Salt Mix

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hm, possibly I misunderstood what I read. I was under the impression that the salts that mix clear and are useable within 15 minutes of mixing like ESV and Fritz did not contain some form of filler or biological component. I thought it was why they do not need to mix overnight for the pH to settle and the reason that you don't need to clean the brown film out of mixing buckets like you would with Reef Crystals, Kent, or some other salts. I feel like I am terribly wrong though based on your response!

Normal Instant Ocean doesn't, as far as I know, have any of these components. It also doesn't produce any film. The film in Reef Crystals is not really identified as far as I know, but might relate to the vitamins they put in. I too do not prefer vitamins or organics added to a salt mix.

 

[ws6kid]

This awesome article that I read years ago talks a little about what is left in the bucket http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-07/rhf/index.php

No idea who may have written this though. Still a good read.

 

[BoomCorals]

Genuine question:

Where are you buying your salt from? IO is always $40 shipped on Amazon - and often $35 - but the cheapest I have seen an equivalent amount of Fritz is $64 shipped.

Local store sells fritz for $45 a box because they buy in bulk and pass savings on to customers.

 

[BoomCorals]

I'm curious what this means. What sort of fillers are you talking about and which mixes are not "synthetic"?

There's no mix that is just dried seawater.

From what I recall researching, there are a few different ways salts are made. IO and a few others for example uses materials mined from the earth, where as some have a different process for their materials? Basically, it comes down to materials used and how they are mixed/processed? Also I believe it was confirmed at some point that the "brown" residue in RC is something that IO is adding to their salt.

 

[Falcon53]

Local store sells fritz for $45 a box because they buy in bulk and pass savings on to customers.

Ok, thank you!

 

[Reef man 89]

IMO when it comes to salt. I use what's closest to my parameters are. So there is not a huge swing when I do a w/c.

 

[Reef man 89]

If there is a super special salt that makes everything grow like weeds I would love to know what brand.

 

[BoomCorals]

If there is a super special salt that makes everything grow like weeds I would love to know what brand.

I think it's more about what's right for you and your system.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

No idea who may have written this though. Still a good read.

lol

 

[JakeShu]

I recommend ESV bionic 4 part if you have a smaller tank and do frequent water changes. It's more expensive but for my nanos it's a matter of a $60 difference per year compared to IO. I do a lot of smaller water changes.

Why? Because it's dead nuts on Alk, Ca, Mg every time as long as you buy a cheap digital scale and measure it all out carefully. I've used IO, RC, Brightwell and H2Ocean. So none of them were terrible (except maybe H2Ocean) but every time I mixed up 5 gallons worth of change water I tested it and it was always different and it was never what the label claimed. ESV was very close to stated parameters the first time, but more importantly it was the same so many times in row that I quit testing it. Tested it again after many many batches and it was, you guessed it, exactly what I tested the first time.

I'm interested in consistency from batch to batch on small batches because of how I change water. The way I mix it I get 3.2meq alk , 425 ca and 1350 mg. So that's what I dose my tanks to remain at and it works perfectly. For me. And I have an absolute crap load of measuring cups now too. ;P

I am doing a water change once a week cause i have a 20 gallon nano reef, which is doing great i didn't know if some salts help with colors of corals.

 

[Robert Vacchiano]

Had used instant ocean for a decade until about four months. Always got the brown residue in my Rubbermaid containers.Just got tired of having to scrub them out.Use Kent now and no problem but corals did not seem to mind instant ocean I just got tired of the extra work cleaning the vats . I guess it would not be a problem if containers were glass. I think the residue is clay

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Had used instant ocean for a decade until about four months. Always got the brown residue in my Rubbermaid containers.Just got tired of having to scrub them out.Use Kent now and no problem but corals did not seem to mind instant ocean I just got tired of the extra work cleaning the vats . I guess it would not be a problem if containers were glass. I think the residue is clay

Presumably you mean Reef Crystals and not normal Instant Ocean, which doesn't have a brown residue.

 

[D_Nyholm]

Strange, I've been using reef crystals since I started my tank. I never get any brown residue and the mix is always clear within 5 minutes of mixing it.

I was thinking about parameters too. If I have 9 dkh and 420 calcium and I add in a 10% water change, I might go up to 9.5 and 440 or so. For me, I just skip a Dosing of alk and calcium. The water change just isn't drastic enough to really affect the full volume of the system. Am I missing something?

 

[Robert Vacchiano]

Have used both and I did not see any difference in regular instant ocean and reef crystals both left residue in plastic containers.Had used instant ocean more because it was so cheap here 33 dollars for a 200 gallon box use Kent now a little more money but worth it

 

[Robert Vacchiano]

Do a 50 gallon water change on a 300gallon tank once a week. Total system is about 350.

 

[JVS]

I use HW-Marinemix reefer salt. I have tried IO, Reef Crystals, Red Sea and Seachem and I have had a thriving reef with all of them. HW mixes within a few minutes and is always consistent and mixes really clean with no brown residue that you get with the salts I mentioned earlier.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Have used both and I did not see any difference in regular instant ocean and reef crystals both left residue in plastic containers.Had used instant ocean more because it was so cheap here 33 dollars for a 200 gallon box use Kent now a little more money but worth it

FWIW, the residues from normal Instant Ocean (some precipitated calcium carbonate, unless you lower the alk or pH in it when mixing, in which case there is none; frankly, I'm not sure why anyone cares about this), and in Reef Crystals (a brown slimy residue of unknown composition) are very different.

 

[Robert Vacchiano]

Did not clean my 100 gallon Rubbermaid sump for a couple months when I did had about 5 gallons of dark brown water would not want any of that in main display Now that I am using Kent do not get it any more

 

[sde1500]

I've been using IO Reef Crystals for two years, mixing it in brute cans for a year now. I have just a small amount of a stain on the side of the cans. And it has kept my parameters pretty much spot on where I've wanted them since day one as well. Can't say that build up bothers me at all.

 

[jwshiver]

I use HW-Marinemix reefer salt. I have tried IO, Reef Crystals, Red Sea and Seachem and I have had a thriving reef with all of them. HW mixes within a few minutes and is always consistent and mixes really clean with no brown residue that you get with the salts I mentioned earlier.

One of the reasons I quit using HW is because it left a brown residue in my white Brute and I got tired of cleaning it. The last box the water mixed up brown and stayed brown and like a dumb *** I used it anyway. What corals didn't die where not happy. I switched to NeoMarine until I ran a Triton test on it. Currently I am using Tropic Marin Pro for now. Just trying to find a consistent salt mix with a low dkh. My biggest annoyance so far with the Tropic Marin Pro is the Magnesium mixes up at a consistently low 1260.