Red Sea Coral Pro Salt

[BillFish Coral Lover]

If the Salinity is too low, should I add more salt and wait another hour? I was told if its too high, I can add RODI Water and test instantly again, is this true?

So, I wait a few minutes after adding RODI water, and several minutes after adding more salt. It’s going to be a small amount of salt at that point and should dissolve pretty rapidly. Good reefing!

 

[temphermitcrab]

My first water change after switching from Red Sea Pro to HW-Marinemix Reefer Salt Mix went well. Corals are just as happy but no jump in Alk like with the Pro.

 

[mjw011689]

I wouldn't recommend it for that kind of use, no. I mean it can be done, but it's a bit wasteful.

The reason it should not be mixed more than 4 hours is because the Coral Pro salt has enhanced levels of CA and Alk, which will precipitate out of solution, if it stands mixing too long.

Coral Pro salt has an Alk of 11-12 dkh at 34 ppt.

I get that’s what it says on the bag, but it still doesn’t make sense. If you’re keeping it circulating in a barrel, what’s the difference between that and putting it in the tank? Why would putting it in the tank not cause the same thing? To me, you’d lose MORE once it’s in the tank since there’s actually stuff in there depleting calcium and whatnot. For what it’s worth, I’ve used it after 15 min, I’ve used it after circulating for 2 days. I’ve seen zero difference in anything either way.

 

[((FORDTECH))]

I get that’s what it says on the bag, but it still doesn’t make sense. If you’re keeping it circulating in a barrel, what’s the difference between that and putting it in the tank? Why would putting it in the tank not cause the same thing? To me, you’d lose MORE once it’s in the tank since there’s actually stuff in there depleting calcium and whatnot. For what it’s worth, I’ve used it after 15 min, I’ve used it after circulating for 2 days. I’ve seen zero difference in anything either way.

I have wondered this same thing but did not want to post it. How does mixing for more than 4 hours affect it but mixing in your tank does not. In my head this is strange.

 

[Alexraptor]

Because it is a salt that is formulated for systems already running at higher than normal CA and Alk. That means the tank has systems in place to maintaining those parameters, such as calcium reactors, 2-part dosing, AFR, etc.

Otherwise, if you were to use a standard salt mix, you would have manually add all the supplements to the water being mixed in the barrel, in order to avoid alk swings.

 

[((FORDTECH))]

Because it is a salt that is formulated for systems already running at higher than normal CA and Alk. That means the tank has systems in place to maintaining those parameters, such as calcium reactors, 2-part dosing, AFR, etc.

Otherwise, if you were to use a standard salt mix, you would have manually add all the supplements to the water being mixed in the barrel, in order to avoid alk swings.

So another words you are saying it does the same thing when put in a tank and mixed. So my next question is why would anyone use a salt like this that precipitates so easily when you can use a salt that can be mixed for days without any issue

 

[EugeneVan]

I have wondered this same thing but did not want to post it. How does mixing for more than 4 hours affect it but mixing in your tank does not. In my head this is strange.

Same thought over here. My SPS tank water flow is at least 5 times stronger than my mixing bucket and the flow is running 24/7. If this is the case, my ALK and Ca level will be in danger

 

[((FORDTECH))]

Same thought over here. My SPS tank water flow is at least 5 times stronger than my mixing bucket. If this is the case, my ALK and Ca level will be in danger

Exactly

 

[Alexraptor]

So another words you are saying it does the same thing when put in a tank and mixed. So my next question is why would anyone use a salt like this that precipitates so easily when you can use a salt that can be mixed for days without any issue

A couple of things.

Firstly: I believe I was answering that very question in the very post your quoting. If you are running a reef tank with elevated Alk/CA/Mag, you want the water going into the system to match that, in order to avoid potentially lethal Alk swings.

Second: While it can and does precipitate in the tank, it does so at an exponentially slower rate, as CaCO3 precipitation is significantly retarded by the presence of other compounds in a mature system, such as dissolved organics, phosphates etc.

The caveat to running high Alk systems though is that the presence of any exposed pure CaCO3 can act as a seed crystal, and that's the problem you run into when mixing in a relatively sterile container.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I have wondered this same thing but did not want to post it. How does mixing for more than 4 hours affect it but mixing in your tank does not. In my head this is strange.

As noted above, the reason that high alk mixes are prone to precipitation when first mixing but not in the reef tank itself is that when a small crystal of precipitated calcium carbonate first forms in the barrel, it runs wild as a seed crystal, causing lots more precipitation.

When that same thing happens in a reef tank, the surface gets clogged with phosphate, organics, bacteria, and other materials that stop the process from running wild and the higher alk is more stable.

 

[mjw011689]

Thanks for the good info, this makes much more sense now.

So in theory, if longer term storage was your goal (like setting up a mixing station to have water constantly circulating, ready for your next water change), you’d be better off using the Red Sea blue bag vs the Red Sea red bag? Coral pro (red bag) mixes to 12 alk, where the blue bag mixes to 8 at the same salinity if I remember correctly. You would then have a more stable salt mix, but would need to dose 2 part to bring up the levels once in the tank, correct?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thanks for the good info, this makes much more sense now.

So in theory, if longer term storage was your goal (like setting up a mixing station to have water constantly circulating, ready for your next water change), you’d be better off using the Red Sea blue bag vs the Red Sea red bag? Coral pro (red bag) mixes to 12 alk, where the blue bag mixes to 8 at the same salinity if I remember correctly. You would then have a more stable salt mix, but would need to dose 2 part to bring up the levels once in the tank, correct?

If you want to ensure the salt mix has high alk and stays high, your best bet is to not heat it or stir it during storage, and not do anything to boost pH.

If you want the alk to remain most stable, the best bet is to start with a low alk mix, or add some acid to a high alk mix.

In the end, it doesn't matter if there is some precipitation. I used normal IO (another high alk mix) and stored it unheated and unstirred for a month or two each batch. Yes, there is preciptiation on the bottom of the reservoir, but that did not concern me.