Brand of Salt preferred

Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum

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#1 - Instant Ocean, they have a very consistent mix, and there's not too many worries when you're using it.

#2 - Tropic Marin, this salt has an excellent mixture, with great levels.

I know there are a few others out there which will work as well, but I haven't tried them.

I would stay away from kent, they had some problems recently.

-Josh-:cool:
 
I'd like to add another question to this. I don't have an RO unit yet. So far, I've been using de-chlorinated tap water, mixing the salt and letting it aerate overnight before doing water changes. I do have a friend with an RO unit who has offered to let me borrow it. My question is, Could I purchase a 40 gallon trash can, fill it with RO water, mix the salt, add a powerhead and just let it go? How long would the saltwater be good for before it started to lose the trace elements I need? Now that I've got my nitrates stable, I plan to be going through about 6-10 gallons per week. I'd only have to borrow his RO unit once a month. Any comments?
 
When I do water changes I mix up my water on Monday or Tuesday and don't do the change till Saturday. Overnight is marginal on letting the salt mix in and not still be caustic. Your idea of using a trashcan is what many people do, just don't get a cheap one because not all of them can handle being full of water very long. I don't know if the mixed RO water in your can will ever have anything go wrong with it, at least not until after you have used it.
RO water is definitely the way to go.
I may be wrong but I don't think you will have any problems with your plan (someone correct me if I am wrong).
As for salt I have been using Coralife but am switching over to Instant Ocean. Not for any particular reason other than I want to support a certain LFS (Aquatic Dreams:) ).

Tim
 
I use Instant Ocean.

Why don't you try getting an RO unit from Ebay, i've heard there's really good deals in there.

I usually make my water a day ahead in one of those containers from wal mart, they're less than 5 bucks and work good but i'm not sure how good they'd work with what you wanna do.
One thing that you would have to check is, your ph to see where it stands, the calcium and other trace elements just to make sure...... just my opinion.
I'm sure someone with more knowledge would tell you better :) .
 
Out of curiosity, any of the people using Reef Crystals have much opinion of it? Because of a size of my tank, a Ca reactor is impractical, so I could use a higher Ca and Alk to begin with.

-Dylan
 
I have very good results w/RC, mixes to decent levels and the ph stays pretty stable for me. I used Coralife before and you definately get what you pay for....I try to stay away from this stuff.
 
I use reef crystals. It works very well for me. I use a 44 gallon brute to store rodi, and another to mix saltwater in, and two other ones. LOL
I do water changes for a living sooooo...... I mix it up and use quickly. I use a 5 gallon size plastic drill operated mixer for paint to mix my water. I make it as soon as I get there, mix it, and then leave it to mix with a powerhead while I clean the tank. In the winter I use a very large aluminum pot, to boil rodi water and add it back to the salt to heat it. I just kinda know how much to use.
Some customers do thier own partials so I leave them mixed saltwater in 5 gallon gas cans. They just remove and replace, and then every other water change I come and do it. Seems to make them happy. LOL
 
I've been using Seachem's Reef Salt and I have been very happy with it! Calcium is above 400 and pH is about 8.2 without any additional buffer! If you have a reef tank I would highly recommend this mix. I buy it at Denny's in Totem Lake, the only local place that i've seen it besides the internet. Nobody else seems to use it, but I think it's great!
 
I started with RC then went to IO. Never see RC on sale but I do see IO on sale often. If you are not happy with the levels of ALK, and Ca then get a two part Ca solution and use it for your initial batch and your water changes. As for storage, I have yet to see a definitive answer from either hobbiest nor trained chemist once it comes to "shelf life" of synthetic sea water. I'll use my favorite analogy: BEER. While in college, I worked in a liquor store/tavern. My first day, I was told by the mgr, not to "skunk" the beer. As was explained to me by him and then later the drivers is that the cans/bottles are air tight and had a "long" shelf life but do not let a case get cold, then warm then cold again. Makes it taste like swamp water (we all had this happen, "ain't going down good"). In theory, as long as you can maintain as little bacteria colonization as possible, "airtight" (get your mind outta the gutter) then I can't see anything wrong with a batch being a few months old as long as it's properly mixed for a time before use. I know Im gonna catch a trimming here for this......
 
I've been using Oceanic, and fighting problems with high calcium, low alkalinity.

When I ran out, I made the switch to Tropic Marin, and am very happy so far. I can see a noticable difference in my LPS, and the tank looks great (could be attributed to a 100% water change and completly tearing the tank down)

The only inhabitant thats unhappy so far is my anemone, but I think he needs time...
 
wrightme43 said:
I use reef crystals. It works very well for me. I use a 44 gallon brute to store rodi, and another to mix saltwater in, and two other ones. LOL
I do water changes for a living sooooo...... I mix it up and use quickly. I use a 5 gallon size plastic drill operated mixer for paint to mix my water. I make it as soon as I get there, mix it, and then leave it to mix with a powerhead while I clean the tank. In the winter I use a very large aluminum pot, to boil rodi water and add it back to the salt to heat it. I just kinda know how much to use.
Some customers do thier own partials so I leave them mixed saltwater in 5 gallon gas cans. They just remove and replace, and then every other water change I come and do it. Seems to make them happy. LOL
Click to expand...

I think the key here is the container. Steve uses a brute, which is a food grade container. Other containers will leach back into the water, leaving what you thought was pure RO/DI water about the same as some tap waters. I learned the hard way, I used to store my RO water in a regular old 30 gallon trash bucket, 0 TDS going in, it was 25-30 coming out.
 
Steve uses a brute, which is a food grade container.

Good info to know Charlie I used to have Rubber queen Garbage cans and with the water changes i do they just gave out after 2 years of use. I wanted some thing stronger so I went to Home depot and bought Brute Containers because they are so much stronger. "Thicker walled"

As for salt I started with Oceanic Loved it because of the Hi Calcium levels but I got tired of dosing super DKH to bring up my Alkalinity back up so I switched to IO Had allot less problems with Cyno and other nuisance Algae growth But my SPS just wasn't taking off ( slow growth ) My Coraline algae on my back glass even started to disappear, slowly Again I don't add any calcium or dose with my IO. But My calcium levels would start to drop in my tank after 7 days with no water changes.
I tried a bucket of Coralife scientific Grade Marine salt and I have had quite positive changes I can go about 10 days in the same tank ( My 75 gallon SPS & Clam tank) before I start to see a drop in my Calcium My Alkalinity stays pretty constant and my Ph will stay 8.1 to 8.5 ( Reverse Fugue lighting)

My own personal results from simple Testing with my salifert kits and watching my PH has led me to believe That Corallife salt has a little more Calcium in it Than IO. and It has more buffer in it than Oceanic. I have never tried Reef Crystals or Tropic Martin It is not avail in my local area...But I belive from the info on this board they may both be this same way as well...
Jeff "aka salt water change king!"
 
Has anyone tried Pro-Line? Its the one that is only the trace elements and you add the salt and the water. That would be good for shipping because you arent paying to have salt shipped.
 
IO 160g size (5g pail) for $48.00 less $5.00 MIR

Petsmart in So.Cal sells the IO 160g size for $48.00, selected pails have a MIR for $5.00.

I just picked one up today.

Doug
 
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