Reef nutrition

bondolo's defunct tanks

I dose Mg maybe once every 2-3 months. Mg uptake is very very slow. And it takes a lot of supplement to raise it a little.

I just had to raise Mg in the 190 150ppm and it took 2400+ml.

150ppm is not going to affect your corals that much.


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Gablami said:
From the brs 2 part instructions, which many of us use.


Once the dose is dialed in continue daily dosing until the gallon jugs of Calcium and Alkalinity are finished. At this point it is time to dose 20oz of the Magnesium solution. This can be done entirely in one dose just remember to add slowly to a high flow area of the tank.
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Then perhaps my experience is weird. My tank is not consuming Mg. At all. I test once per week, and I am consistently around 1260 using a Red Sea test kit. Have not needed to add Mg during the past year. Took a sample to Neptune ensure that neither my test kit nor my method were off.

Any clues?
 
I would guess that your tank isn't using enough Mg to need external replacement besides what is replaced via water change. You don't have no SPS, so Mg isn't used up as quickly.
 
Gablami said:
From the brs 2 part instructions, which many of us use.


Once the dose is dialed in continue daily dosing until the gallon jugs of Calcium and Alkalinity are finished. At this point it is time to dose 20oz of the Magnesium solution. This can be done entirely in one dose just remember to add slowly to a high flow area of the tank.
Click to expand...
Brs sells stuff, they are not expert aquarists imo. If dumping in a bunch all at once every once in a while sounds like a good plan to you, go for it. Sounds like a bad plan to me. Plenty of bad plans work out sometimes, just usually a "better" plan could be used and work just as well if not better.
 
I seem to have the opposite problem with Mg. My tank eats it up. I only have a 30 gallon and dose 8 ml of Ca and alk but 30 ml of Mg a day. I tried going 5 days without dosing it to see if what I was dosing was really needed and it dropped exactly what I had missed by not dosing. I just dose it along with the others since I've got the extra dosing head to do it.
 
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Coral reefer said:
Brs sells stuff, they are not expert aquarists imo. If dumping in a bunch all at once every once in a while sounds like a good plan to you, go for it. Sounds like a bad plan to me. Plenty of bad plans work out sometimes, just usually a "better" plan could be used and work just as well if not better.
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Haha, I probably seem like I work for BRS. They're just a great resource with their vids and I learned a lot from them. As a beginner I just try to follow instructions.

I'm dosing about 40 ml of alk and only 5 of Ca per day. Keep waiting for my Ca to drop...
 
@FeliciaLynn's snowflake eel has taken up residence and seems to like the 92G corner and especially the deep rockwork. Thanks to @Kensington Reefer for the taking care of the eel and my tanks while I was travelling!

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Yes, I have persistent problem with diatoms since moving to the 92. It doesn't seem to be getting worse but doesn't seem to be getting better either.
 
My eldest fish, a 8+ year old female ocellaris clown, which I have had for the entire time I have had a tank suddenly disappeared on Friday. The skimmer was working overdrive and my fish room/office had a distinct sulphur dead fish smell. She lived a long time for a clown fish. Well past the normal wild life expectancy. It has been interesting that the top male has already stared taking over her normal patrol area and the junior male has moved in closer as well. I'd like to get another juvenille ocellaris or two to bolster the new (soon to be) female's harem.
 
Has the eel tried getting out? Do you have a top?

I may be getting rid of our two ocellaris. They don't do anything. They just stay in the corner of the tank. They're about a year old.
 
The eel has explored the tank thoroughly. So far he has knocked over only one rock. I was prepared for the eel arrival and had Felicia pre-check my setup with an abundance of precaution. The lid is tightly sealed with a nice big weight on the only portion he could theoretically lift. I've also had to get better about not just sticking my hands in the tank when playing with powerheads, etc. I have heard too many horror stories of eel clamping on and being unable to release the bite.

If you do decide to give up the Ocellaris I can give them a good home. They probably aren't old enough for one of them to have turned female.
 
I'm not sure about the gender. If I had to guess I'd say they've turned. They were part of the same clutch as far as I know and one has grown significantly larger and is the dominant.
 
Flagg37 said:
I'm not sure about the gender. If I had to guess I'd say they've turned. They were part of the same clutch as far as I know and one has grown significantly larger and is the dominant.
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Ah, too late then. I don't want to end up with two females in the same small space.
 
The eel saga is over. He(?) was safely rehomed to California Reef Company where he will be joining other eels in a display tank they are in the process of building.

I can't be sure that the eel actually ate any of the missing fish but it does seem that his presence and habits were too great a stresser on the resident fish population. Disappointing but I learned something.
 
I have completed what will probably be my final tank upgrades–my next upgrade will be "the ocean".

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I now have my dream 92G quarter round tank and a greater than my dreams 30"x48"x12" frag flat (formerly @iani on loan from @Kensington Reefer). Total water volume including sump is just over 200 gallons. This is the configuration I've had in mind since about 6 months after getting my first tank in 2010. These tanks sit feet from my desk and I get hours of enjoyment watching them every single week.

Over time I plan get more fish, replace two part dosing with a calcium reactor, upgrade the lights and spend more time aquascaping the display tank. I keep thinking I would like to do something with a smarter controller but that seems too much like work.
 
I added a Kole Tang and Six Line Wrasse to the frag tank today. I considered a minature butterfly but didn't for now. I would like to get another Tomini tang and a fairy wrasse of some kind for the display tank.
 
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