Making own salt

[DomiD]

Hey everybody hope everyone one safe during these strange times

I'm about to start making my own saltwater due to the fact my lfs has temporarily closed due to the lockdown I've nearlly got my ro unit set up and my mixing station is ready

ive been looking at red sea pro as a starter for my my salt any opinions would be great.

reasons for this is to try and raise some of my levels as cant get ph and alk up at the moment and sps really not happy and not seeing any growth in lps softies are going well tho I'm also maybe looking at dosing 2 part but want to see the impact of changing salt has 1st and test as thinking doing both at the same time will produce too much In balance and maybe raise levels 2 quick in the tank

Would really value your thoughts on the above and any recommendation or tips you may have

Tank is a 65gal aio usually 10% WC a week however been bi weekly recently to ensure I have enough water to last till the shop re opened but now doing my own water will be going back to weekly

tank levels are as following
nitrate 5
phos .03
ph 7
sal 1.027
dkh 7.2
Mag1320
cal 460
amo 0
nitrite 0

 

[Doctorgori]

There are formulas for asw on the web....none cheap...I tried....might be better waiting the quarantine out.....Good luck ....

 

[ScottR]

RS coral pro does mix at a high alk so just be sure to test. If you’re not able to dose, this may be your best bet.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

This is a big endeavor, and not really suited for the new to reefing forum, but here's a minimal recipe that ignores all trace elements:

What is seawater
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-11/rhf/index.php


from it:


http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-11/rhf/index.php#21


An Artificial Seawater Recipe

For those who are interested, the following artificial seawater recipe is taken from "Chemical Oceanography" by Frank Millero. It makes a recipe that matches 35 ppt seawater in terms of major ions, but does not try to match all minor and trace elements, most of which will be present as impurities in the major elements.

23.98 g sodium chloride
5.029 g magnesium chloride
4.01 g sodium sulfate
1.14 g calcium chloride
0.699 g potassium chloride
0.172 g sodium bicarbonate
0.100 g potassium bromide
0.0254 g boric acid
0.0143 g strontium chloride
0.0029 g sodium fluoride
Water to 1 kg total weight.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

reasons for this is to try and raise some of my levels as cant get ph and alk up at the moment and sps really

Baking soda will raise alkalinity, and if you bake it first, it will also have a pH boost.

It is far more effective at both alk and pH boosting than water changes.

 

[DomiD]

Baking soda will raise alkalinity, and if you bake it first, it will also have a pH boost.

It is far more effective at both alk and pH boosting than water changes.

Thank you sorry I ment mixing my own salt water not making thanks for taking the time to put together the above my bad

 

[Crustaceon]

You know we all have a bunch of strontium chloride just laying around and waiting to be mixed into something.

 

[Uncle99]

Have always used RC Pro. Very consistent mix. Happy

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thank you sorry I ment mixing my own salt water not making thanks for taking the time to put together the above my bad

Ah, I understand. No problem.

 

[X-37B]

I run esv- b ionic. It is a 4 part. Might want to take a look at it.
Also I hope your tank ph is a typo ph 7?
They have a good 2 part also.

 

[NS Mike D]

Lots of thread on making your own salt.

You'll need containers, if you don't already have them. Brute seems to be often mentioned here.

You should have an rodi unit. Lots of options as well as threads on the subject. Starting with 0 TDS ensure your salt will mix as designed. Check your water source (municipalities
usually post these online). High TDS in your tap water might require up additional cheaper upfront filters to extend the life of the more expensive Di units. Chloramine will require special carbon filter and water pressure will affect efficiency.

Mixing instructions usually say add salt to water not the other way around, add a pump to circulate and dissolve a heater to get temp right. Mix the day before (or several hours) to get temp right but also to adjust to the air - CO2 in the air needs time to achieve equilibrium with the water. CO2 affect pH.


test your mix, mix recipes on IO and Reef Crystals are for less SG than I target so I need to bump it up. Also ALK. (and CA and MG) will let you know what your salt is mixing to and can help with knowing how to get your tank to your desired levels.

 

[KrisReef]

if you use the salt that your lfs was using I would expect you will get the same results you have been getting?

 

[NS Mike D]

fiwiw. I switched from RC to IO (less expensive). reports say IO should mix to 10-11 dkh. I tested my last batch . It was 9dkh. I am ok running my tank at 9dkh. If I can save money with IO and can keep my tank steady at 9dkh with dosing to counter usage, then I have a winner.

My ph is 8.24 right now. I've been opening the front door a lot lately which I think is reflected in my pH ticking up 0.1 in the last two weeks. More O2 and less CO2 in the inside air.

 

[DomiD]

I run esv- b ionic. It is a 4 part. Might want to take a look at it.
Also I hope your tank ph is a typo ph 7?
They have a good 2 part also.

Sorry should of put 7.8 ‍

 

[DomiD]

Sorry should of put 7.8 ‍

 

[DomiD]

no cant remember the name of the lfs salt brand but no for certain it's not red sea

what I'm trying to achive is stable acceptable params as mine are a little bit low ph and alk tank is mainly softies at present which are doing well but lps not so much and sps is not doing well at all my 1st step to this is to mix own sw and use own ro unit set up today and currently showing 0 tds so good start just have to order salt now

Then get back to weekly wc rather than bi weekly and test several times then start to think about dosing to get ph and alk up

in terms of dosing I would be looking at something very simple (not kalkwasser) as dont trust my self using it In ato I tunze osmo but worried when doing water change forgetting to turn off and od the tank i have been looking at tm all for reef as a start point but maybe a few weeks down the line

 

[Phil D.]

I use the Red Sea Coral Pro and am very happy with it. I also dose Aquaforest Component 1-2-3 and am getting very good growth. I am at the point of having to frag some of my corals. My tank has been up for 16 months.

 

[DomiD]

I use the Red Sea Coral Pro and am very happy with it. I also dose Aquaforest Component 1-2-3 and am getting very good growth. I am at the point of having to frag some of my corals. My tank has been up for 16 months.

Thanks for the reply tank look good

 

[DomiD]

Just finished testing saltwater from lfs dkh is 11 ph 7.4 so looking at that and the params of my tank I guess I need to start doing to bring up the alk
Sorry for all the questions just dont want to mess up the tank by doing something stupid