Salt decision

[worstcaseontario]

Hey all hope you all had a great weekend.

I've a question about salt, not trying to ask a stupid question. Currently me and my landlord have tanks and we are sharing salt currently. After this bucket we have is done, he wants to switch to a cheaper salt because he has a hard time keeping corals. I have mixed reef. Predominantly Lps, clams and some some softies and 3 sps. At the moment we are using tropic Marin bio actif. I am looking at aquaforest. I'm wondering if one is better than the other or are pretty much par with eachother. Thank you so much for your time in reading this and any info/experience is very much appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Ron Reefman]

IMHO, with 25 years in the hobby, I firmly believe the basic Instant Ocean or IO Reef Crystals are perfectly OK to use. I have an all coral (95% sps & lps) tank with no fish. Paying for more 'stuff' in with the salt is a waste of money... although the sponsors here might not like hearing say that!

 

[Snoopy 67]

Like Ron I used IO for many years.

 

[worstcaseontario]

I've heard of IO but was hesitant of it using it as everyone in the area where I live all seemed to have gravitated to the "big name"(red sea,tropic Marin, aquaforest or as of late esv). With the IO, is there anything special I should know about with them in regards to mixing or batch accuracy? Not trying to ask dumb questions, I just want to have a grasp on the product so I use it properly. I've been told some salt mixes has specific mixing instructions.

Thank you so much!!

 

[Ron Reefman]

IO is simple. 1/2 cup for every gallon of RO/DI water. I run a pump in the bottom of my mixing container. I find that I need to add some extra IO to get it up to the salinity level I run in my tanks. I let it mix for a few hours to as long as over night.

 

[Reefer Matt]

Nothing wrong with cheaper salts, but you will likely find that they leave a brown residue in mixing bins compared to Tropic Marin. To mitigate that, I use a powerhead with a sponge filter on it. Here’s a vid on that.

 

[worstcaseontario]

Fair enough, seems straight forward as that's basically what I do now. Thanks a bunch Ron

 

[Ron Reefman]

BTW, I have only had brown residue when mixing back about 5 years ago. I get some white Ca bildup if I mix it too long (like 2 or 3 days). I cleans off easy with vinegar.

 

[exnisstech]

4 tanks here running on instant ocean/ reef crystal mixed 50/50. No real reason I mix it other than I bought a bunch of both when they were on sale. Sure it leaves a brown residue in my brute mixing station but what do I care? It's just for mixing salt and doesn't go into the display.
Most folks say to run a salt that is closest to the parameters you want to keep.

I just saw @Ron Reefman reply about the residue. Sometimes I mix salt and leave it in the mixing container for up to a week so that may be why I'm getting the residue.

I like to keep enough salt mixed up so I can set a tank up in an emergency if needed. Not everyone has the space to do that or feel the need. I also keep a brute full of old tank water removed too in case I have a big emergency. I might be paranoid but having to set an emergency tank up after a velvet outbreak can do that to a person.

 

[worstcaseontario]

4 tanks here running on instant ocean/ reef crystal mixed 50/50. No real reason I mix it other than I bought a bunch of both when they were on sale. Sure it leaves a brown residue in my brute mixing station but what do I care? It's just for mixing salt and doesn't go into the display.
Most folks say to run a salt that is closest to the parameters you want to keep.

I just saw @Ron Reefman reply about the residue. Sometimes I mix salt and leave it in the mixing container for up to a week so that may be why I'm getting the residue.

I like to keep enough salt mixed up so I can set a tank up in an emergency if needed. Not everyone has the space to do that or feel the need. I also keep a brute full of old tank water removed too in case I have a big emergency. I might be paranoid but having to set an emergency tank up after a velvet outbreak can do that to a person.

That's completly understandable after an outbreak like that! Unfortunately I dont have much space to work with as the room I have in my apartment, my landlord uses as well. So I unfortunately have to mix in a 5 gallon bucket in the corner of my bedroom. When I am able to have a residency that I'm not having to share, I will be doing a proper mixing station similar to what you have!!

 

[jda]

Instant Ocean is one of the few products in the world that is both high quality and not expensive. Nearly all of the public aquariums that buy salt use it. Many of the best tanks in the US use it. It is a good product and very consistent from batch to batch. It also goes on sale at least once a year for around $30-35 for a 200g box.