Mixing Red Sea Foundation powder

[SubzeroLT]

Seeking help on how to properly mix Red Sea Foundation C (magnesium) powder to make stock solution. 2nd attempt & can't get it right.

Instructions say to mix 1kg of Red Sea Foundation powder to 1.7L of RO/DI water.

However, i find that its impossible to get the powder to dissolve. In fact, there is a lot of residue left which settles down in the container - something that is undesirable when using a dosing pump.

I read that some folks filter it through a coffee filter.

I did just that & went further to test the stock solution (mix 10ml of stock solution to 990ml of RO/DI water).

It yielded about 360ppm. This is so far off from the supposedly 1000ppm i'm supposed to get

How to you guys resolve this? What are you getting?

[xiggie]

Tried warm water? But I think 1kg is too much for just a liter or water

[SubzeroLT]

Instructions say 1kg to 1.7L of water. I mixed it in that proportion.

Also the reaction generates heat, so the water is pretty hot already.

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[xiggie]

Wasn't it the calcium mix that gets hot ? Or did I get it wrong.. Haha

[Whiskie]

Both. But the calcium do get very hot to the touch.

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[bezz]

Email the Red Sea office@redseafish.com

http://www.redseafish.com/contact-us/

[SubzeroLT]

Email the Red Sea office@redseafish.com

http://www.redseafish.com/contact-us/

Thanks. I'll update here if I get new information from them.

[SubzeroLT]

I had several email correspondence with Kevin Davis (Technical Support Manager). The response was prompt with explanation on how to test for the concentration of the stock solution.

Without going into too much details, the main highlights from him are :

- Red Sea Foundation C (Mg) will not dissolve fully to give 1ml = 1ppm stock solution. There will be some sediments left. FYI, they call these undissolved sediments "flocks"

- These flocks will not solidify into a huge chunk. No issues with passing these through a dosing pump.

- Do not filter the solution if you want to maintain the concentration. Leave the flocks there.

My thoughts :

- Concentration will be different when there are more flocks initially than later on. This will happen when using a dosing pump over a period of time. Probably not a good thing.

- Best to stir or agitate the solution (with flocks) before dosing

- Else, just go ahead to filter it. The resulting stock solution will be more diluted. Its not a major issue since one can just dose more cc each time.

[bezz]

Did you manage to get the Mg solution to mix (with DI water) at their listed levels?