Question on Calcium and Magnesium dosage

Yash

Yash

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Nov 2, 2006
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Knoxville, TN
On some recent Calcium tests in my aquarium, I noticed that I had quite a lot of depletion (Ca was down to 360 mg/L) ... so I took my water down to the LFS to have it tested and they suggested that I test for Magnesium as well. It tested out at 1080 mg/L, while the normal level should be at 1300 mg/L I believe.

So, here's what I'm doing:

Dosing Turbo-Calcium on a daily basis using the recommended dosage until my Ca is brought up to ~400 mg/L. I am also keeping a watch on my PH/Alkalinity to make sure that it doesn't drop ... if it starts to drop considerably, I'll add a PH buffer as well.

Dosing Kent Marine Tech-M to bring my Mg levels up to normal. After reading up on how much one dose affects the levels, I would imagine I would need quite a bit of Tech-M to bring the Mg up the required 220 mg/L. Reading up on the bottle, it says that a rate of 1ml per gallon per day would bring the Mg up by 18.4 ppm. Using that formula, I would need to dose for about 12 days to bring the Mg up by about 432 ppm. I hear that dosing Mg at such a heavy rate will jack up my salinity ... so I'll be keeping a watch on that as well.

I'm guessing my Ca depletion is due to my low Mg levels and once I have those up, my Ca should stabilize?

Does anyone have any suggestions/warnings for me as I try to rectify these levels? Can I do the daily dosage as noted above without stressing out my tank or its inhabitants? Can I dose both Ca and Mg, and if needed the PH buffer all on the same day, everyday until the desired levels are reached? I'll space the dosing by an hour or so to let the liquid disspiate sufficiently.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Regards,
Yash
 
Yes you are right mag depletion and absorbtion are directly tied to avail ca and ph of the water. You're using a good product though so after you initially raise the mg levels you should be good if you keep you other params in line.
hope this answers your question.
 
Thanks for the input Max! So, is it okay to be simultaneously using both Turbo-Calcium as well as Tech-M on the same day, with an adquate spacing between the two dosings? Also, assuming my pH starts to drop necessitating addition of pH buffer, can I then add all 3 on any given day? I'm assuming I'll need a pH buffer only twice maybe (if at all) over the space of a week or so until I can get my Ca up to par.

Cheers!
Yash
 
Yep, you should be fine as long as your ph isn't out of whack. As to the buffer I'd slowly raise the ph of your tank. Consider adding it with your top off water and water changes,"if you have inverts."
hope this helps.
 
Thanks again for the info. Max ... just as a follow up question ... and I'm ashamed that I don't know this by now ... but what are the min. and max. levels for Alk, pH, Ca, and Mg? I want to make sure that neither goes anywhere near those extremes as I try to get everything in check.

Cheers!
Yash

EDIT: As far as corals go, here's what I currently have in the tank:

2 Xenia frags
1 Frogspawn
1 Green Starburst frag
 
Last edited:
Hey Germanman .... thanks for the info. Quick question on the Tech-CB product that you mentioned. I see that there's two types of solutions: Tech-CB Part a and then Tech-CB Part A1 ... similarly, there's B & B1. What is the different between these two?

Would using the Tech-CB product be better to raise the Ca and buffer in my tank as opposed to the Turbo Calcium method?

Thanks again!
Yash
 
Hey ... I just google'd up TECH-CB and the first site/store that came up was THIS ONE They have the A1 and B1 bottles.

Regareds,
Yash
 
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