Adding NaCl to reef

[Bfmbassist]

Hey Randy,
Love reading your articles!
I have a 125 gallon with mostly sps, a homemade calcium reactor, with a Kalkwasser drip.
I was hoping you could weigh in on an idea I had. It seems that so many salt mixes these days are extremely high in Alkalinity, Calcium, and Magnesium. I have often wondered when mixing fresh salt water and bringing the salinity up to 35 ppt with my refractometer, seeing that the big three are at higher levels than natural seawater, does this mean that the NaCl is deficent?

Thanks!
Rob

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Not really, no. And it would not just be sodium chloride. Sulfate would suffer a similar fate.

But think of it this way. Sodium is about 10,800 mg/L, and chloride 19,400 mg/L.

Suppose magnesium is high by 200 mg/L, calcium by 50 mg/l, and alkalinity (carbonate) by 110 mg/L (double seawater alk). That total of 360 mg/L is insignificant with respect to the 30,200 mg/L of the sodium and chloride.

Thanks about the articles.

 

[Bfmbassist]

Makes perfect sense! You have an amazing way of explaining things.

Rob