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Salt question
- Thread starter MadReefer
- Start date
Mark,Cant help you on the re post,but recently I was talking to someone about a salt brand called (I believe) called Salinity(?) its a bit pricey,but there is a lot of added trace elements and supposedly it will cut back on all the add ins.Which of course can cut back on the overall $$ we dump into our tanks.I was also told it will hold up better over a 1-2 wk period.Im thinkin when I use up all my add ins I will give this salt a try and slowly change over.Hope this helped out some
I switched from Tropic Marin Pro to Aquavitro salinty.. I am at the end of my second bucket and I love it.. Shipwrecked was correct.... With the TMP I had to dose for everything and I dont dose at all with the Aquavitro Salinity now...It was a PITA to find but located a store that can get the aquavitro in a day or 2 for $87.00
all i put in my tank is aquavitros salinity... its amazing... hands down frickin incredible well worth the extra $$$
Which store, Chad?
Askin about salt is a loaded ? Everybody has their own opinions. I myself really dont care for salinity. Might b loaded with all the good stuff, but like d+d salt it's dirty. I have a big white 55 gal barrel i mix all my salt in. I use to love TMP until i got a batch that was hard ( bad batch like the thread on RC) Tmp always mixes up clear and fast. Everybodys old faithful IO also mixes up clear, but not as fast. I find that D+D and Salinity mix very dirty, not clear at all, and leave a nasty brown residue on everything in the mixing barrel. Also Reef crystals is a bit dirty but not as bad. I dont care for this at all . I want my tank as clean and clear as possible, so i cant see using water that looks dirty from the start. For a fowlr Regular tm also mixes clear n fast. I know all the companies say the brown residue is harmless, and is a anti-calking agent? Harmless or not its dirty.
There really is no perfect salt out there. Some will have better params, some will mix clearer, some will be cheaper and then some are just plain bad. I know Randy Holmes Farley uses IO and then adds buffer. I use Aquavitro and love it, yes it leaves a residue on the barrel but I really don't care about my mixing barrel. The salt is clean after a night of mixing and ready to go.
This link is 4 years old but considered the bible:
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/reef-chemistry-forum/54520-salt-mix-comparison-study.html
This link is 4 years old but considered the bible:
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/reef-chemistry-forum/54520-salt-mix-comparison-study.html
This analysis is a few years old but could not find a more recent one.
http://www.aqua-medic.com/aquariumwatertesting/AWT_Salt_Analysis_0208.pdf
Update: Mike we posted the same link almost at the same time. Who says great minds don't think a like.
http://www.aqua-medic.com/aquariumwatertesting/AWT_Salt_Analysis_0208.pdf
Update: Mike we posted the same link almost at the same time. Who says great minds don't think a like.
This analysis is a few years old but could not find a more recent one.
http://www.aqua-medic.com/aquariumwatertesting/AWT_Salt_Analysis_0208.pdf
Update: Mike we posted the same link almost at the same time. Who says great minds don't think a like.
Here is the problem with that study:
"We considered thoroughly mixing each salt prior to samples being taken, because we realize
that settling during shipping and storage will produce a less than homogenous mixture. While
thorough stirring may have produced more accurate results for the entire container, the effort
and equipment required to do this is beyond the means of the average aquarist, who makes up
water in batches smaller than the entire container. We therefore chose to only nominally stir
each salt mix. We felt like the results produced by this methodology would be more useful, as
it more closely approximates what the aquarist would do in the home environment. The water
was of a quality commonly available to aquarium hobbyists, RO/DI water. The water filter was
a Spectrapure, four-stage, RO/ DI unit that was purchased expressly for use in this study. The
water was produced in one batch, and all make-up water was drawn from this batch. The water
was stored in a normal, polyethylene barrel that had been pre-cleaned and acid washed to remove
any possible sources of contamination. The resulting seawater samples were stirred and
aerated for 24 hours prior to testing using new Rio 600 water pumps with aeration attachments
in new, unused, polypropylene buckets. Approximately 200mL of each sample were taken in
cleaned beakers to be tested.
Aquisition of Salt Samples"
"The yield test was performed by weighing the equivalent of 35 grams of the salt mix into 1
liter of water. In the interest of reducing required space and mixing equipment, we reduced these
values by 4/5th, so that 7 grams of salt were mixed into 200mL of water. The scale used was a
Digiweigh Laboratory balance, and the salt water solution was mixed using magnetic stirrers."
I think the only way u could really test a salt is to give it a fair share. U would have to mix a whole 50 gallon bag of io into 50 gallons of water then test it. They even say that they didnt thoroughly mix it. u cant base the numbers on a whole batch of salt by only mixing 7 grams into 200ml. They r basing their numbers on 7 ounces of something thats meant to make 50-200 gallons, Too much of a margin of error.
Anyway, Not trying to bash a link or get off track, but this is what i mean by a loaded ? Just look at the numbers. Everyone knows that reef crystals is meant for a reef cause it has more trace elements and higher calcium than their sister salt Instant ocean. But in this link, calcium is 374.5 in instant ocean and only 341.5 in reef crystals. To me these tests r very misleading. Just do your research n go from there
dnov99
FRAG SWAP VENDOR
Mark I agree with your thinking, for only softies its worth it. Even if you dont get the bucket. LOL...
Am I the only one here using Oceanic?? I never hear of anybody. I have been using it for years and do not add anything and 90% of my sps have great growth....Some coloring could be better, but overall I was pleased with my tank untill the hurricane loss 
Am I the only one here using Oceanic?? I never hear of anybody. I have been using it for years and do not add anything and 90% of my sps have great growth....Some coloring could be better, but overall I was pleased with my tank untill the hurricane loss
I was gonna try oceanic cause the calcium is high. Cant find it in any store around here though