A General Guide to Salt Mixes

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

2) That the results of this test, without documentation of its sourcewater values, provides us with a good comparative gauge of the tested product's values, but cannot be relied upon for absolute values.

I have confidence that Billy's source fresh water is pure and is not showing up in the values, but I'll leave it to him to describe it.

Still waiting on this one:
"And what about phosphates and silicates? Their importance merit the attention of many commercial purveyors of salt mixes (read the labels- Phosphate and Silicate free!...) but seems to have eluded the scrutiny of almost all the contributors to this thread..."
Well?...

In that sense, I agree, and would expand the concern to many more things than we can test. there is so much more to a salt mix than calcium, alkalinity and magnesium. In fact, those are the ones that are easiest to measure and correct. Other issues are far more complicated. Chloride to sulfate ratios, trace metals, and many other attributes. I personally would not and do not select a salt mix based on calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium. I think this information is very useful to a lot of people, but IMO, should not be the sole, or even the primary basis of salt mix selection.

BUT, the reason I have never been keen on spending a lot of time and money testing salt mixes for these other attributes is that manufacturers change their recipes and raw material suppliers frequently and without notice. The data can be obsolete even before it is posted. For example, I've been told by one of the biggest names on Billy's list that they recently adjusted their levels of some things in his test substantially.

 

[DheereCrossing]

OK, Randy, that makes good sence. If we aren't to base our salt choice on the easily measureable attributes, how should we 'non-chemists' make a good real world decision?

 

[NCNBilly]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14423315#post14423315 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DheereCrossing
OK, Randy, that makes good sence. If we aren't to base our salt choice on the easily measureable attributes, how should we 'non-chemists' make a good real world decision?

Use what the chemists are using.

 

[DheereCrossing]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14423356#post14423356 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NCNBilly
Use what the chemists are using.

Makes sence - IO and dosing at mixing?
I want the magic bullet just like everyone else. You know - a one-stop-shopping experience.

 

[Billybeau1]

dma, I can assure you that all of the water used in my testing of all of the listed salt mixes were filtered through an ro/di which produced zero or close to zero tds. I monitored this throughout the testing phase.

The source water is not a factor in my testing, I can assure you.

The reason some reefers come up with different numbers are quite simple.

1) salinity mixing errors. (I've seen many)

2) salt manufacturers changing their formula ( I believe Randy eluded to this )

3) inaccurate or outdated test kits

4) user error of hobby grade test kits.

I guess I'm trying to figure out just what is your point ?

And why some people measure phosphates in their mix, well, I just do not know. I have never measured any phosphates in any freshly mixed batch of salt that I've tested.

While I do agree with Randy that the making of a good salt mix does not rely on only the big three, I believe that most of the commercial salt mixes are pretty close as far as the trace goodies.

I have not seen a commercial salt mix yet that wiped out an entire tank with the exception of a few that were lacking an important major element that the user was not aware of.

I only wish you all could have access to all of the emails and pm's I get about this subject. You would be surprised to see that most of these salt mixes work real good in someones tank.

My advice, again, is to try the mix of your choice and if you do not like the results, keep trying until you find one that works for you.

THERE IS NO BEST SALT MIX. Only the best for your tank and situation.

 

[dma]

<a href=showthread.php?

I guess I'm trying to figure out just what is your point ?

My point is the same as yours: don't assume anything- not about your salt mix(es), not about your water source(s).

And why some people measure phosphates in their mix, well, I just do not know. I have never measured any phosphates in any freshly mixed batch of salt that I've tested.

The prominence and frequency of claims by manufacturers of aquarium salt formulae extolling their products' freedom from phosphates or silicates might lead some to believe that this is a potentially beneficial feature not necessarily shared by all salt mixes. I would think it prudent, in a forum dedicated to the detailed comparison of commercially available salt mixes, to include these parameters as part of a thorough examination of their relative qualities.

ps- thanks for all the work, and the timely response to my inquiries- I'm still learning- and your points concerning likely variables influencing different individual's test results was an excellent illustration of the challenges facing technical interchange among a broad-based online community. Tally Ho, Veritas!

 

[Billybeau1]

Yes, wouldn't be nice if a reasonably priced hobby grade test kit was actually foolproof and accurate every time.

Maybe someday.

 

[tyleratl]

Improved Reef Crystals?

Improved Reef Crystals?

I was in PetSmart yesterday and saw a redesigned Reef Crystals bag. It now includes the Instant Ocean logo and claims improved levels of Calcium and Magnesium. There is a chart on the bag showing what levels of each you can expect at various SG's. I wonder if it's time to retest RC - one of the new bags? I still use Coralife which I can really only fault for being low on ALK. Otherwise, it's a great salt and regular water changes keep me from worrying too much about Calcium and Magnesium. However, an improved RC might be interesting if it has higher levels of Calcium and Magnesium while maintaining a higher Alkalinity than Coralife.

 

[Rueg]

Didn't it say the same thing on their old buckets?

 

[Mike O'Brien]

No, this is new. They claim 455 ppm Ca at 35 ppt. I got a 200 gallon box today. I was supposed to get a new Ca kit, but the shipped it seperately, so I haven't been able to test it yet. One thing that is noticable is that there is no smell to this stuff. All the RC and IO I have ever used has had a smell to it that is very distinctive. If they live up to their claim, that will be awesome ! My last 4 buckets were the low Ca stuff.

 

[Mike O'Brien]

I got 1200 Mg and 10 dKH with Elos at 35 ppt. Refractometer calibrated with Pinpoint solution.

 

[tyleratl]

Yeah, I think I will try a bag if the calcium and magnesium are at improved levels while maintaining the higher alkalinity. Maybe it's time for Billy to get his hands on a new bag of RC with the Instant Ocean logo and see what he comes up with.

 

[ehutchby]

sounds good

 

[Billybeau1]

I've been a little busy lately, but............. I'm on it.

 

[gig]

so...

so...

thinking of changing things up, been using Oceanic for the last two years on my reef, but I want to see if using a different salt would have a better effect....I'm gonna buy from DF&S, so my choices are:

IO/Reef Crystals
Seachem
Red Sea Coral Pro
Tropic marin
Kent Sea Salt
Coralife marine
Red Sea Salt
hW marinemix Plus bioelements

Not going to worry about price, looks like the 160-200G mixes range up to $50-60.

Thinking Red Sea Coral Pro, thoughts??

 

[Billybeau1]

I'm a big Illini fan myself. Go orange and blue.

Try what you want and give it a chance. They are all good choices in someones tank.

If you are going to try Red Sea Coral Pro, just keep an eye on your alkalinity. You will most certainly have to supplement that. A little baking soda will keep that it check.

 

[gig]

Thanks billy (GO ILLINI!)

ahh crap! that's the same issue with Oceanic! Ok, give me a second choice, I see that Tropic Marin fairly expensive, I just want something that is better than Oceanic.

 

[Billybeau1]

Try the new Reef Crystals. I'm hearing good things about it.

 

[kc350twin]

Hey Billybeau1 any ETA on the New RC testing. Thinking of switching back to RC due to price and availability of H2ocean. I'm running low on H2ocean.

Kc3

 

[JohnL]

This thread was automatically split due to performance issues. You can find the rest of the thread here: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1589326