Salts

[d2mini]

I've been using Oceanic and I'm always in a constant battle for Calc, Mag, and Alk.
I did my normal weekly water change yesterday of about 8 gallons in my 46g (plus sump) system and my Calc tested today at 350. Twice. And i've been dosing a couple capfuls a couple times a week. My alk is usually down to 2 or 3 unless I dose heavily (it was finally up to 9 today) and my Mag is at 1250 today with dosing all week.

Anyone else have issues with Oceanic?

Using anything else with better results?

 

[yote]

I never had a problem with Oceanic.But its also been about a year since I bought Oceanic,so they may have changed things around.
I've been using SeaChem reef since Feb. and really like it.Comes out of the bucket with cal @ 460 , 10DKH, and mag @1440.
Right now I'm trying Brightwell Aquatics NeoMarine salt.And I gotta say,that after 2 10% water changes,I'm probably going to start using it all the time.
Heres what I got testing a fresh mix after mixing 48 hours at 1.026 S.G.
Cal-500
alk-14DKH
mag-1375

 

[d2mini]

Dang.

I'm out of salt. Can i jump right into a new one or do I have to mix it with my current salt mix for a while?

 

[yote]

Jump right into it on your next water change.Its not gonna change the chemistry that quick.

 

[dcantucson]

This is what I use but I don't know it SeaChem is better or not.

RedSeaFish

 

[ccCapt]

Right now I'm trying Brightwell Aquatics NeoMarine salt.And I gotta say,that after 2 10% water changes,I'm probably going to start using it all the time.
Heres what I got testing a fresh mix after mixing 48 hours at 1.026 S.G.
Cal-500
alk-14DKH
mag-1375

Wow Yote. Those #'s aren't even close to the #'s Brightwell has printed on the buckets. They say you should get 413 ca, 7.5 dKH alk and 1288 mag. Actually, according to them, their salt is EXACTLY the same parameters as NSW.

This is what I use but I don't know it SeaChem is better or not.

RedSeaFish

I used that salt since it came out a few years ago and never had problems with it. The only thing I didn't like was the ca is a little higher than I like. I always got around 470 on a fresh mix. I recently switched over to the new Instant Ocean. Here's what I get with the new IO. 420 ca, 11 alk, 1290 mag.

 

[Gdbyrd]

I'm beginning to wonder if I should change salts soon too, using instant ocean. Still waiting on a mag test.

CA 420
Alk 7 to 8

 

[d2mini]

What salinity are you guys at in your reef tanks?
Right now mines at 1.024, but I see Yote's is at 1.026

 

[Gdbyrd]

1.026 to 1.027 is what I run mine at. From what I understand reef tanks should be around that.

 

[ccCapt]

I'm beginning to wonder if I should change salts soon too, using instant ocean. Still waiting on a mag test.

CA 420
Alk 7 to 8

Those are pretty perfect. If you're using IO and getting those parameters, there is no reason to change IMO.
I keep my system at 420 ca, 8 dKH and around 1350 mag.

Reef Aquarium Water Parameters
Maintaining the calcium level is one of the most important aspects of coral reef aquarium husbandry. I suggest that aquarists maintain a calcium level between about 380 and 450 ppm.
Alkalinity maintenance is a critical aspect of coral reef aquarium husbandry. I suggest that aquarists maintain alkalinity between about 2.5 and 4 meq/L (7-11 dKH, 125-200 ppm CaCO[SIZE=-1]3[/SIZE] equivalents), although higher levels are acceptable as long as they do not depress the calcium level.

What salinity are you guys at in your reef tanks?
Right now mines at 1.024, but I see Yote's is at 1.026

I keep mine at 35ppt - 1.026
From the same article I linked to above....
I suggest targeting a salinity of 35 ppt (specific gravity = 1.0264; conductivity = 53 mS/cm).

