sps/clam vs cal,alk,mg

[madisonrose]

so
i am getting a bit confused about the best way to keep all of these levels in check
i have just recently started understanding epsom salt for mg supply
i have been dosing bionic cal/alk and have found that cal doesnt seem to raise up in the tank compared to what i have been dosing. so i think that maybe my mg is low, which if i am correct will slow the calcium building.
i do not have a mg test kit and have only checked it once at one of the meetings, whcih i was told it was slightly low so my question is what is the cheapest/easiest way to keep all of these levels in check.
i know some run cal reactors. do these also take into account for mg and alk?
if i were to start adding kalkwasser to top off water will that also help with mg? or do i need to mixup mg as well?
how does everbody else keep these levels ok?
also fyi i use nsw about 5 gallons a week for a 60g setup plus rodi top off every few days.

 

[madisonrose]

or if there are any good reading material someone can point me to that would be good to

 

[JohnK]

Here's a start

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-04/rhf/feature/index.php

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/july2002/chem.htm

http://www.diyreef.org/tiki-index.php?page=Randy Holmes - Farley Article Links

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/april2004/chem.htm

Chemistry calculator;
http://jdieck1.home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chemcalc.html

DIY Magnesium supplements (not just epsom salts);
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-07/rhf/index.php

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php

 

[afboundguy]

so
i am getting a bit confused about the best way to keep all of these levels in check. i have just recently started understanding epsom salt for mg supply
i have been dosing bionic cal/alk and have found that cal doesnt seem to raise up in the tank compared to what i have been dosing.

My only words of advice is that epsom salt contains sulfates that can add up over time if you don't do weekly water changes and the increase could be bad to the tank. So as long as you're good about weekly water changes epsom salt is ok to use...

so i think that maybe my mg is low, which if i am correct will slow the calcium building.
i do not have a mg test kit and have only checked it once at one of the meetings, whcih i was told it was slightly low so my question is what is the cheapest/easiest way to keep all of these levels in check.

You're correct about low mg having an effect on calcium. Once I got my mg in check it was so easy to keep the calcium where I wanted it. Def invest in a test kit...

i know some run cal reactors. do these also take into account for mg and alk?

They don't help with mg and I think (don't have one) they keep alk in check but lower pH... Hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong...

if i were to start adding kalkwasser to top off water will that also help with mg? or do i need to mixup mg as well?

Kalk does not help with mg. And as everybody says if you do decide to start dripping kalk go really pain-stakingly slooooooooooooow...

how does everbody else keep these levels ok?

I drip kalk 24/7 and if I feel up to it I might do once a week mag additions. Usually my weekly water changes keep the mag in check...

 

[afboundguy]

Oh and reading those links John posted would be good as well lol... Forgot to mention that...

 

[bigdog]

i keep my mag at 1350 and i use esv cal/alk every night and all par stay stable when i do a water change i make sure mag in new water is same as in tank so i dont have 2 supplemnt the tank with mag but buying a mag test kit will help i also use the esv magnesium

 

[brokereefer]

aggreed with afboundguy above if you decicde to drip kalk take it slow and dont dose anything in the process of dripping kalk to your tank. i use tropic marine salt which i guess is high in mag..... dripping kalk for my evaporated water def keeps my alk and cal where i want it and doing weekly water changes with tropic marine salt keeps my mag level when i check it around 1250ppm hope this helps

 

[T TOWN REEF]

if you run a layer of dolomite in a cal reactor it will help maintain mg levels

 

[JohnK]

In the FWIW category,

If you drip kalk to maintain ca and alk, your likely to see mg defiencies over time as mg will be taken up in calicfication along with Ca and alk, but kalk does not add mg, only ca and alk.

 

[jojo1n2]

In the FWIW category,

If you drip kalk to maintain ca and alk, your likely to see mg defiencies over time as mg will be taken up in calicfication along with Ca and alk, but kalk does not add mg, only ca and alk.

Yeah dripping kalk will def lower your Mg over time so weekly water changes would help keep that in check. As long as you stay on top of it Mg is easy to maintain.