The great salt debate

[FlyinBryan]

I'm half Red Sea Coral Pro and half RC.

 

[Zacco]

redfishbluefish: You are correct sir. I left the high 10 PH solution out of the the above statement. I stand corrected. I use a digital PH meter to get more accurate readings. I don't trust PH test kits and their accuracy.

 

[bocomo]

RSCP here too (switched from the seachem) RSCP seems to encourage diatoms a little been thinking of trying out AquaCraft Marine Environment; anyone have experience with it?

 

[MAXreefer]

I am setting up a Zeovit system and researching a good salt with low Alk. My local supplier recommended to try Crystal Sea Marinemix Bioassay Laboratory Formula Salt Mix.

As I don't have any experiences with are there any reefers out here using this salt? Experiences?

Thanks for input

 

[guicho]

I use Marine Enviroment In The Past, And That´s The Best Salt I Ever Use, Sadly Doesnt Sell It In Mexico Anymore

 

[mcarroll]

To answer mcarroll's questions about my method's of mixing salt water. I've been buying the 18 pound bags (60 gallons) of Instant Ocean Mix. I buy these bags because my LFS gives me a great deal on it. The first thing I do is empty the bag of salt into a 5 gallon bucket and agitate the crap out of the dry mix by shaking and rolling the bucket around. Using RO Water ( 10 gallons EXATCLY) I add a 1/2 cup of salt for each gallon of water as per directions. I know this is gonna give me low salinity every time. 1.022 to 1.023 The water is heated , aerated and mixed using a power head. After the water comes to temp. I will take a salinity reading using a Vertex Refractometer with Automatic Temperature Compensation (calibrated with 1.025 solution every month). The mix water is then brought up to 1.025 or 35ppt. by adding more salt. Time to take the readings.. Guess what. All low readings across the scale every time. Not using junk test kits either. I use Salifert, Red Sea Pro test kits and use a Milwaukee digital Ph meter that is also calibrated using 7.0 solution. If im doing something wrong in your eyes do please pray tell.

Salt Mix
Sounds good on the bag of salt mix....there's a good chance that pouring it into the bucket gives it a sufficient mixing. That's about the same as I do with the 50 gallon bags in their 200-gallon box.

Scooping out the salt vs pouring it out when you dispense for mixing up a batch it will further mix it/prevent separation. (You probably already do the scoop vs pour...just sayin'.)

Maybe skip the rest of the rigamarole you describe with the dry mix. (If you were buying in buckets, I would say otherwise.)

Specific Gravity/Numbers
1.023 isn't too far off...could be a combination of small measuring errors.

And 1.023 isn't going to mix to the Ca and alk numbers that 1.025 will, of course. E.g. about 405 ppm Ca, if everything else about the mix is spot-on-ideal, which doesn't seem to be the case yet. (Out of curiosity, what number did you get for calcium on that batch in the quote above?)

We're workin' on it! :thumb: Let's see if we can rule out everything but the salt mix as the culprit.


More Questions!
If you take a specific gravity reading of RODI water, is the line below, at, or just above zero?

How are you measuring 10 gallons exactly?

One time just so you know, I would use the largest measuring cup you feel you can confidently read repeated measurements from and fill your 10 gallon container that way...double-check that you are using the right mark for gauging a 10 gallon fill, and that the mark is actually accurate.​

How are you measuring the 1/2 cup?

Can you try weighing 1370 per 10 gallons (137g/gal) and see how that works? (If your salt hasn't been well-sealed, it may weigh heavy due to water adsorption from the air...making this a less-good test, and one possible way Ca and alk may precipitate a little.)​

Alternately, try measuring out 40 (volume) ounces all at once into a large measuring cup/bowl using your 1/2-cup scoops and see if you get exactly 20 ounces. Either weighing or this would give a double-check on measuring the dry mix.​

For Superior Mixing

• Skip the pH meter.
• Skip the heating - just let the water get room temp (about 70ºF).
• Skip the aeration.
• You could even skip the powerhead if you're just laying it on the bottom of the bucket; the least effective way to use one. Salt crystals spending much time at all sitting on the bottom of the bucket should be expected to lead to some degree of Ca and alk precipitation. This is almost always the condition when laying a powerhead on the bottom. Using your hand or a paddle or a large plastic spoon would probably be just as good or better than that.

No matter what salt you use, try mixing it like this. Five minutes and you're done, even with the no-tech method.

Manual
[video=youtube_share;BrjKlm0YkYE]http://youtu.be/BrjKlm0YkYE[/video]

Powered
[video=youtube_share;NaMi4PhgivQ]http://youtu.be/NaMi4PhgivQ[/video]

-Matt

 

[Chris155hp]

RSP for me as well. Use to go with DDH2Ocean but the supply dried up in S. FL.

I like it a lot, parameters are spot on with what I keep my tank at. Only problem is mixing, you can't dump a crap load in and mix for longer then "4 hrs". I mix 90-100g at a time so it takes time to add in the salt so that it doesn't get cloudy.

