BIG AND LOUD SALT COMPARISON THREAD

[sundog101]

Does @Randy Holmes-Farley still think Instant Ocean is the way to go?

 

[Dianna Marshall]

I'm in New jersey too, but you better put me on a large watercraft and take me out about 90 miles to chicken shoals before I dip a bucket in the local ocean for my reef, no insults intended...
I switched from I/O to R/C as per a recommendation. I was not happy with the build up of a slime on my pumps..I chose to go with RSPS and I have been satisfied with the product. I do appreciate the availability of the test results available on line with each bucket purchased.

 

[GoVols]

Does @Randy Holmes-Farley still think Instant Ocean is the way to go?

LOL
I think he finally went with Brightwell's..... (Don't hurt me Randy, I couldn't resist)

He'll be an in Instant Ocean reefer to the bitter end but his system is fairly complex compared to an average reef setup. He got into automatic constant daily water changes, his 2 part, kalk, carbon dosing and etc... etc... etc...

I thank he replied (recently) on another thread that he's took down his reef, for now

I'm just a simple man from Tennessee
So, To be totally honest, some of his water chemistry articles are a very slow read for myself and plenty occasions it's a multiple read to try to digest as well.

For all you guys that can read all his articles at normal speed in one pass and soak it all in... Then, God Bless Ya

 

[Klwheat]

For those looking at purchasing Fritz, just a personal share. I had used it several times, the 200 gallon boxes and bucket. Noticed my alk seemed to keep dropping and tested a freshly mixed batch. Ca 360, mag 1050, alk 6. Won't use it again.

 

[stew]

Started with Coralife years ago due to the price. Switched to RC when I got more serious about reefs but no more after I finish what I have. Precipitation during mixing and algae and cyano issues lead me to test Bio Sea and I am happy with the results so far. Like BS (love the initials ) but it's a bit pricy. Referring back to the post about what works for you I'm probably going to switch back to Coralife and continue testing other brands.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

For those looking at purchasing Fritz, just a personal share. I had used it several times, the 200 gallon boxes and bucket. Noticed my alk seemed to keep dropping and tested a freshly mixed batch. Ca 360, mag 1050, alk 6. Won't use it again.

Ok, but what do you use and why?

 

[Klwheat]

Back to using Kent marine. Tests consistent and good price.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I'm in New jersey too, but you better put me on a large watercraft and take me out about 90 miles to chicken shoals before I dip a bucket in the local ocean for my reef, no insults intended...
I switched from I/O to R/C as per a recommendation. I was not happy with the build up of a slime on my pumps..I chose to go with RSPS and I have been satisfied with the product. I do appreciate the availability of the test results available on line with each bucket purchased.

90 miles out your on or past the lip of the continental shelf in 5000+ feet of water.....no shoals out there. I am aware of Hen and Chicken Shoals just off Lewes, Delaware....but that's just off the coast.

And yes, back in the 60's and 70's New Jersey waters were "dirty" between chemical dumping and honey barges and direct sewage dumping out on NYC and New Jersey......beach whistles were everywhere. I can remember going on dives, and if you could see your fingers from your extended arm, you'd get out of the water and call all your diving friends to announce that visibility was fantastic. But there was a major cleanup (new laws)....no more honey barges, no direct dumping of untreated sewage, and all the chemical companys have stopped dumping (with most closed up). We had a bad one in my area...National Lead....superfund site on their properties and along part of the local coastline where they dumped slag. Otherwise the waters are considerably cleaner.

Do you frequently local restaurants? Guess where their fish and scallops come from....NJ waters. My favorite place is Keyport Fishery....all local caught stuff. As far as heavy metal contamination, I'd be more concerned about the plastic parts in our aquarium equipment coming out of a certain country than the waters off New Jersey. I could always just send off a sample to Triton. Again, not overly concerned about the potential contaminants in NJ waters.....short of when we have a red tide.

 

[GoVols]

For those looking at purchasing Fritz, just a personal share. I had used it several times, the 200 gallon boxes and bucket. Noticed my alk seemed to keep dropping and tested a freshly mixed batch. Ca 360, mag 1050, alk 6. Won't use it again.

Thanks for your feedback but I'm going to give the RPM a shot.

I always throughly roll a new bucket or box when it's first opened. Then mix up to 1.025 and test for the big 3. So nothing hitting my reef before checking a new batch.

 

[GoVols]

90 miles out your on or past the lip of the continental shelf in 5000+ feet of water.....no shoals out there. I am aware of Hen and Chicken Shoals just off Lewes, Delaware....but that's just off the coast.