 

[daugherty]

i have been following a thread on rc about this salt and people are getting bad tests from this salt peoople are not happy with it glad to hear it is working out for you yote. i have been thinking of using it when i run out of oceanic.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1677408&goto=newpost

 

[yote]

Wow Yote. Those #'s aren't even close to the #'s Brightwell has printed on the buckets. They say you should get 413 ca, 7.5 dKH alk and 1288 mag. Actually, according to them, their salt is EXACTLY the same parameters as NSW.

I used that salt since it came out a few years ago and never had problems with it. The only thing I didn't like was the ca is a little higher than I like. I always got around 470 on a fresh mix. I recently switched over to the new Instant Ocean. Here's what I get with the new IO. 420 ca, 11 alk, 1290 mag.

Yeah,Its says the exact same thing on the bag I got here.
I also know that all manufactures do some under handed and sneaky stuff to sale their products.
I will say thins about NeoMarine though.
My corals respond a lot better to the water changes than they have with the other salts I've tryed.Could be just me,but they sure open up good right after a water change.
Plus the tank dont get hazy after the change like it has with every other salt I've tryed.

 

[tankedchemist]

But the amounts listed in that picture are made at 1.025 SG-- yote said he keeps his at 1.026; thus, the difference is just he adds slightly more salt than they do. Bet if you mixed the dry salt well, and made it at precisely 1.025, the parameters would be pretty close to what that picture says. :) I do wonder why there's less chloride in NeoMarine than in NSW, despite the fact that there is the same amount of other ions. hmm, weird.

 

[Reefrookie]

i have been following a thread on rc about this salt and people are getting bad tests from this salt peoople are not happy with it glad to hear it is working out for you yote. i have been thinking of using it when i run out of oceanic.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1677408&goto=newpost

Seems like there is a lot of Oceanic haters over there. I have been watching that thread also

 

[ccCapt]

The difference between 1.025 and 1.026 is aprox 4% more ions at 1.026.
There is way more than a 4% difference in what they claim on the bucket at 1.025 and what yote got at 1.026.
Boomer on RC caught this. Did you notice the bucket shows 1.025 g/cm3. Density is measured in g/cm3. Specific gravity has no unit value. ie., 1.025 not 1.025 g/cm3. Sg DOES NOT = D. Density in seawater at 25C with that Density is 37.3 ppt and NSW is 35 ppt. A D = 1.025 g/cm3 = 1.028 SG. So, what is it really on the bucket? Density or Specific Gravity?

The salt may be good, just their marketing scheme of posting #'s virtually identical to NSW is a joke. Read the thread Daugherty posted,

 

[Rcpilot]

I used Oceanic for the first year and battled low alk and pH. Not critically low, just a little on the low side.

Bought a bucket of Kent. :frustrat: That was total crap. So I bought another bucket of Oceanic. Still had low alk and pH

Mixed the Kent and the Oceanic together. I didn't measure it. I just took a full bucket of Kent and dumped about half of it into an empty Oceanic bucket. Then I took the bucket of Oceanic and dumped about half a bucket in there on top of the Kent. So I got 1 "custom blend" of 1/2 Oceanic and 1/2 Kent. I've also got 1/2 bucket each of the Kent and Oceanic left. Dumped the rest of the Kent into the remaining Oceanic. Now I got 2 "custom blends" :mrgreen:

Works pretty good now. But I should admit, I added a powerhead to the return box on my HOB refugium. It's just there to churn and agitate the water after it leaves the refugium and before it hits the tank. It sucks up the water as it overflows the last baffle out of the refugium and it just spits it right back out in the overflow. Water doesn't really go anywhere, but it's boiling and splashing a lot. :mrgreen: Increased gas exchange. I think it helped my pH, because I was usually 7.8 - 7.9 before and now it's higher. Closer to normal.

So to be honest I don't kow if combining the Kent and Oceanic did anything at all. Don't really care. I didn't like either one of them as a stand alone product, but was too invested to dump all of it in the dumpster. For some reason mixing them made my water closer to normal parameters. Good enough.