Salt

[vinnyvin]

Anyone use this salt just wondering on mixing and is it a decent salt? Never had the money for pro coral salt so this was the next best for me. First time mixing my own salt so I want to be absolute sure before I crack it open. Hoping someone can help me grams/liters. how many grams per 10 liters.
Will be much appreciated.

 

[dbl]

I use that salt and have been very happy with it. I used to use the Pro version but switched a while ago. There is a chart on the bucket that provides instructions on how much salt per 5 gallons of water for varying salinity. You may have to do the conversion to liters if needed.

 

[becks]

I switched from pro to the regular bucket because I like to keep alk at more nsw levels. Mixes really fast too.

 

[Jamie4321]

Hello I'm new to the site however have been reefing for 5+years. I have not used that salt but I would love some feedback also with it. I am very much struggling with the salt I'm currently using. I just got off the phone with Instant Ocean specialist and was vey discouraged that they wont own up to there inconsistencies and inadequate magnesium. Apparently the "guru in our hobby" recommended it so I switched and that was the worst mistake I've made since bio balls

 

[Jamie4321]

I was using Crystal Sea Biossay for a long time with perfect numbers every time. Again I switched to IO because of cost and Crystal Sea does not make there salt in bags anymore. Magnesium in IO is between 1140-1230 every bag I bought as well as the new bags directly from Instant Ocean. I was skeptical on buying a salt that is mined because of its inconsistencies. So if your looking to change salt I would highly recommend a synthetic salt. I know synthetic sounds bad but that way they are able to consistently give you parameters that are labeled on the box.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Many people use that Red Sea salt and like it, but IMO, the salt mix has little bearing on the relative success of a reef tank.

 

[vinnyvin]

Just thought I'd give an update on my first mix, works out to be 36grams to 1 litre. So i done a small amount of 10 liters incase i messed up. got the water to 25°C added a circulation pump and mixed. gave me a salinity reading of 1.025.
Don't know why its taken 2 years to mixed my own salt. It enjoyable! [emoji106] thanks everyone!

 

[Jamie4321]

I would cordially disagree. IMO salt is definitely on my short list for successful reefing. After my experience with IO I am left with having to choose another salt. The IO representive actually told me to mix up the entire 150 gallon bucket of salt and store it to ensure consistency. I would need 3 huge drums to store it but I digress. I do believe that salt should be a minor component of successful reefing if the batches were consitant. I'm not asking for the manufacturers to be exactly right on the numbers but when they are so far off that it affects my livestock then I have a problem. I could just test every fresh water change every time and adjust accordingly. I guess I should buy some stock in salifert and Hanna. Whew sorry..... I had to vent I HATE CHANGING SALT BRANDS.

 

[BoomCorals]

I have been using IO for years and never had problems with any levels being low... I test every new box when I first make saltwater with it. Lowest I recall was around 1340. I have seen as high as 1500. But alk, mag, calc while yes can be inconsistent, they have always been within a range that is acceptable and will do no harm in the boxes I've received over the years.

 

[Jamie4321]

I would cordially disagree. IMO salt is definitely on my short list for successful reefing. After my experience with IO I am left with having to choose another salt. The IO representive actually told me to mix up the entire 150 gallon bucket of salt and store it to ensure consistency. I would need 3 huge drums to store it but I digress. I do believe that salt should be a minor component of successful reefing if the batches were consitant. I'm not asking for the manufacturers to be exactly right on the numbers but when they are so far off that it affects my livestock then I have a problem. I could just test every fresh water change every time and adjust accordingly. I guess I should buy some stock in salifert and Hanna. Whew sorry..... I had to vent I HATE CHANGING SALT BRANDS.

 

[Jamie4321]

So you do admit seeing inconsistencies. I wish I could get IO to admit it. I'm glad your corals are doing good but just think how much better they would have been without swings in levels (assuming you subscribe to IO levels being off as much as 160ppm). My whole point is if you have to test your salt before using it that is unacceptable and you must not trust them if your testing. I'm not trying to be a jerk it's just the one thing that gets under my skin. Everyone attests that consistency is key to successful reefing. Same temp, same salinity, alc calc etc.... The whole reason I dose is to maintain consistency in my levels. The last thing I need is a salt you can't count on for a baseline.

