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Salt

Tommyboynj

Tommyboynj

Administrator
Officer Emeritus
I'm thinking of switching salts. Iv been using regular io since i started this tank and while Iv never had any issues up until now I have found that the parameters seem to be inconsistent. Iv had batches with high mag, low calcium and now high alk.. I recently had an alk spike up to almost 12dkh. It must have been very gradual as the only things that have really suffered are my monti caps. I attributed the spike to my bio pellets as I'd recently replenished my reactor and my alk had risen after doing this before just never to a number that high. I stopped dosing for a week or so and the alk dropped slowly back to 9ish. Anyway, today I'm doing a water change and I tested my fresh mix and it was 11.6dkh. I was shocked it was that high as my water has always test around 9ish. Iv heard good stuff about tropic and salinity and don't mind paying extra to get a product that is going to deliver more consistently than io does. What are you guys using and why.


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Zippy69

Zippy69

I was using reef crystals and also noticed the big spike in the alk. Have since switched to Tropic Marin. No issues, but does not take as much mix to get to 1.026.
 
H

horseplay

NJRC Member
My regular IO is consistently around 11 - 12 dkh with 450ppm ca. After a 10% water change the alk rises 0.3 or so. (I keep tank at 7.7 dkh). But it has been consistent for the 4 boxes of salt I have used so far. Thinking about changing to regular red sea salt but then I will have to learn to work with another salt.
 
M

Mike S

I switched over to IO from ESV last summer and have tested several batches and the alkalinity has generally been in that range and consistent. Calcium has been around 400 to 450. Magnesium has been all over the place but I suspect that is more of an issue with the Red Sea test that I'm using.

I was concerned about the high alkalinity at first but I'm doing such small water changes that I was able to adjust my calcium reactor and keep my tank around 7.5 to 8.0.

Are you buying buckets or the 200 gallon box with the individual bags?
 
saltkreep88

saltkreep88

I am currently reef crystals and the alk is 13, I like to keep my alk around 7, so I am trying seachem reef salt next

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Tommyboynj

Tommyboynj

Administrator
Officer Emeritus
Mike S said:
I switched over to IO from ESV last summer and have tested several batches and the alkalinity has generally been in that range and consistent. Calcium has been around 400 to 450. Magnesium has been all over the place but I suspect that is more of an issue with the Red Sea test that I'm using.

I was concerned about the high alkalinity at first but I'm doing such small water changes that I was able to adjust my calcium reactor and keep my tank around 7.5 to 8.0.

Are you buying buckets or the 200 gallon box with the individual bags?
Click to expand...

I'm buying the boxes. I combine all the bags though in and old salt bucket and mix them.


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saltkreep88

saltkreep88

I think you might see better results if you didn't mix the bags together. The components in the salt tend to settle and it is much easier to shake/mix the bag, compared to stirring the bucket every time before use.
 
M

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
Relatively recent convert to tropic marin as well, I buy it by the bag now. I loved Salinity by seachem, but it takes forever to mix clear and left a terrible residue on the inside of the mixing container.
 
Sobo's Reef

Sobo's Reef

I've been using Reef Crystals for as long as I've been in the hobby and never had any problems with it. I also bought a bucket at first and now I just buy the 200g boxes and mix the bags in the bucket. Never had a problem..
 
NJ Lunatic

NJ Lunatic

Red Sea Coral Pro....just tried this salt out at the beginning of the year. I had been using Reef Crystals and IO since I started but lately it did not put me where I wanted to be. Something seemed to have changed with the mix. The Red Sea salt puts me closer to my preferred target water params without dosing or dosing as much as with IO.
 
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