oceanic vs instant ocean

[fishbait]

yote, your were right about oceanic. i bought a tub yesterday. this stuff is awesome. it mixes allmost instantly, there was no undesolved crystals in the bottom of my mixing bucket. i have let instant potion mix for 24 hours and there were still crystals in the bucket. my calcium was at 420, ph 8.2 and alk was at 10. straight out of the bucket! no more dosing new water! whoo hoo! it's well worth the extra 5 bucks for the oceanic if you don't have to dose anymore. this is definitely the salt i will be using from now on. oh, by the way with instant potion my calcium was at 320, and ph was 7.8 in a fresh mix.

[bkv1997]

I'd let the oceanic mix for 24 hours then test your numbers again.

From my experience and many other in local clubs it does mix well, but has serious calcium/alk balance issues. My experience has found oceanic to usually have a very high calcium rating and a low alkalinity rating.

They may have fixed this issue by now, but I quit using it a long time ago due to the above and its higher levels of heavy metals.

There are plenty of test out there that compare salt mixes to NSW and the top three consistently tend to be IO, Kent and Tropic Marine in no special order.

Just something to think about.
Brandon

I will say it does disolve and mix very quickly, which is nice.

[yote]

I My alkalinity usually stays right at10DKH.It will drop to around 9 if I skip a water change.

I will say that I want to try some Tropic Marine,But being as Ive not seen it in any of the local stores.

[Doc]

I switch back and forth between IO and Oceanic - depending on what is cheapest in that massive 200 gallon bucket they sell. My LFS had a sale of the 200 gallon bucket for $39.99. I did struggle to keep my alk in check with IO, but I was not aware of the heavy metals that exist in Oceanic. Has that been verified? Now you got me all worried and .

-Dr Marco

[bkv1997]

Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine - Feature Article: Inland Reef Aquaria Salt Study, Part I
Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine - Feature Article: Inland Reef Aquaria Salt Study Part II

I'd suggest you read these reviews and use the information to make your own decision.... for me it was TM the calcium and alk was a little low, but i can correct those with my Calcium and Kalk reactors where removing serious high levels of aluminium, manganease, nickle, zinc, etc are more difficult.

Just my thoughts.
Brandon

[DavidA717]

i picked up oceanic when starting my tank because the lfs was out of instant ocean, and oceanic was actually cheaper, but i love this stuff

[fishbait]

whew! mind boggling articicle to read. but i DID notice it has a couple heavy metals that are more prominant in oceanic than instant ocean. but, these were parts per billion. wouldn't carbon quickly and easily take these out?

[kimoy]

not only the heavy metals on oceanic but also low on mg. i used it once and like the fact that it disolves fast but never liked it because of high metal and low in mg switched back to IO.

[SSalty]

In the long run, could Oceanic cause a tank to crash or not be as healthy as using a salt with lower metal content?

This thread has got me thinking, I have used IO in the past. But my buddy who owns the fish store that I buy from only has Oceanic.

[bkv1997]

from my experiences the extremely low alkalinity is more likely to cause most problems than the heavy metals unless you are raising the most sensitive inverts.