What salt to use

[2020 Worst Year]

Hi So i have decided on red sea reef nano tank 20 gallon and will most likely be a coral only tank i have looked at red sea coral pro salt seems pretty good with a lot of good reviews whats your thoughts on this ? and have also read if i get this salt and so like 20-25% changes every week i will not need to dose calc/alk/mag is this true?

 

[vetteguy53081]

RS coral pro is good. I love tropic Marin.
Salinity by seachem is excellent as is Reef crystals

 

[lapin]

For a new tank you dont need a coral pro type salt. Get the regular salt mix of the brand you like.
It will take many months before your croals will require more alk and calcium. Then mix the pro and regular. When that does not keep up with demand then go pro full time

 

[2020 Worst Year]

will it be bad if i use coral pro straight away?

 

[lapin]

It will cause high alk and calcium issues over time.
Just get the blue bucket for now

 

[tnc112105]

BRS does a great video where they compare different salt brands. Might be worth checking out!

 

[NS Mike D]

I just switched to Instant Ocean from Reef Crystals after many years. I was over paying for alk I didn't need.


And nanos typically can maintain stable water chemistry with regular water changes. Of course test regularly so you can know what your alk and ca consumption is between changes and thus need to dose in between. But just test and log in your results for now (it make take a few months for you to get used to using and reading the test kits - 5 yrs later and I still question if I am reading my alk tests correctly )

 

[2020 Worst Year]

So if i start out with the blue bucket of red sea salt all will be good?

Red Sea Salt 22kg + Free Reef Energy Plus

Red Sea salt is ideal for fish and invertebrate systems, mature or low-nutrient SPS tanks. The choice of salt formula is the most fundamental issue in the success of any marine or coral reef aquarium

charterhouse-aquatics.com

 

[Vinman]

Aqua forest

 

[2020 Worst Year]

i like LPS corals the most so will most likely get alot of them

 

[phillygeeks]

So if i start out with the blue bucket of red sea salt all will be good?

Red Sea Salt 22kg + Free Reef Energy Plus

Red Sea salt is ideal for fish and invertebrate systems, mature or low-nutrient SPS tanks. The choice of salt formula is the most fundamental issue in the success of any marine or coral reef aquarium

charterhouse-aquatics.com

Blue bucket rather than RSCP is probably better to start. I would even suggest sticking with that if you have good reaults. Some people may have other experiences but I have done better with a lower alk salt.

 

[phillygeeks]

Aqua forest

I used their salt for a while. Good stuff.

 

[NS Mike D]

a little more on this. each brand mixes to different parameters. Alkalinity is the most important. So ask yourself what dkh do you want to maintain for your tank? There is no right or wrong answer as long as you are in the 8-12dkh range. Some ULN SPS tanks like to target the low end (even lower than 8). High ALK , high nutrients and high light is often associated with high growth tanks. You will often read that stability is more important than the actual number when it comes to alk.

me. I like anything between 8 and 9. I like to use the Red Sea mixed reef suggested parameters which are closer to 11 and even with reef crystals, my tank would never get that high, so I went with what my tank told me it likes to settle.

And, test your saltwater before adding to the tank. You want to match salinity and temperature and know what ALk and Ca are before adding to your tank (at least initially

 

[phillygeeks]

a little more on this. each brand mixes to different parameters. Alkalinity is the most important. So ask yourself what dkh do you want to maintain for your tank? There is no right or wrong answer as long as you are in the 8-12dkh range. Some ULN SPS tanks like to target the low end (even lower than 8). High ALK , high nutrients and high light is often associated with high growth tanks. You will often read that stability is more important than the actual number when it comes to alk.

me. I like anything between 8 and 9. I like to use the Red Sea mixed reef suggested parameters which are closer to 11 and even with reef crystals, my tank would never get that high, so I went with what my tank told me it likes to settle.

And, test your saltwater before adding to the tank. You want to match salinity and temperature and know what ALk and Ca are before adding to your tank (at least initially

I do think I newer tanks where nutrients have not stabilized that there is a tendency to run into more trouble with stability when starting with a higher dKH salt.

I like a lot of what you said but let's say I had the goal of keeping my tank at 12 dKH and I chose RSCP as my salt. I think I would be more prone to having more issues getting that tank up and stable then with a lower dKH tank to start. For a good number of people I think this will work fine but I think I would have better odds starting with a lower dKH salt in a new tank. This was my experience, so anecdotal there, but you do read quite a lot of issues with low nutrients and abiotic precipitation in new tanks on these threads.

Again, I like what you say but I think if was playing the odds with a new tank I would start with a lower dKH salt

 

[NS Mike D]

Again, I like what you say but I think if was playing the odds with a new tank I would start with a lower dKH salt

I 100% agree. And not just the part about liking what I said

There is a science as to why high alk leads to higher alk (and Ca) demand and thus harder to maintain.