Got 800g of IO/RC that I have to use after the RSP.

eric i think thats because sunlight supply went under

 

[ReeferEric]

eric i think thats because sunlight supply went under

Pretty much. It's ok, price was still high for me. LOL

 

[mcarroll]

eric i think thats because sunlight supply went under

https://www.sunlightsupply.com/page/who-we-are

Looks like they are still around, but don't carry aquarium-specific stuff anymore.

-Matt

 

[watdachuck]

I feel kind of silly posting a similar topic 10 minutes ago....anyway check out this study by the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology. A comparison of the chemistry of 8 different commercial salt mixes.

http://www.rudyv.be/Aquarium/sels.pdf

 

[Zacco]

Well. I made a choice. Im gonna try SeaChem Reef Salt. Just bought a 200 gallon box for $70.00 at my LFS. (4-bags @ 50 gallons = $17.50 a bag) If I get a chance this weekend I will mix up a 5 gallon batch and run some test's on this stuff. I'll then post my findings on it's make up composition. SeaChem claims it's phosphate and nitrate free also. (we will see) I was going to try Red Sea Coral Pro but I could not find it locally anywhere.

 

[redfishbluefish]

........SeaChem claims it's phosphate and nitrate free .......

Most interesting claim considering the report in Post 50 shows Seachem to be #2 worst of phosphate and #1 worst, by a long shot, with nitrates.

 

[Zacco]

Yep. Say's it right on the box and on their web site. Phosphate and nitrate free. We shall see when i mix a batch up.

 

[guicho]

I tried that salt and is a piece. Worst salt I ever use

 

[Zacco]

I tried that salt and is a piece. Of @#$%&* Worst salt I ever use

What an educated reply. Do you care to explain why this brand is a P.O.S. ?

 

[guicho]

Never get a balance with it, very very low Alk, Ca and Mg and NOT phosphate and Nitrate Free.
I use Bi-distilled water, 10 gal weekly water changes in a 35 gal aquarium.
I have a GHA bloom with the use of the Seachem salt, by now only use RSCP and the GHA blown away in 2 weeks.

All my foundation elements stayed normal, that's the reason why I said P.O.S Sorry for my French

 

[Zacco]

guicho: If you look at my recent post ( SeaChem Reef Salt Review) I am actually finding this salt mix to be high in Calcium and Magnesium. My testing numbers were Ca=490 mg/L =ppm Mg= 1490ppm
Undetectable Nitrates. Phosphates = 0.08 using Digital Hanna PO4 Checker. Alk= 7.7 Ph= 8.1 in unlighted mix bucket. Im not saying this is the best salt on the market, but I am happy with the readings I took. Only time will tell if this salt brand is up to snuff. I will be trying Red Sea Coral Pro in the future. Im reluctant on trying it because the Alk is suppose to be really high in this brand 12 dKH. What are your Alk readings out of the mix bucket? Salt mix brands seem to be a touchy conversation. Every body has a specific brand they like to use and cant be told otherwise. It's kind of like car brands. Ford is a P.O.S Chevy is a P.O.S. Dodge is a P.O.S. This is why I am personally testing different salt brands until I find one that works for me and my needs. Not all Reef tanks are created equal. I would like to see people post their salt water parameters out of their mix containers on the salt brands they are currently using.

 

[Zacco]

SeaChem also states that they use no silicates as drying agents in their salt. Cant say this is the case with other salt brands.

 

[guicho]

guicho: If you look at my recent post ( SeaChem Reef Salt Review) I am actually finding this salt mix to be high in Calcium and Magnesium. My testing numbers were Ca=490 mg/L =ppm Mg= 1490ppm
Undetectable Nitrates. Phosphates = 0.08 using Digital Hanna PO4 Checker. Alk= 7.7 Ph= 8.1 in unlighted mix bucket. Im not saying this is the best salt on the market, but I am happy with the readings I took. Only time will tell if this salt brand is up to snuff. I will be trying Red Sea Coral Pro in the future. Im reluctant on trying it because the Alk is suppose to be really high in this brand 12 dKH. What are your Alk readings out of the mix bucket? Salt mix brands seem to be a touchy conversation. Every body has a specific brand they like to use and cant be told otherwise. It's kind of like car brands. Ford is a P.O.S Chevy is a P.O.S. Dodge is a P.O.S. This is why I am personally testing different salt brands until I find one that works for me and my needs. Not all Reef tanks are created equal. I would like to see people post their salt water parameters out of their mix containers on the salt brands they are currently using.

my friend,

The readings I took over time:

My bi-distilled water have:

Ph: 4.0
Kh:0
TDS:0

Seachem salt:

Ph: 7.8
Kh: 5
Ca: 280
Mg: 620
Phosphate: 1
Nitrate: 5

Hard to believe, but these are the tests that came through with my Red Sea tests.

All my additives are from Brightwell.

 

[jt17]

I use a liter meter and RSCP left a residue that would build up in my lines so I switched to ESV. My mixing tank is still spotless. Mixes clean in about 15 min. And can be used immediately. It's a little more money and a little more work to measure out 4 parts but if this is how professional aquariums mix their water then it must be the best way.