And yes, back in the 60's and 70's New Jersey waters were "dirty" between chemical dumping and honey barges and direct sewage dumping out on NYC and New Jersey......beach whistles were everywhere. I can remember going on dives, and if you could see your fingers from your extended arm, you'd get out of the water and call all your diving friends to announce that visibility was fantastic. But there was a major cleanup (new laws)....no more honey barges, no direct dumping of untreated sewage, and all the chemical companys have stopped dumping (with most closed up). We had a bad one in my area...National Lead....superfund site on their properties and along part of the local coastline where they dumped slag. Otherwise the waters are considerably cleaner.

Do you frequently local restaurants? Guess where their fish and scallops come from....NJ waters. My favorite place is Keyport Fishery....all local caught stuff. As far as heavy metal contamination, I'd be more concerned about the plastic parts in our aquarium equipment coming out of a certain country than the waters off New Jersey. I could always just send off a sample to Triton. Again, not overly concerned about the potential contaminants in NJ waters.....short of when we have a red tide.

Could you send in the Triton and give us the results?

 

[Va_Reef]

My experience:

Instant ocean- Consistent nearly every time, never had a "bad batch," this is what i use now.

Aquavitro salinity- Mixed low calcium levels but rather high alkalinity, however the salt had an abnormally high level of borate which would give a false reading of alkalinity, something like 1-2 dKh higher than the alkalinity we measure for in the hobby.

Red sea coral pro- quite a few inconsistencies, I don't like how it goes "bad" after 4-6 hours of mixing.

 

[sundog101]

I use RC right now, but im thinking about switching. After reading some of Randy's articles, I just might try regular IO. I mean the levels aren't too bad and from what I've read it seems to be really consistent.

 

[Tom Blevins]

For those looking at purchasing Fritz, just a personal share. I had used it several times, the 200 gallon boxes and bucket. Noticed my alk seemed to keep dropping and tested a freshly mixed batch. Ca 360, mag 1050, alk 6. Won't use it again.

I am into 4 boxes now and every one is spot on, sorry to say I can't say this for R.C.

 

[Nano sapiens]

Until a few months ago I was using a four salt blend (RS Blue, RC, IO, TM Classic) at roughly equal percentages...just to get rid of salt I had left over from a few years of experimenting. Worked surprisingly well and mixed up to decent parameters (9.6 dKh, 410 ppm, 1290 ppm). Today I use a 50/50 blend of RS Blue and TM Classic, which yields roughly similar parameters.

I am convinced that most, if not all, of today's major salts will work in a typical mixed reef tank. I choose salt based more on parameters that I like and a reputation for stability (batch to batch).

 

[Newb73]

Instant ocean 10/2
SG 1.026
Calcium 320
Alk 9.11
Mg 1360
Phosphate: 0
Nitrate: 2.0

10/16
SG 1.027
Alk 9.8
Ca, 315

11/3
Sg 1.023
Alk 8.46
Ca: 310
Nitrate: >4
Mg 1240

12/2
SG 1.026
Ca: 365
Alk 9.71


Ill keep testing (just got a new batch).

I/o is the cheapest and so far it seems like all you have to do is test CA and dose some CA in it after mixing and it's near perfect.

The other levels not being 100% consistent is probably more about rhe SG and temp etc.

Truely everything ls within the realm of what you want except calcium.

However that was just one batch. Now to find out of it is consistent from one batch to another.

Ask me again in a year

 

[Shelby]

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.

I live on a canal in Texas and have toyed with this idea. When I tested the water it was low salinity and PH but could be adjusted in a pinch if needed. When I had my first marine tank I lived on Okinawa and only used collected ocean water. Never tested it or anything. Of course I personally caught everything that went into that tank from the local area. It was great!

Now I've returned to the hobby and have been using IO and wondering whether to change so this has been a great thread.

 

[MaiReef]

I use AF reef. I used Reef Crystals for over 3 years and switched to see if there is a difference. So far I see the mixing difference and my pH has gone up with kalkwasser stirrer added as well from 7.8-7.9 to 8-8.1. Don't know exactly what makes it happen, but I like the results so far.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Your pH rise is most likely from the use of kalkwasser.....not the change in salt.

 

[GoVols]

 

[Dlefty]

I had used Oceanic for years till I was having a difficult time keeping my CA/Alk #'s in check. Switched to IO in 200 lb boxes, used that successfully until I was having a hard time mixing. Then I got a box that was like a brick and I could not do anything with it. Switched to RC for the past 5 yrs and liked the results. I never has a problem with super high numbers. But I am a little worried about cyano/spirulina in my tank. Also the fact that the salt creates a brown mess in my brute can makes me wonder . Was going to try Aquaforest but think that after hearing not so good things about there #'s I will try Fritz's RPM next.