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I found MAG Pellets
- Thread starter Jennifer
- Start date
OP
OP
Jennifer
Moody and emotional slob
Mag pellets are roughly the same thing Mag Flake, As in Randy 2 part recipe saving you lots of money. Everyone has been posting where is the mag flake anyone found mag flake I need mag flake.
TAAA DAAAAA!!! Here you are.
I will test for Amonia just too be sure
TAAA DAAAAA!!! Here you are.
I will test for Amonia just too be sure
Why pellets,is there something wrong with magflake?
I just went to the local grain store and they had a pallet.Then I went to home Depot and the dowflake is gone,replaced by magflake.
I just went to the local grain store and they had a pallet.Then I went to home Depot and the dowflake is gone,replaced by magflake.
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Yeah,it's pretty bad when your first stop is over to the pallets of rock salt and then out to the garden area.Strange how i'm the only one out here.lol
Then it was over to the glue area to check for Aquamend.I bought the last tube there.I guess they're not gonna carry it anymore.Then once through PVC and Plexi-acrylic area.Then I look for stuff for the house.:-(
Then it was over to the glue area to check for Aquamend.I bought the last tube there.I guess they're not gonna carry it anymore.Then once through PVC and Plexi-acrylic area.Then I look for stuff for the house.:-(
OP
OP
Jennifer
Moody and emotional slob
nope, was not sure exactly how to do it. I know how to use my test kit. Just wondering what would be an accepted concentration level of pellets to water and such. Like how much pellets to a gallon of water? Or mix per randy's instruction and then test.
If so I will try to get to it later.
If so I will try to get to it later.
>Just wondering what would be an accepted concentration level of pellets to water<
I suggest you take some water from your tank. Test for ammonia, then add enough of your magnesium supplement for an increase of 100 ppm Magnesium. Then test for ammonia again. If you see a significant difference in the test (a boost of 0.5 ppm ammonia) then you might want to either reconsider the use of the mag flakes/pellets, or plan on adding the supplement slowly enough so that your ammonia levels do not spike.
As for calculations, the magflake (and the pellets I believe) are magnesium chloride hexahydrate, so they are about 11.8% magnesium. So if you have a liter of tank water, you'd need to add 847 mg of the magflake/pellets to get a 100 mg/l (almost the same as 100 ppm) increase in magnesium. If you don't have an accurate way of measuring that low of a weight, just increase the volume of tank water until you can measure the amount of magnesium you need for it.
I suggest you take some water from your tank. Test for ammonia, then add enough of your magnesium supplement for an increase of 100 ppm Magnesium. Then test for ammonia again. If you see a significant difference in the test (a boost of 0.5 ppm ammonia) then you might want to either reconsider the use of the mag flakes/pellets, or plan on adding the supplement slowly enough so that your ammonia levels do not spike.
As for calculations, the magflake (and the pellets I believe) are magnesium chloride hexahydrate, so they are about 11.8% magnesium. So if you have a liter of tank water, you'd need to add 847 mg of the magflake/pellets to get a 100 mg/l (almost the same as 100 ppm) increase in magnesium. If you don't have an accurate way of measuring that low of a weight, just increase the volume of tank water until you can measure the amount of magnesium you need for it.
OP
OP
Jennifer
Moody and emotional slob
Thanks Greg,
I have made up a batch of the Mag supplement using Epsomsalts and mag pellets. I will be doing some testing after the solution fully dissolves and precipitates. I am going to try to bring a gallon of my tank water up by 100ppm and see just how much Mag supplement It takes to do so. I will also be testing for ammonia. I hope this will suffice.
I found this in 1 of Randy's two part articles.
Dead Sea Works is a business unit of ICL Fertilizers. They sell magnesium chloride hexahydrate in the U.S. as a deicer and apparently distribute it also to artificial seawater (salt) manufacturers. In the past, potential impurities (such as ammonia) have left many aquarists, and even some companies, wary of using deicing or any other grades of magnesium chloride hexahydrate. However, the Dead Sea Works company recently supplied a detailed impurity profile of its product listing most impurities (29 in all). None was high enough to concern reef aquarists. Included in the profile was an indication that it had adequately low ammonia. Subsequent analysis by Greg Hiller of some of the supplied material confirmed that the ammonia is low enough to use.
