Instant Ocean

[pdiehm]

So i am in the process of working out changing to this salt for a variety of reasons: it’s cheap $38/170 gallons or so at 1.026, it’s readily available and it’s the salt I use on the biocube and zero problems.

Over the course of the next few weeks, I will be testing each batch of newly made IO.

Today, at 1.025 and 79F: 11.2 dkh, 490-500 calcium (ran with RS Pro and Salifert), and 1600 magnesium (also confirmed with RS pro and Salifert). Thinking that the calcium and magnesium were wrong, I retested with clean dry vials and pulled from the mixing container. The second tests mirrored the first.

The procedure was take my salt bucket that I dump the bags into and turn it over multiple times to mix up. I don’t mix up the whole bag at once but rather 5-15 gallons when I need it. I am toying with getting a 55 gallon brute, adding 43 gallons of rodi and dumping the bag in at once and make batches that way.

This is regular IO, not IORC.

Will update as i make batches.

 

[MTBake]

Interesting results. I haven't used IO in a year or so. Last time I mixed up a batch, I got lower calcium and magnesium levels than you. 390 and 1280 using Salifert. The alk matched mine perfectly though.

Following to see if this changes over time as the bag is used up.

 

[redfishbluefish]

How are you measuring salinity? And if a refractometer, when's the last time it was calibrated? And what was used to calibrate...ro/di or calibration solution?

What I'm questioning is if your salinity is off, so will be all additives.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

FWIW, I used it for 20 years because I thought (think) that it is a good choice.

 

[madweazl]

I had a bucket with high magnesium a few months back but everything else was still in line. Over the past couple years, these are my typical results (the one bucket being up around 1500 for magnesium IIRC):

Salinity 35 ppt
Alk - 10.7 dKh
Ca - 425 ppm
Mg - 1325 ppm

 

[pdiehm]

How are you measuring salinity? And if a refractometer, when's the last time it was calibrated? And what was used to calibrate...ro/di or calibration solution?

What I'm questioning is if your salinity is off, so will be all additives.

Maybe. I use a Milwaukee digital refractomer MA887 I think. I calibrate to 0, then test it to see if I get 1.000. I did, added my sample. Tested at 1.025 (about an hour earlier it was 1.026). I cleaned it. Recalibrated again, and tested again. 1.025. I am comfortable saying the salinity is somewhere between 1.025 and 1.027 given the devices margin for error.

I found it interesting because the other day I made 5G for my cube and it was 10.8/410/1300 (same bag, mixed the same way).

So now I will test and log every time I make a batch. If the tests are all over the place then obviously I need to look somewhere else but too many people use this and I have been in communication with Sea World in Orlando and they use this in their main aquarium near the big roller coaster near the entrance (manta? Don’t remember the name).

Their parameters are 10.0/450/1400 water changes 30% monthly depending on their tests.

Is it possible that it’s human error? When I am involved anything is possible

 

[MTBake]

Pretty sure the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago uses IO as well.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Maybe. I use a Milwaukee digital refractomer MA887 I think. I calibrate to 0, then test it to see if I get 1.000. I did, added my sample. Tested at 1.025 (about an hour earlier it was 1.026). I cleaned it. Recalibrated again, and tested again. 1.025. I am comfortable saying the salinity is somewhere between 1.025 and 1.027 given the devices margin for error.

I found it interesting because the other day I made 5G for my cube and it was 10.8/410/1300 (same bag, mixed the same way).

So now I will test and log every time I make a batch. If the tests are all over the place then obviously I need to look somewhere else but too many people use this and I have been in communication with Sea World in Orlando and they use this in their main aquarium near the big roller coaster near the entrance (manta? Don’t remember the name).

Their parameters are 10.0/450/1400 water changes 30% monthly depending on their tests.

Is it possible that it’s human error? When I am involved anything is possible

Might just be alk measurement error, or an inhomogeneous bucket.

FWIW, a specific gravity of 1.025 will give lower alk readings than 35 ppt (sg = 1.0264). 11 dKH at 35 ppt will read 10.4 dKH at sg = 1.025, and the Milwaukee only claims an uncertainty of +/- 0.002 on sg, so yours might really be only 1.023 and still be within the manufacturer specs.

Accuracy ±2 PSU
±2 ppt
±0.002 S.G. (20/20)
±0.3°C / ±0.5°F

 

[pdiehm]

Might just be alk measurement error, or an inhomogeneous bucket.

FWIW, a specific gravity of 1.025 will give lower alk readings than 35 ppt (sg = 1.0264). 11 dKH at 35 ppt will read 10.4 dKH at sg = 1.025, and the Milwaukee only claims an uncertainty of +/- 0.002 on sg, so yours might really be only 1.023 and still be within the manufacturer specs.

Accuracy ±2 PSU
±2 ppt
±0.002 S.G. (20/20)
±0.3°C / ±0.5°F

Right. These numbers could be a testing error. Not all that concerned as my tank readings (no corals yet) were 7.3/415/1300

 

[homer1475]

I had a bucket with high magnesium a few months back but everything else was still in line. Over the past couple years, these are my typical results (the one bucket being up around 1500 for magnesium IIRC):

Salinity 35 ppt
Alk - 10.7 dKh
Ca - 425 ppm
Mg - 1325 ppm

Pretty much what I mix up to as well.

Been using plain old IO since I started back up a few years back. There might be small variations, but it pretty much mixes to these exact numbers 100% of the time for me.

 

[Cory]

If magnesium was very high i wouldnt trust of because of how they make it.

 

[madweazl]

If magnesium was very high i wouldnt trust of because of how they make it.

What?

 

[killr66tb]

I wonder if you accidentally were sold the reef instant ocean because it has higher levels of calcium and magnesium

 

[Rick.45cal]

I’ve used it since the late 80’s and unless you get a weird bucket, the parameters always come out about the same. It’s good to be dilligent and test every batch you make before you use it. I still do!

 

[Cory]

What?

If they used more magnesium to make the salt then other ions will be off. For example sulphur and chloride may be way off.

 

[pdiehm]

I wonder if you accidentally were sold the reef instant ocean because it has higher levels of calcium and magnesium

No. I buy the boxes. In fact I have 600 gallons of it still. I will be mixing up 5 g for the cube (I know it’s almost too small to gather any real data for consistency purposes, but will mix up the same way....shaking up the bucket). What’s odd, is there are big clumps in this bag of salt. Not sure where that comes from.

 

[killr66tb]

That usually means some sort of moistures got into that bag

 

[Reefahholic]

I use IO as well. From what I've noticed it's low in CAL and MAG, But the ALK is usually 10+ dKH. I've never observed anything above 11 dKH.

 

[Reefahholic]

Might just be alk measurement error, or an inhomogeneous bucket.

FWIW, a specific gravity of 1.025 will give lower alk readings than 35 ppt (sg = 1.0264). 11 dKH at 35 ppt will read 10.4 dKH at sg = 1.025, and the Milwaukee only claims an uncertainty of +/- 0.002 on sg, so yours might really be only 1.023 and still be within the manufacturer specs.

Accuracy ±2 PSU
±2 ppt
±0.002 S.G. (20/20)
±0.3°C / ±0.5°F

Thx for that Randy. I didn't know that it was that big of a difference. A 0.6 dKH +/- is significant for me.

 

[pdiehm]

Probably not the best way to do this.

Prepared 5G yesterday. Let it mix for about 30 hours.

Tests were 11.2/480/1480

Bucket was mixed the same way, turned upside down multiple times rolled around on the floor.