First Dowflake, now Magnesium...too cool - GROUP BUY FOR NOV MEETING
- Thread starter Greg Hiller
- Start date
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Greg Hiller
BRS Moderator
Randy, hope you're still a readin',
So, I preped some of the supplement last night using the MgCl2 from the new bags. I diluted the stuff out (necessary to run on this instrument) and ran it on an analytical instrument here at work and the ammonia level came out pretty close to the lower limit of detection of the instrument. After a quick calculation I come up with about 60 ppm ammonia (NH3) maximum in the concentrated supplement. If we were to use the supplement as I outlined above to increase a tank about 100 ppm Mg per day then you would be adding a maximum of 0.15 ppm NH3 to your tanks water with each dose. In a functional reef tank this is not a level I would be particularly concerned about. I would imagine this would be processed by the nitrifying bacteria in your tank within a few hours at most.
So, I think we are fine on the ammonia question.
One thing to note, for the supplement I preped I used lab grade magnesium sulfate (along with the magnesium chloride bags we received) rather than Epsom salts as I didn't want any ammonia in the Epsom salts to confound the results. I don't think that there is likely to be a lot of ammonia in Epsom salts since it is USP grade, but YMMV (your mileage may vary)!
So, I preped some of the supplement last night using the MgCl2 from the new bags. I diluted the stuff out (necessary to run on this instrument) and ran it on an analytical instrument here at work and the ammonia level came out pretty close to the lower limit of detection of the instrument. After a quick calculation I come up with about 60 ppm ammonia (NH3) maximum in the concentrated supplement. If we were to use the supplement as I outlined above to increase a tank about 100 ppm Mg per day then you would be adding a maximum of 0.15 ppm NH3 to your tanks water with each dose. In a functional reef tank this is not a level I would be particularly concerned about. I would imagine this would be processed by the nitrifying bacteria in your tank within a few hours at most.
So, I think we are fine on the ammonia question.
One thing to note, for the supplement I preped I used lab grade magnesium sulfate (along with the magnesium chloride bags we received) rather than Epsom salts as I didn't want any ammonia in the Epsom salts to confound the results. I don't think that there is likely to be a lot of ammonia in Epsom salts since it is USP grade, but YMMV (your mileage may vary)!
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Greg Hiller
BRS Moderator
Jeff,
I have Mike B., and Jason G. still due to pick up a bag from you. Everyone else, the rest of the stuff is at my place, please email me to arrange pickup in the next 2-3 weeks. If you have not picked up within 3 weeks I will assume you are not interested in the stuff, and make it available to the 15 other people who have asked me for the stuff, or whom I had to whittle down the number of bags by 1/2.
I have Mike B., and Jason G. still due to pick up a bag from you. Everyone else, the rest of the stuff is at my place, please email me to arrange pickup in the next 2-3 weeks. If you have not picked up within 3 weeks I will assume you are not interested in the stuff, and make it available to the 15 other people who have asked me for the stuff, or whom I had to whittle down the number of bags by 1/2.
)
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Greg Hiller
BRS Moderator
Thanks to Ed P. for catching an error I made in the large volume prep of this supplement.
The first (smaller prep) measurement is correct. The second measurement should be:
7.3 lbs MgCl2.6H2O
1.25 lbs MgSO4.7H2O (Epsom salts)
plus enough DI water to make 5 gallons
It looks like the mistake I made made no difference in the Ratio of the two chemicals to each other, it's just that the solution would be much less concentrated than it could be.
The first (smaller prep) measurement is correct. The second measurement should be:
7.3 lbs MgCl2.6H2O
1.25 lbs MgSO4.7H2O (Epsom salts)
plus enough DI water to make 5 gallons
It looks like the mistake I made made no difference in the Ratio of the two chemicals to each other, it's just that the solution would be much less concentrated than it could be.
