I love Instant Ocean!

[AydenLincoln]

I just started to make my own saltwater using distilled water and Instant Ocean Reef Crystals. Before I was using Crystal Sea MarineMix because I was buying my water from my lfs and it was the cause of all my issues if only I knew this a few months ago. I already love it! My alkalinity is at 9.3 now, nitrates/phosphates coming down with carbon dosing/water changes too, and calcium/magnesium are coming up. My corals are much happier too!

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Good to hear you figured it out. You were told by several of us to NOT trust the premade LFS water... At least you finally did something about it.

 

[AydenLincoln]

Good to hear you figured it out. You were told by several of us to NOT trust the premade LFS water... At least you finally did something about it.

For me it was cost/convenience and what I started with not knowing anything about it. And that brand definitely had mixed reviews with mainly bad ones I learned at least in regards to a reef tank. You live and you learn.

 

[Jedi1199]

For me it was cost/convenience and what I started with not knowing anything about it. And that brand definitely had mixed reviews with mainly bad ones I learned. You live and you learn.

Funny thing... With the "bad" reviews, have you ever read any of the poll threads on "What salt mix do you use"? The overwhelming majority of us, myself included, use IORC for whatever reason.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

For me it was cost/convenience and what I started with not knowing anything about it. And that brand definitely had mixed reviews with mainly bad ones I learned at least in regards to a reef tank. You live and you learn.

I highly doubt the salt itself was the problem, more than likely the rodi water source (LFS) is trash.

 

[AydenLincoln]

Funny thing... With the "bad" reviews, have you ever read any of the poll threads on "What salt mix do you use"? The overwhelming majority of us, myself included, use IORC for whatever reason.

Cost I think and popularity. I know.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Funny thing... With the "bad" reviews, have you ever read any of the poll threads on "What salt mix do you use"? The overwhelming majority of us, myself included, use IORC for whatever reason.

Regular IO for me as my tank doesn't consume alk, cal & mag like the SPS folks.

 

[AydenLincoln]

I highly doubt the salt itself was the problem, more than likely the water source (LFS) is trash.

Possibly but I did test the water and it measured zero and they use really good RODI units/tds meters. I’ve seen them personally. I think because it’s cheap and supposed to create “natural seawater” being the problem for a reef tank it has low magnesium/calcium levels to begin with and I had to start dosing but not anymore.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Possibly but I did test the water and it measured zero and they use really good RODI units/tds meters. I’ve seen them personally. I think because it supposed to create “natural seawater” being the problem for a reef tank.

Who knows.

Next up, buy your own rodi maker. Distilled water ain't cheap at buck plus a gallon, even with your small water changes.

 

[Jedi1199]

Cost is most certainly a factor for most I am sure.

That is a big reason I use it. Yes, there is a level of brown gunk that precipitates from it. Seems to be most prevalent in the mixing station and not the display tanks.

Just a couple days ago I dumped an entire batch of SW due to the fact that the brown gunk had gotten so bad. I cleaned everything in my mixing station, collection can, mixing can, pumps and heaters... Now it looks as clean and clear as if it was brand new. If a 6 or 12 month cleaning is the only drawback to using it, I will happily perform the maintenance

 

[Jedi1199]

Who knows.

Next up, buy your own rodi maker. Distilled water ain't cheap at buck plus a gallon, even with your small water changes.

She got an RODI setup a few days ago.. Its en route now if I recall... There is a post about it here.

 

[Pico bam]

Instant ocean likely manufacturers more salt than all of the rest put together. Its the most popular choice for public aquariums and zoos. Why go with anything else? I've been using reef crystals for years no problems with spiked levels but I don't do a very large water change. 5% twice a week. Its not for everyone but what works works. I did recently pick up about 900 gallons worth of red sea pro salt so will see how that goes when I run out of my stock of reef crystals.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

She got an RODI setup a few days ago.. Its en route now if I recall... There is a post about it here.

Didn't see that post, she has 9475739305 threads going on, lol.

 

[AydenLincoln]

Who knows.

Next up, buy your own rodi maker. Distilled water ain't cheap at buck plus a gallon, even with your small water changes.

The irony about that I realized is that distilled water for me is actually cheaper than buying water from my lfs haha. At 89 cent compared to $1 per gallon of saltwater. I get an employee discount on it and it’s very cheap to begin with.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Instant ocean likely manufacturers more salt than all of the rest put together. Its the most popular choice for public aquariums and zoos. Why go with anything else? I've been using reef crystals for years no problems with spiked levels but I don't do a very large water change. 5% twice a week. Its not for everyone but what works works. I did recently pick up about 900 gallons worth of red sea pro salt so will see how that goes when I run out of my stock of reef crystals.

I liked the red sea blue bucket, just hated the rapid price hikes and my LFS never stocked a ton of it.

 

[Jedi1199]

Regular IO for me as my tank doesn't consume alk, cal & mag like the SPS folks.

I did a bucket of the IO salt once (The purple bucket) it was cheaper but I didn't really see any difference. I stick with the Reef Crystals because I have a TON of corals. The cost difference is not worth the possibility of losing stock. Similar to running premium gas in my car... Is the $2 savings at the pump worth possibly destroying a $4000 turbocharger?

 

[AydenLincoln]

Didn't see that post, she has 9475739305 threads going on, lol.

I did not get an RODI unit I will though at some point. I used distilled water.

 

[AydenLincoln]

I liked the red sea blue bucket, just hated the rapid price hikes and my LFS never stocked a ton of it.

Yeah I’ve heard good things on it but I don’t want to spend $80+ on salt lol.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

I did not get an RODI unit I will though at some point. I used distilled water.

Didn't think so, you would of definitely got a bravo from me on that one.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

I did a bucket of the IO salt once (The purple bucket) it was cheaper but I didn't really see any difference. I stick with the Reef Crystals because I have a TON of corals. The cost difference is not worth the possibility of losing stock. Similar to running premium gas in my car... Is the $2 savings at the pump worth possibly destroying a $4000 turbocharger?

Trust I'm not knocking it, just didn't care for the high cal & mag numbers. I have only softies and zoa's, just doesn't consume nearly as much.