Switching salt mix more success?

[Williamthegr88]

Thinking of switching salt mixes to the Red Sea salt mix and dosing program in hopes of better growth and coloration right now I'm using instant ocean reef crystal looking for any input with experience in using different salt mixes and if it made any difference any info would be appreciated thanks

 

[ReeferMaddness843]

Following. I just did the switch from io Reef crystals to Frittz RPM. Only my second day after a 20% water change so we shall see here down the road if there is a noticable change. Best wishes in the change for you and your tank!

 

[Williamthegr88]

Following. I just did the switch from io Reef crystals to Frittz RPM. Only my second day after a 20% water change so we shall see here down the road if there is a noticable change. Best wishes in the change for you and your tank!

Thanks yea very curious if it makes a difference best of luck to you as well

 

[bif24701]

I tried RPM from IO and I didn't notice any change, in a good way.

I will continue to use IO however because for the price I can do more WCs.

 

[phillygeeks]

If you are talking about the red sea coral pro, I found the alk too high when I mixed it. I try to keep my alk around 8 and that salt gave me a spike in alk when I did a water change. I think from a lot of experienced reefers (which I myself am not) claim stability in alk is a big key to success. Other more "reef ready" salts like aquaforest or tropic marin pro may be better if you are looking to keep an alk around 7-8

 

[Williamthegr88]

I tried RPM from IO and I didn't notice any change, in a good way.

I will continue to use IO however because for the price I can do more WCs.

If you are talking about the red sea coral pro I found the alk too high when I mixed it. I try to keep my alk around 8 and that salt gave me a spike in alk when I did a water change. I think from a lot of experienced reefers (which I myself cannot claim) stability in alk is a big key. Other more "reef ready" salts like aquaforest or tropic marin pro may be better if you are looking to keep an alk around 7-8

Well I'm still some what new myself and still trying to soak in information from what I read for lower nutrient tanks you should keep lower alkalinity so yea I'm aiming for maybe a tad over 8 mabye 8.3 I just bought a automatic doses to help keep more consistent and scheduled dosing

 

[phillygeeks]

I think there are a lot of experienced reefers who still use reef crystals. If you want to keep an alk at that level then I would maybe look into keeping your salt mix or switching to one of the others that mix to a lower alk than red sea coral pro. I'm not sure what your nutrients are but if they are too low then that can certainly limit coral health. My experience at this point is my tank does best with some measurable nitrates and phos and when my alk is steady

 

[Williamthegr88]

I think there are a lot of experienced reefers who still use reef crystals. If you want to keep an alk at that level then I would maybe look into keeping your salt mix or switching to one of the others that mix to a lower alk than red sea coral pro. I'm not sure what your nutrients are but if they are too low then that can certainly limit coral health. My experience at this point is my tank does best with some measurable nitrates and phos and when my alk is steady

Yea I'm having a hard time with that seems like I can get it above 0 or close to every time I start feeding more I get algae blooms

 

[Katrina71]

Following. I just did the switch from io Reef crystals to Frittz RPM. Only my second day after a 20% water change so we shall see here down the road if there is a noticable change. Best wishes in the change for you and your tank!

Our Rasta look good using this.

 

[phillygeeks]

Yea I'm having a hard time with that seems like I can get it above 0 or close to every time I start feeding more I get algae blooms

Finding the right balance there and keeping stable water conditions I feel would probably be more likely to aid growth and coloration over switching salt mixes. I know when I started letting my tank get a little "dirtier" I had a transient algae bloom that settled down as I left things settle. I still have an occasional patch of diatoms pop up but overall my corals have been healthier. Hopefully someone more experienced may chime in or you might consider starting another thread to get some input on optimizing your nutrients.

 

[Williamthegr88]

Finding the right balance there and keeping stable water conditions I feel would probably be more likely to aid growth and coloration over switching salt mixes. I know when I started letting my tank get a little "dirtier" I had a transient algae bloom that settled down as I left things settle. I still have an occasional patch of diatoms pop up but overall my corals have been healthier. Hopefully someone more experienced may chime in or you might consider starting another thread to get some input on optimizing your nutrients.

