimize precipitation. I buy a big bucket of magnesium chloride from www.twopartsolution.com and get the epsom salts from the drug store. See Randy's article above for dosing instructions.

hobogato · #20 08/02/2007, 11:00 AM

i just bought some ZeoMag magnesium pellets to put into my calcium reactor. was dosing epsome and magflake and started having some issues with the tank. since adding this stuff a few weeks ago, things are doing much better.

fishcraze2002 · #21 08/02/2007, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by hobogato
i just bought some ZeoMag magnesium pellets to put into my calcium reactor. was dosing epsome and magflake and started having some issues with the tank. since adding this stuff a few weeks ago, things are doing much better.

Ace, Where do you buy that stuffs from?

hobogato · #22 08/02/2007, 12:00 PM

here ya go

aquarius77 · #23 08/02/2007, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by hobogato
was dosing epsome and magflake and started having some issues with the tank.

What kind of issues? Please elaborate for me because i just bought some high purity mag chloride from 2 part and epsom for wal mart. I was using seachem dry but i found it to be pretty expensive... I drip kalk and use Reef Crystals, my rc is testing in the 900s for mag.
I have a gal of the mag chlor/epsom mixed up and i bumped up my newly mixed saltwater with it, I have NOT used the makeup water on my sps tank yet and i have not dosed the with the solution either. My softie tank on the other hand, got a massive water change last night with the bumped up newly mixed saltwater...

I was about to go do the SPS tank water change with the bumped up saltwater but i think ill hold off.

What are peoples bad experiences?

hobogato · #24 08/02/2007, 04:48 PM

not sure if the magflake/epsom (also from walmart) i was dosing was causing it, but i could not keep my magnesium above 1200 ppm and some of my acros were starting to recede at the bottom and almost all were browning slightly. since changing to the mag pellets in the calc reactor, color has improved and recession has stopped - no other changes were made.

hobogato · #25 08/02/2007, 05:09 PM

btw, i knew someone would ask, so i just tested and these are my magnesium levels as of right now:

using a seachem kit - 1300 ppm
using a salifert kit - 1620 ppm

i think it is probably closer to the salifert results, because i have some small patches of bryopsis that are shriveling up and dying, and i read in a couple of threads that elevated magnesium levels can help cause it to die off.