 

[BoomCorals]

So you do admit seeing inconsistencies. I wish I could get IO to admit it. I'm glad your corals are doing good but just think how much better they would have been without swings in levels (assuming you subscribe to IO levels being off as much as 160ppm). My whole point is if you have to test your salt before using it that is unacceptable and you must not trust them if your testing. I'm not trying to be a jerk it's just the one thing that gets under my skin. Everyone attests that consistency is key to successful reefing. Same temp, same salinity, alc calc etc.... The whole reason I dose is to maintain consistency in my levels. The last thing I need is a salt you can't count on for a baseline.

The "swings" have zero negative effect because they are all within acceptable range. If my tank is sitting at 8.5 dkh, 1380 mag, 410 calc, me doing water changes with salt that is 9.5, 450, 1450 or any other similar range isn't going to have any negative effect as the net change is much smaller and all still in ranges that will not have any ill effect.

As for testing salt before I use it, that's just basic reefkeeping 101... ANY salt manufacturer can have a bad batch.

As for consistency and successful reefkeeping, the core 3 numbers will generally have fluctuating changes all the time which is normal. People chase numbers way too much and it usually does more harm than good.

 

[Jamie4321]

Acceptful response. I just didn't think everyone tested each water change every time for everything. I change 10% every week. Looks like my reef tank husbandry just got a whole lot more expensive. I use to just test monthly on my DT to adjust dosing for growth and assumed the salt was within +or- 5% error. I just wish there was a salt out there that has a steady baseline that wasn't 80$ a box. I guess I'll have to do some math to see which way to go. Either fly through expensive test kits and waste time or pay premium for a quality salt.

 

[PatW]

Red Sea has a good reputation.

I use instant ocean but I am planning on trying Reef crystals. From what I have seen, amazing reef tanks can be done using any reputable salt mix. Other factors like husbandry, parameter swings, flow, lighting, nutrient levels among other are what makes the difference.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I would cordially disagree. IMO salt is definitely on my short list for successful reefing. After my experience with IO I am left with having to choose another salt..

OK, but I've seen fabulous reefs with nearly any mix (including ordinary IO which I used for 20 years), and after having read literally (and I do mean literally) hundreds of thousands of reef chemistry posts, I detect no trend that says one or a small subset of salt mixes leads to a better reef tank.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

So you do admit seeing inconsistencies. I wish I could get IO to admit it. I'm glad your corals are doing good but just think how much better they would have been without swings in levels (assuming you subscribe to IO levels being off as much as 160ppm). My whole point is if you have to test your salt before using it that is unacceptable and you must not trust them if your testing. I'm not trying to be a jerk it's just the one thing that gets under my skin. Everyone attests that consistency is key to successful reefing. Same temp, same salinity, alc calc etc.... The whole reason I dose is to maintain consistency in my levels. The last thing I need is a salt you can't count on for a baseline.

lol

IMO, most beginning reefers finding a mix way off are more likely to be experiencing an error from a test problem than to get a seriously off salt mix using a major name brand. I wouldn't recommend that they correct every "problem" that seems to come up.

Issues do happen, but they are a lot less common than folks expect based on thrir own testing, which is clearly wrong in many cases.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Looks like my reef tank husbandry just got a whole lot more expensive. I use to just test monthly on my DT to adjust dosing for growth and assumed the salt was within +or- 5% error. I just wish there was a salt out there that has a steady baseline that wasn't 80$ a box. I guess I'll have to do some math to see which way to go. Either fly through expensive test kits and waste time or pay premium for a quality salt.

FWIW, most people can have a great tank by monitoring nothing other than alkalinity and dose a balanced additive system of some sort to meet just the alkalinity number.

 

[Jamie4321]

I can have a successful reef tank with just about any salt. I would test the big 4 parameters and adjust accordingly every batch. I'm really just looking for a consistent salt I can count on Every batch being approx. the same parameters. My fight isn't with this reefing community it's with IO and thank you for the red sea recommendation. I was hoping to go with something cheaper but you get what you pay for. BTW I have noticed countless amounts of posts having the same problem with IO. However i listened to a self proclaimed expert and tried it. It would not surprise me if the expert I listened to was sleeping with the company ie.(kickbacks for good reviews).lol

 

[Jamie4321]

I have tried reef crystals way back and it was a good salt if you are packed with sps. Otherwise you get precipitation and your hardware suffers because of the 500 calc. IMO I would try it just make sure you have a lot of calc demand and then it's an excellent choice because you'll be saving money on dosing.