Marine salt inquiry

[Ralphj]

Hi
I have been using Red Sea Coral Pro for the past year and a half ago and now my bucket is almost empty.

I have to buy a new bucket

I am hesitating between
Red Sea coral Pro
Instant Ocean
Tropic Marine
DD-H2O
Kent

What is the best one to continue having nice coralline and good for coral growth.

Thanks

 

[swissgaurd]

continue with red sea
if you haven't had any issues why change

 

[DianaKay]

I use Instant Ocean Reef Crystals & buy in bulk 200gal. box. I like it because it's packed inside the box as 4 individually sealed bags. It's very reasonably priced & FREE SHIPPING. I don't dose anything with it & my LPS corals are doing great in my 7 month old tank.
Here's a link where I buy the 200 gal. Box:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4856

 

[DianaKay]

continue with red sea
if you haven't had any issues why change

It is good to stay with what works. I must be doing more water changes because I'm just fixing to open my 2nd box of IO Reef Crystals & I'm only running 7 months maybe your tank is smaller than 65 gal?

 

[jsgarrido]

i use instant ocean as well, but if what your using now is working good for your tank just keep it up

 

[Ralphj]

It is good to stay with what works. I must be doing more water changes because I'm just fixing to open my 2nd box of IO Reef Crystals & I'm only running 7 months maybe your tank is smaller than 65 gal?

I have Red Sea max 130d and do a weekly water change

 

[Ralphj]

I thought maybe there is better

 

[ddelozier]

I use IO in the 200g box as well. I've used Red Sea, Kent Marine, and IO. IO is my favorite for fast complete mixing, and i dont ever have to dose, since i do 20% water change every other week. I like the IO boxes for the 4x50g bags. I hate how bucket salt nearly always gets rock hard after a while. The stuff in the bag never has a chance. I have a 90g mix tank. I use 1+most of another, to mix the SW up, then do water changes in my 3 systems. It uses about 60g of water every other week. after i finish with the WC, i add the rest of the salt, add more RO/DI water and keep 40g pre mixed for emergency WC.

 

[DianaKay]

I thought maybe there is better

I think we will each LIKE BEST what WE EACH use (that's why we use it )
But I can vouch for IO Reef Crystals being good enough that my tank (including my snails) are PURPLE with coraline algae and I don't dose anything. If you just want to try something else, I recommend it. Otherwise, it'd be good to stay with what is doing well in your tank. You may not be able to order from that link & get as good a deal if you are outside the US. I'm not sure they ship outside the US & it doesn't say where you are on your info.

 

[Ralphj]

i use instant ocean as well, but if what your using now is working good for your tank just keep it up

do you use instant ocean sea salt or instant ocean reef crystals?

 

[Ralphj]

I think we will each LIKE BEST what WE EACH use (that's why we use it )
But I can vouch for IO Reef Crystals being good enough that my tank (including my snails) are PURPLE with coraline algae and I don't dose anything. If you just want to try something else, I recommend it. Otherwise, it'd be good to stay with what is doing well in your tank. You may not be able to order from that link & get as good a deal if you are outside the US. I'm not sure they ship outside the US & it doesn't say where you are on your info.

I am looking for a distributor now, how many hour do i have to mix in water with pump before i do the water change?

Instant Ocean has 2 types
Sea salt
and
Reef Crystal

is reef crystal better?

 

[nivek]

If all your corals are growing and your fish are happy and fat, then the salt you're using is already good. By "better" what are you looking for?

 

[Mike Johnson]

Neither one is better than the other. Use IO if you're FOWLR or you are dosing and don't want to add salt with higher levels than you're keeping your parameters at. Reef Crystals is an all around good salt. I would mix and aerate the salt mix for a minimum of a few hours. Most of the time I mix for 24 hours, but have used it in as little as 3 hours.

But I agree with the statement that if what you're using is working, don't change.

 

[ddelozier]

IO reef crystals are Supposedly higher in calcium and magnesium, which is really good if you do LPS or SPS, but i know people who have Both types of corals, and use Regular IO. Reef crystals tend to be about 30% higher on price, but when they're on sale for the same price as regular IO, i do get them.

As for mixing, I mix mine for a minimum of 4 hrs with heat/powerheads before doing a Water change, so there isnt too much of a temp change. As for salt mixing, it will mix completely with enough agitation in under 15 minutes. I've had to do a rush mix for an emergency water change a time or two, which is why i try and keep 40g premixed and heated at all times. I have measurements on my Mix tank for Gal's. My RO/DI takes all day to make 50g, so its worth having some mixed/heated at all times.

 

[kyle4201]

this is EXCLENT!!! Im getting my R/O system delivered TODAY!!! YAY!!!. along with a 160g bucket of IO crystals (recommended by Diana :snshne. I was going to ask what your perfered method of mixing and how long Diana. so Ill just sit back and watch. :hug1:

 

[Ralphj]

Neither one is better than the other. Use IO if you're FOWLR or you are dosing and don't want to add salt with higher levels than you're keeping your parameters at. Reef Crystals is an all around good salt. I would mix and aerate the salt mix for a minimum of a few hours. Most of the time I mix for 24 hours, but have used it in as little as 3 hours.

But I agree with the statement that if what you're using is working, don't change.

I have fish, lps and sps corals. And i don't dose anything, never did it before.
As i have a 35 gallons tank, i do a weekly water change only.

 

[Bearjohnson]

IO Reef Crystals here and I mix and heat it the day before.

 

[DianaKay]

I get the 200gal BOX...I think it's lots cheaper & it has 4 separate sealed bags inside to keep it fresh.
I mix mine up the day before so I can get the temperature where I want it (78°) and feel good that it is MIXED WELL. It never has gotten cloudy after the 1st few minutes after salt is added.

 

[kyle4201]

is it LBs per gallons or ??? im sure the instruction r on the pkg,, but those r never usually spot on. I like to talk to people who know the tricks of the trade. (if I dont learn something everyday I like to at least teach some1 something everyday.


also,, how long can I let mixed water sit b4 use? can I mix it 7 days in advance?

 

[DaveK]

The problem with trying to give an exact weight or volume to use when mixing salt is that salt likes to absorb moisture and different manufacturers mill the salt to different grain sizes.

You can figure that 15 lbs of salt will yield about 50 gal of SW when mixed, but it's not exact.

A trick I use is to mix the salt a little bit on the high side, for example use 15 lbs of salt in about 45 gal of water. After it's all mixed, measure the SG, hopefully with a refractometer, and as needed add RO/DI water to bring it down to what you want, typically 1.025 or so. When you do it this way, the salt is already dissolved so you need not wait an additional time before using the water. If you have to add additional salt, you should wait at least several hours before remeasuring and use.