Yea actually I slacked on water changes for a few weeks and noticed my monitors seemed to grow a bit quicker so I think you might be on to something but it's just finding that balance I have fought off bad algae blooms and it sucks just don't want to go down that route again thanks for the input

 

[cap232]

one thing to remember is with red sea coral pro salt. mix it by the directions only.
if you leave a pump mixing to long the calcium will predicate out of the mix and then the water will be cloudy.
I have seen reviews where people gave it a low rating/blaming the salt because of not mixing it by the directions. saying it mixes cloudy.
I use red sea coral pro I still have some left. but reef crystals is virtually the same in parameters. I was going to switch from red sea to reef crystals
or just go back to regular red sea salt.
so I don't think switching to red sea coral pro will be any different than reef crystals.

 

[Williamthegr88]

one thing to remember is with red sea coral pro salt. mix it by the directions only.
if you leave a pump mixing to long the calcium will predicate out of the mix and then the water will be cloudy.
I have seen reviews where people gave it a low rating/blaming the salt because of not mixing it by the directions. saying it mixes cloudy.
I use red sea coral pro I still have some left. but reef crystals is virtually the same in parameters. I was going to switch from red sea to reef crystals
or just go back to regular red sea salt.
so I don't think switching to red sea coral pro will be any different than reef crystals.

That's cool thankyou for the graph that's awesome and yea the more input I'm getting the more I think I'll stick with what I got and try to tweet other things for better growth and coloration thanks for the input

 

[A sea K]

I use Tropic Marin Pro Reef mainly because it mixes to the same levels that I maintain in my system. I have tried other salts in the past ( IO, RC, and also the Red Sea Coral Pro) but have always come back to Tropic Marin especially now that I like to keep my alk in 8.5 range, most other salts are too high in alk for me.

 

[jeffmr4]

For cap232, in the chart you say that instant ocean has a magnesium level of 1350. If you are talking about plain instant ocean, the last time I used that I got 1100. I used red sea coral pro for a while but my calcium and alkalinity got too high. I'm currently trying red sea and my calcium is a little high, alkalinity isn't as low as I thought and magnesium is a little bit low. I've only used it for two weeks though.

 

[badhabits]

I just switched from reef crystals to salinity...first 20% change was a few days ago...I hope it lives up to the hype

 

[brandon429]

the baddest nano reef I know of uses instant ocean, has coral growth equal to any fancy zeovit system, and this IO tank isn't dosing any of the params that IO tests low for

my take on salt mixes: the feed and light is what runs my tank not the mix or its minor variations in levels. My own aquarium can switch 100% instantly to any salt mix high or low in alk or magnesium or calcium and lose nothing, it literally doesn't matter. nano reefers are typically doing weekly maintenance which precludes tedious dosing, and though params range its not an impactful range. I know of no salt mix that mixes up lethal params, too low, for the animals we keep. combine the notorious range of testing accuracy, and lots of claims for ultra-low params just don't pan out. I find that in not testing for params, ive had much fewer reefing headaches though I trade off weekly work and water exchange for the ability to be hands off and dose more/rely on accurate testing.

 

[Waters]

IMO, for the most part, not one brand of salt mix is any better than the others. You just want to use a mix that mixes as close to the numbers that you are trying to keep as possible. You can have a successful reef tank with any of the brands.

 

[cap232]

For cap232, in the chart you say that instant ocean has a magnesium level of 1350. If you are talking about plain instant ocean, the last time I used that I got 1100. I used red sea coral pro for a while but my calcium and alkalinity got too high. I'm currently trying red sea and my calcium is a little high, alkalinity isn't as low as I thought and magnesium is a little bit low. I've only used it for two weeks though.

I don't say anything in the chart. I didnt test them.
that's just one of many examples' out there. google and you can find more. I sure mixes vary depending on sality mixed at. and of course the more expensive brands seem to be more consistent.

 

[cap232]

here's a link to another chart comparison
http://www.thatpetplace.com/salt-mix-guide