locating a certain salt
- Thread starter Tru2nr
- Start date
BoomerD
Well-Known Member
OK, that's about what I'm used to paying for a 50 gallon bag of Instant Ocean. Not horribly expensive.
Are you using this salt already?? If not, be aware that you should make a change in salt brands VERY slowly. I do know of several people who changed to Aqua-Craft salt without acclimating their tank to it and suffered major tank crashes. The best recommendation is to start with 25% of your water change new salt mix, and 75% what ever you were using before, then slowly increase the amount of new/old in your water changes. Increase the amount by 5-15% with each water change. Even the owner of Aqua-Craft made that recommendation to us all when he was asked about it.
Good luck.
Are you using this salt already?? If not, be aware that you should make a change in salt brands VERY slowly. I do know of several people who changed to Aqua-Craft salt without acclimating their tank to it and suffered major tank crashes. The best recommendation is to start with 25% of your water change new salt mix, and 75% what ever you were using before, then slowly increase the amount of new/old in your water changes. Increase the amount by 5-15% with each water change. Even the owner of Aqua-Craft made that recommendation to us all when he was asked about it.
Good luck.
Tru2nr
Well-Known Member
no im not using the salt already i've taken that into account when it comes to switching the salt im using regular red sea and its just not my liking and i started with IO and i just didn't like the results from it personally i've tried oceanic as well the red sea was given to me to i didn't have to pay for it lol im going to try this out and see what the results are if it leads to me not having to constantly dose mag n calc like i am with the red sea then it'll make up for it
Choosing the "best salt" is just about the most controversial topic you can post on. It's almost a religion with some people.
With out trying to start a "salt war", I can say that I have used Marine Environment salt for years. I like it a lot. That being said, I don't know of any way to prove that it's better or worse than many other salts available.
I know a few salts that I will not use, because they don't mix up to anything close to correct levels, or had other problems. On "other brand X", not mentioned above, had problems with the magnesium level after mixing, and couldn't maintain correct calcium levels.
Also, keep in mind that almost everyone posting here is a hobbiest, and they have no scientific way to demonstrate why one salt is better than another. It's simply what they observe in their own tanks.
In addition, look at the number of brands of salt out there. Even people with many years of experience usually have only tried a few brands.
With out trying to start a "salt war", I can say that I have used Marine Environment salt for years. I like it a lot. That being said, I don't know of any way to prove that it's better or worse than many other salts available.
I know a few salts that I will not use, because they don't mix up to anything close to correct levels, or had other problems. On "other brand X", not mentioned above, had problems with the magnesium level after mixing, and couldn't maintain correct calcium levels.
Also, keep in mind that almost everyone posting here is a hobbiest, and they have no scientific way to demonstrate why one salt is better than another. It's simply what they observe in their own tanks.
In addition, look at the number of brands of salt out there. Even people with many years of experience usually have only tried a few brands.
Tru2nr
Well-Known Member
exactly the reason why im switching if my salt was good and i wasn't dosing actuall mag carbonate and turbo calc+tech-cb p a and b every day just to get my levels to normal way after a water change then i would stick with what works.
You should be testing (then supplementing if needed) newly made salt water BEFORE using it in your reef.
I did that myself for several buckets. It did work out very well.
I now use one salt that meets my standards (good levels without supplementing and a good price).
goldenmean
Well-Known Member
When I switched to Bio-Sea this is what the CEO of Aquacraft told me to do
I also have heard of people doing this.
I don't think it's a good idea. While you might be able to balance the parameters you can test for, you really have no idea about the parameters you can't test for.
I think people are much better off finding a salt that works for them and mixes to correct levels to begin with. I also believe that if you are using a quality salt, you should not have to use any additives, buffers or other items before using the water.
<<< im using regular red sea and its just not my liking >>>
Chances are whatever you think is wrong with your tank or water params or whatever else has nothing to do with the Red Sea salt you're currently using as Red Sea is a very good salt mix and has params pretty close to NSW incl. Mg and Ca and alk. To me, switching from Red Sea to Aquacraft salt would actually be a downgrade, LOLOL.
I would NEVER EVER switch salt mixes based on any of those silly 'salt comparisons' or 'salt studies' or otherwise as most are worthless IMO as well as completely outdated and/or highly biased. People are constantly trying a new salt mix thinking there is some salt brand out there that will somehow magically transform their tank only to be disappointed, and they finally realize whatever issues they have are not because of the salt they are or were using.
Chances are whatever you think is wrong with your tank or water params or whatever else has nothing to do with the Red Sea salt you're currently using as Red Sea is a very good salt mix and has params pretty close to NSW incl. Mg and Ca and alk. To me, switching from Red Sea to Aquacraft salt would actually be a downgrade, LOLOL.
I would NEVER EVER switch salt mixes based on any of those silly 'salt comparisons' or 'salt studies' or otherwise as most are worthless IMO as well as completely outdated and/or highly biased. People are constantly trying a new salt mix thinking there is some salt brand out there that will somehow magically transform their tank only to be disappointed, and they finally realize whatever issues they have are not because of the salt they are or were using.
Tru2nr
Well-Known Member
im switching because since i've started using red sea my levels are extremely low im not switching based on the study im switching based on what i have been using thats not to my liking i didn't read the study and say i wanna switch i've tested my WC water constantly and had a problem with levels and i was using info from the stats from the guy who is selling it and using it in his tanks and his test results(i have seen his tanks and personally seen him test the new water)
This is an excellent way to pick a salt. It's true you may not be covering all possible areas, but using a salt that some one else is getting excellent results from, and can demonstrate it via water tests, is usually an excellent choice.
<<< im switching because since i've started using red sea my levels are extremely low >>>
Red Sea Salt mixed up to 1.0264 SG should yield results of approx. 400 PPM Ca, 1300 Mg, and 7.5-8 dKH all of which are fine and very close to NSW levels. If your tank is experiencing extremely low levels of any of these you either have a high demand from your tank or your testing may be off.
Red Sea Salt mixed up to 1.0264 SG should yield results of approx. 400 PPM Ca, 1300 Mg, and 7.5-8 dKH all of which are fine and very close to NSW levels. If your tank is experiencing extremely low levels of any of these you either have a high demand from your tank or your testing may be off.
Tru2nr
Well-Known Member
i have fairly new test kits and i have used more then one test kit to test my levels if you would like to fly all of the way out to ohio and prove me wrong with my salt and do the tests for your self then go right ahead sorry if im offending you by wanting to go away from red sea salt i personally don't like it if there was one salt that was the absolute best for everyone and everyones situation there would only be one salt....but theres not and obviously im having a problem with a perticular product and i want to go a different way this is no different from person A having bad experience with a ford truck and person B having a great experience there are always variables and some people prefer different things. Once again im sorry if what i am doing is upsetting you im just going in a different way...god this makes me feel like im having to break up with my salt
goldenmean
Well-Known Member
Too Funny.
I have always heard that the salt wars can get pretty nasty on the forums.
That is why one must walk gingerly around specific salt brand discussions much like you do with politics and religion