Need help asap plz Water parameters and reef salt

[reeferreefing27]

How does everyone keep there reef parameters stable when buckets of salt parameters are so high? I can keep my parameters stable but when I do a water change it skews me over...

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

With high alk salt , do smaller changes basically.

Ie , if you target 8 and use 13, change water at 7.

Alk is really the only one you need to worry about despite what the Internet says.

An abundance of mag and cal (appearantly uneven ) doesn’t matter or they wouldn’t make salt the way they do.

 

[afartindolphin]

How does everyone keep there reef parameters stable when buckets of salt parameters are so high? I can keep my parameters stable but when I do a water change it skews me over...

I think alkalinity is the main problematic parameter that could see a swing with a decent sized water change. My tank runs in the low 7's Dkh and my current bucket of salt(reef crystals) comes in at 11 Dkh so I use hydrochloric acid, sold as muriatic acid at hardware stores, to lower it before any major water changes. It requires extra time to gas off excess CO2 from the reaction and raise pH but it lowers alkalinity without affecting other parameters of the mix.

 

[reeferreefing27]

To bad they dont sell everything in bulk to mix up your own salt for a decent price I'd make my own salt. Or buy salt with lower parameters and a 200 gal vat n add to it. It would probably be really pricey to do it that way though

 

[theMeat]

Most people want higher trace elements so they replace what is being consumed

 

[reeferreefing27]

I think alkalinity is the main problematic parameter that could see a swing with a decent sized water change. My tank runs in the low 7's Dkh and my current bucket of salt(reef crystals) comes in at 11 Dkh so I use hydrochloric acid, sold as muriatic acid at hardware stores, to lower it before any major water changes. It requires extra time to gas off excess CO2 from the reaction and raise pH but it lowers alkalinity without affecting other parameters of the mix.

The acid doesnt give your tank any long term problems?

 

[afartindolphin]

The acid doesnt give your tank any long term problems?

I can't attest to the amount of impurities that could be present in store bought acids but there is no harm from the reaction itself as long the mixed water is given time for ph to stabilize. I use a powerhead near the surface the increase gas exchange and it only takes a couple hours before its ready.

 

[leptang]

The acid doesnt give your tank any long term problems?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrochloric_acid

 

[tiggs]

My rule of thumb has always been to use a salt that mixes up at 1.026 at or lower than the ALK level I'm targeting, then raise it up if need be. Personally, I run my ALK in the 10.2-10.5 range, so my salt mixes up that way by default, assuming I shake up the box/bag prior to each mixing to avoid inconsistent batches from the product settling after sitting for a bit.

 

[ddrueckh]

I change 2 gallons a day (AWC) using a Neptune DOS on my 230 Gallon tank. Doing it this way keeps parameters super stable.