My 400G reef test results

Keithcorals · Oct 20, 2014

Awesome if you see I big drop in iodine I might try running my skimmer only at night and se if mine goes up

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 20, 2014

ecreef said:
Also... I tested Instant Ocean Salt mix, thinking about being the cheapest salt mix available to know what problems I can correct with it...

Thanks for posting it. That's the mix I use for my tank. I'm surprised with the calcium and magnesium numbers. That doesn't fit with many tests by many people over the years, nor with the manufacturer target levels.

What portion of a package did you mix up for this test?

ecreef · Oct 20, 2014

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Thanks for posting it. That's the mix I use for my tank. I'm surprised with the calcium and magnesium numbers. That doesn't fit with many tests by many people over the years, nor with the manufacturer target levels.

What portion of a package did you mix up for this test?

Mixed just 35 grams and top-off with 0 tds water to make 1 liter, do you think that may alter the results?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 20, 2014

Yes, testing such a small portion may not give results reflecting the whole bag due to settling of different salts of different densities and particle sizes.

It's much better to test a whole bag or bucket.

Triton US · Oct 21, 2014

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Yes, testing such a small portion may not give results reflecting the whole bag due to settling of different salts of different densities and particle sizes.

It's much better to test a whole bag or bucket.

Great point, Randy!

Also, I'm curious about the fact that salt mixes contain trace elements such as Manganese, which is found at such a low concentration in NSW (

0.000027 PPM). My question is, how evenly mixed can

that amount of something like Manganese be in a bucket of salt mix? Seems that making a conclusion about the quality or effectiveness of any synthetic salt mix without testing an entire bucket would be inaccurate, right?

-Scott

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 21, 2014

Triton US said:
Great point, Randy!

Also, I'm curious about the fact that salt mixes contain trace elements such as Manganese, which is found at such a low concentration in NSW (
0.000027 PPM). My question is, how evenly mixed can
that amount of something like Manganese be in a bucket of salt mix? Seems that making a conclusion about the quality or effectiveness of any synthetic salt mix without testing an entire bucket would be inaccurate, right?

-Scott

I think that many if not all of the trace elements in salt mixes come as impurities in the main ingredients. That's why they typically do not come close to NSW levels, when they can be measured.

But yes, if the goal is to comment on the quality of a salt mix, making up the whole thing in best.