switching salt

[ollie51]

is it a bad idea to switch salt one type to another went from coralife to trop marin pro reef after i did it i read its not a good idea any ideas on this?

 

[mmkeeper]

In most cases people who change salt brands do it slowly. One water will be with 3/4 old salt 1/4 new and so on.

 

[Jan]

I have never heard of that practice of switching slowly. If a person is doing a 10% water change that's already a gradual change for the tank as a whole, isn't it? What exactly is accomplished or avoided by mixing the salts like you describe?

 

[Jobiwan]

I agree, you'll have no problem if you do it in steps (25% water change or less), keep in mind that when you are doing any water change the chemical makeup of the water in your system is quite different from the freshly mixed batch of artificial seawater, any decent salt mix will provide replenishment of depleted elements and dilution of undesireable metabolic byproducts. The idea of the gradual change is not so much from changing brands, it's just a matter of avoiding a sudden drastic change in water makeup, the same rule applies even if you are not changing brands regarding regular water changes. Mixing two types of (dry)salt mix together is probably not necessary or advised, there are formulaic differences that would throw an extra unknown in...