This is a clip from a @Randy Holmes-Farley post:


"Interestingly, because some corals may calcify faster at higher alkalinity levels, and because the abiotic (nonbiological) precipitation of calcium carbonate on heaters and pumps also rises as alkalinity rises, the demand for alkalinity (and calcium) rises as the alkalinity rises. So an aquarist generally must dose more calcium and alkalinity EVERY DAY to maintain a higher alkalinity (say, 11 dKH) than to maintain 7 dKH. It is not just a one-time boost that is needed to make up that difference. In fact, calcification gets so slow as the alkalinity drops below 6 dKH that reef aquaria rarely get much below that point, even with no dosing: natural calcification has nearly stopped at that level."

What is the ideal alkalinity

I have kept my tank at 10.4 or so because I was understanding it would be rapid growth ( Red Sea rapid growth calls for 12.?) I had a conversation yesterday at reefapalooza that made me think dropping it to about 7.8-8.2. What are your thoughts?

www.reef2reef.com

 

[lapin]

So if i start out with the blue bucket of red sea salt all will be good?

yes

 

[phillygeeks]

I 100% agree. And not just the part about liking what I said

There is a science as to why high alk leads to higher alk (and Ca) demand and thus harder to maintain.

This is a clip from a @Randy Holmes-Farley post:


"Interestingly, because some corals may calcify faster at higher alkalinity levels, and because the abiotic (nonbiological) precipitation of calcium carbonate on heaters and pumps also rises as alkalinity rises, the demand for alkalinity (and calcium) rises as the alkalinity rises. So an aquarist generally must dose more calcium and alkalinity EVERY DAY to maintain a higher alkalinity (say, 11 dKH) than to maintain 7 dKH. It is not just a one-time boost that is needed to make up that difference. In fact, calcification gets so slow as the alkalinity drops below 6 dKH that reef aquaria rarely get much below that point, even with no dosing: natural calcification has nearly stopped at that level."

What is the ideal alkalinity

I have kept my tank at 10.4 or so because I was understanding it would be rapid growth ( Red Sea rapid growth calls for 12.?) I had a conversation yesterday at reefapalooza that made me think dropping it to about 7.8-8.2. What are your thoughts?

www.reef2reef.com

Again, I agree and am not a chemist so I would definitely defer to Randy. However, I think with a newer tank I would start with a lower dKH salt until my tank demonstrated a stable and relatively higher level of nutrients. By no means am I suggesting anything lower than 7.5 dKH, but I like a goal of 7.8 - 8.5 dKH in a new tank where nutrients may very well be fluctuating and likely toward the low end.

If my tank had stable higher nutrients I am totally on board with your plan. I would rather have coral taking up those nutrients than something else. However, until those nutrients are stably higher and corals are growing I myself would rather not clean my pumps and all every other week from the precipitation.

All tanks are different and OP may well kill it from the beginning with a higher dKH goal...I just lean towards odds being the former until things getting more established.

 

[Karliefish]

I do think I newer tanks where nutrients have not stabilized that there is a tendency to run into more trouble with stability when starting with a higher dKH salt.

I like a lot of what you said but let's say I had the goal of keeping my tank at 12 dKH and I chose RSCP as my salt. I think I would be more prone to having more issues getting that tank up and stable then with a lower dKH tank to start. For a good number of people I think this will work fine but I think I would have better odds starting with a lower dKH salt in a new tank. This was my experience, so anecdotal there, but you do read quite a lot of issues with low nutrients and abiotic precipitation in new tanks on these threads.

Again, I like what you say but I think if was playing the odds with a new tank I would start with a lower dKH salt

So I get the thinking here an fully appreciate the science....so what what lower dKH salt would you recommend for first setting up a tank and then what salt to switch to when your take measurements start to suggest its time for a higher dKH salt. Finally is the rule of thumb that some of you use to know when it’s time to move to a higher dKH salt? Thanks everyone!

 

[lapin]

So I get the thinking here an fully appreciate the science....so what what lower dKH salt would you recommend for first setting up a tank and then what salt to switch to when your take measurements start to suggest its time for a higher dKH salt.

If you wanted to keep with the same brand, here are some choices
Instant Ocean / Reef Crystals
Fritz RPM Blue / Fritz RPM Red
Red Sea Regular (blue bucket) Red Sea Coral Pro (black bucket)

Finally is the rule of thumb that some of you use to know when it’s time to move to a higher dKH salt? Thanks everyone!

You will notice that water changes will not keep your alk and calcium levels from dropping. Then is the time.

 

[Karliefish]

If you wanted to keep with the same brand, here are some choices
Instant Ocean / Reef Crystals
Fritz RPM Blue / Fritz RPM Red
Red Sea Regular (blue bucket) Red Sea Coral Pro (black bucket)


You will notice that water changes will not keep your alk and calcium levels from dropping. Then is the time.

If you wanted to keep with the same brand, here are some choices
Instant Ocean / Reef Crystals
Fritz RPM Blue / Fritz RPM Red
Red Sea Regular (blue bucket) Red Sea Coral Pro (black bucket)


You will notice that water changes will not keep your alk and calcium levels from dropping. Then is the time.

Lapin really helpful - thanks!