The recipe above is based on the MAG Flake's bulk density supplied by the manufacturer. They also sell a pelletized product, which may be OK to use, but probably has a slightly different bulk density (they do not provide the bulk density for that to my knowledge). Exact values for the magnesium part are less important than for the other parts, and when using pellets I recommend just following the directions stated here for flakes, unless better information becomes available in the future.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php#15
I have made up a batch of the Mag supplement using Epsomsalts and mag pellets. I will be doing some testing after the solution fully dissolves and precipitates. I am going to try to bring a gallon of my tank water up by 100ppm and see just how much Mag supplement It takes to do so. I will also be testing for ammonia. I hope this will suffice.
I found this in 1 of Randy's two part articles.
Dead Sea Works is a business unit of ICL Fertilizers. They sell magnesium chloride hexahydrate in the U.S. as a deicer and apparently distribute it also to artificial seawater (salt) manufacturers. In the past, potential impurities (such as ammonia) have left many aquarists, and even some companies, wary of using deicing or any other grades of magnesium chloride hexahydrate. However, the Dead Sea Works company recently supplied a detailed impurity profile of its product listing most impurities (29 in all). None was high enough to concern reef aquarists. Included in the profile was an indication that it had adequately low ammonia. Subsequent analysis by Greg Hiller of some of the supplied material confirmed that the ammonia is low enough to use.
The recipe above is based on the MAG Flake's bulk density supplied by the manufacturer. They also sell a pelletized product, which may be OK to use, but probably has a slightly different bulk density (they do not provide the bulk density for that to my knowledge). Exact values for the magnesium part are less important than for the other parts, and when using pellets I recommend just following the directions stated here for flakes, unless better information becomes available in the future.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php#15
OP
OP
Jennifer
Moody and emotional slob
Test Results
Well I had time to do some testing.
The goal was to find out if Mag pellets are safe to use. And how much would be needed for a proper dose of magnesium.
I wanted to test for ammonia and determine how much supplement it would take to raise a gallon of my tank water by 100 ppm.
I mixed a batch of Randy'S magnesium supplement recipe per his directions. I of course used Mag pellets instead of Mag flake.
I measured the levels before and after dosing the Magnesium.
Results : 1 Gallon of tank water
W/O Mag supp | With Mag Supp
-------------------------------------------
Ammonia = 0 ppm | 0 ppm
Magnesium = 1,200 ppm | 1,300 ppm
It took approximately 10ml to raise 1 gallon of 1.025 sg tank water 100ppm.
I doubled the dose per 1 gallon to see if there was any ammonia. My results were inconclusive, maybe a trace of ammonia but nothing I am going to worry about in small doses.
I have since dosed my system with a small 20 ml dose per aprox 150 gallon total volume. No noticeable affects.
Hope this helps out. - Jenn
Well I had time to do some testing.
The goal was to find out if Mag pellets are safe to use. And how much would be needed for a proper dose of magnesium.
I wanted to test for ammonia and determine how much supplement it would take to raise a gallon of my tank water by 100 ppm.
I mixed a batch of Randy'S magnesium supplement recipe per his directions. I of course used Mag pellets instead of Mag flake.
I measured the levels before and after dosing the Magnesium.
Results : 1 Gallon of tank water
W/O Mag supp | With Mag Supp
-------------------------------------------
Ammonia = 0 ppm | 0 ppm
Magnesium = 1,200 ppm | 1,300 ppm
It took approximately 10ml to raise 1 gallon of 1.025 sg tank water 100ppm.
I doubled the dose per 1 gallon to see if there was any ammonia. My results were inconclusive, maybe a trace of ammonia but nothing I am going to worry about in small doses.
I have since dosed my system with a small 20 ml dose per aprox 150 gallon total volume. No noticeable affects.
Hope this helps out. - Jenn
Dragon2115
Non-member
Just curious, but if there is ammonia won't it evaporate off if the mix is allowed to stand for overnight?
>Just curious, but if there is ammonia won't it evaporate off if the mix is allowed to stand for overnight?<
The chemical that would be present in the magnesium mixture would be ammonium ion (NH4+) not ammonia (NH3). The test kit would still measure it, but you cannot remove it to any significant extent by merely aerating the water.
Jennifer - good work on the testing. Good to know that the mag still available commerically is unlikely to have any ammonium (though anyone using should probably test a sample of their bag before using).
The chemical that would be present in the magnesium mixture would be ammonium ion (NH4+) not ammonia (NH3). The test kit would still measure it, but you cannot remove it to any significant extent by merely aerating the water.
Jennifer - good work on the testing. Good to know that the mag still available commerically is unlikely to have any ammonium (though anyone using should probably test a sample of their bag before using).
