Changing type of Red Sea Salt. How fast on nano tank. Reefloat!

[Lynseyw]

So I have my Red Sea Max Nano set up (20gal) and I initially set it up with Red Sea Salt, but I have added a lot more corals mostly softies & LPS. I want to change to the Red Sea Coral Salt. I wanted to get the salt switched and stabilized so I can start dosing Ca and Alk. But I can't really do that until I've switched the salt. The Sea Salt has a kH8 and Coral Salt kH12....So my question is...do I have to sorta mix the salt and do half and half for a while, or can I just switch to the new salt, assuming it wouldn't change the alk that much with just like a 20-25% water change?

I just got my Reefloat water changer, so I am excited to do a water change anyway. I bought the smallest one which is 20L (5.2gal), so figure with the 7-10% or so that the Reefloat wastes, I figure it would be around a 20% water change.

 

[Macbalacano]

If it were me, I would change the amount of water (using the new salt) that would only increase my dKh by 0.5 -1 dKh a day maximum, until you reach the desired level. Then I would just keep using the new salt after. Too much change too quickly may stress the corals out.

 

[Lynseyw]

Ok, Sounds good. Also, just a thought.... what if on my next change I use my old salt, and then dose Alk slowly until it gets to around 11, and then just start using the new salt...Maybe that would be a more controlled way of increasing the alk?

 

[Macbalacano]

Ok, Sounds good. Also, just a thought.... what if on my next change I use my old salt, and then dose Alk slowly until it gets to around 11, and then just start using the new salt...Maybe that would be a more controlled way of increasing the alk?

I think either way is ok as long as the end result is the same. The salt I currently use has a high dKh. I know that every time I do a 20% water change, it will bump up my dKh by 0.5. I just plan for that accordingly.

 

[Spare time]

I'd just do the water change as normal but with the new salt. I don't think alk swings are that harmful unless you are swinging the pH too.

 

[rennjidk]

I'd just do the water change as normal but with the new salt. I don't think alk swings are that harmful unless you are swinging the pH too.

That's just bad advice.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

So I have my Red Sea Max Nano set up (20gal) and I initially set it up with Red Sea Salt, but I have added a lot more corals mostly softies & LPS. I want to change to the Red Sea Coral Salt. I wanted to get the salt switched and stabilized so I can start dosing Ca and Alk. But I can't really do that until I've switched the salt. The Sea Salt has a kH8 and Coral Salt kH12....So my question is...do I have to sorta mix the salt and do half and half for a while, or can I just switch to the new salt, assuming it wouldn't change the alk that much with just like a 20-25% water change?

I just got my Reefloat water changer, so I am excited to do a water change anyway. I bought the smallest one which is 20L (5.2gal), so figure with the 7-10% or so that the Reefloat wastes, I figure it would be around a 20% water change.

No, you can just make the switch, and monitor alk changes accordingly. A 10% change with 12 dKH water on an 8 dKH tank will only boost alk by 0.4 dKH.

 

[Dom]

Personally, I would use my existing salt and only make a change if the current salt is underperforming in some way.

 

[Spare time]

That's just bad advice.

Says who? Do you know how many people buy coral, place them in the tank, and don't adjust their whole alk to match the store's alk nor drip the coral? I've literally sold hundreds if not thousands of coral to people. Plus, a water change isn't going to drastically change anything unless its a massive change. You can disagree, but I'd like to know your reasons why.

 

[rennjidk]

Says who? Do you know how many people buy coral, place them in the tank, and don't adjust their whole alk to match the store's alk nor drip the coral? I've literally sold hundreds if not thousands of coral to people. Plus, a water change isn't going to drastically change anything unless its a massive change. You can disagree, but I'd like to know your reasons why.

Sorry, I could have worded that better and didn't mean to seem rude. You made a blanket statement that alkalinity spikes cannot cause coral death, unless subsequently raising ph dramatically, as say in the case of a kalk doser failing.

I don't think alk swings are that harmful unless you are swinging the pH too.

There have been many cases of RTN when switching to high Alk salt mixes for people who have done so with large volume WCs. I've seen quite a few threads about it in the past, and I believe "Fragboxtv" has a vid of a customer coming in after wiping out half of their acros by switching to redsea coral pro and doing a large WC with the new salt. That's what I was disagreeing with, and what I thought was bad advice.

 

[Lynseyw]

I used the old salt and did about a 20% water change (I use the 20L Reefloat AWC). I got my doser all set up. My Alk was 7.9. I set the doser to increase by 0.7 per day (3 doses/per day) until I reach the 11.5 mark. I figure by the time I do a water change next week, it will be close enough to the new salt and I can just do a water change with the new salt from now on. Also dosing Calcium. Then once I'm on the new salt, for a bit, I should be able to actually get my doser set up to a more consistent routine.