BIG AND LOUD SALT COMPARISON THREAD

[keddre]

Cost is certainly a good reason for choosing a mix, but I'm not sure that mixes that take less solids will cost less. The difference is some have less water in the solid crystals than do others.

Anhydrous salt mixes (those with less water) are more often the costlier ones, not the cheaper ones. It take extra energy and processing steps to remove water from the calcium and magnesium salts put into salt mixes, so making them more compact might make them more expensive too.

interesting, you gave me something to test. Thanks for the insight

 

[DaSurfa]

I used ocean water off of Makapu'u and Kaneohe Bay when I lived in Oahu. Salinity 1.025/1.026.

LOL, I used to get my ocean water from the Waikiki Aquarium awhile ago. I don't think they do it anymore. There was a tap just to the right of the entrance and I would go up to the counter and ask for the tap key. This was like 25 years ago and I knew the guys there since I would walk by everyday to surfing at Waikiki. Man this was the good old days. That water was clean since they have a pipeline that goes into ocean couple miles and then they would filter it.
Now, I'm stuck in da middle of desert on the 9th island and I gotta do the old fashion way and mix. LOL

 

[clsanchez77]

I'm one of the old salts around here still using Instant Ocean. I now blend it with Reef Crystals at about 2-3 parts IO to 1 part RC; now exact measurements. IMO, this gives me a good blend of the fortified Alk, Ca and Mg but also reduces my exposure to the other additives RC has. I find I have to do less testing and supplementing with this mix.

To deal with the brown caking, I now run a BRS sediment filter on an MJ1200 as part of my mixing setup. So far so good.

I have considered HW Marinemix, but the additional cost is hard to justify when IO has been the hobby stable for as long as i have been in the hobby. All these new salts have great chemistry (and marketing) behind them, but they solve problems that IME just do not really exist.

 

[gobeach]

I bought 2 boxes of IO because it went on sale (free shipping!), and felt maligned by my LFS - so made the switch from RS blue bucket to IO. My tank and corals did great with the change, but my challenge was mixing a 35G tub of saltwater became a pain in the ****. I could never get it down, each time I thought I had the measurements/weight down, the salinity read high or low. With RS blue bucket, all I had to do was measure 11.2 lbs and the salinity reading was spot on. I recently switched back to RS blue bucket for the convenience of not having to mix/measure/adjust/ etc. Both salts work fine with my tank and SPS - it was a personal convenience issue with me.

 

[JPuck]

Alright back with the big 3 on RPM
Cal = 430
Alk = 9.1
Mag = 1420

For myself thats (3 for 3)

@GoVols Are you still using Fritz? I am about to start mixing my own salt and like their stated parameters. I was debating between Fritz and Red Sea blue box. I want my salt to be in the range of 8 - 9 HK, ~420 Ca, and ~1300 Mg. After reading another thread, it looks like Fritz parameters changed/became inconsistent. Appreciate any feedback.

 

[kerbfish]

I was born and breed on RC.....and I can't remember why....probably because it was what the LFS was pushing at the time. I used this for a number of years, collecting many plastic 5 gallon buckets, while I learned about saltwater aquariums, dosing, testing and water parameters. In the mean time, I became discouraged about the deposits in the mixing bucket and the ups and downs of parameters within the tank.




As I became educated, I eventually came to the conclusion that all I want on a water change is ocean water.....ca 400 calcium, 7 dKH, and 1300 magnesium. What was closest to this that was inexpensive and readily available was plain old Instant Ocean. 200 gallon boxes came out and that is what I use now.....no more plastic buckets.

I live next to the ocean, albeit in New Jersey, and a stones throw from NYC, but I've now been kicking around the idea of collecting ocean water for water changes. Just need to figure out current levels and the logistics of collecting this water.

All ocean water isn’t the same, New Jersey isn’t the same as South Pacific or Caribbean, some oceans and seas vary widely in salt content as well and then you might get some cigarette butts in there at the beach