A General Guide to Salt Mixes

[iceman]

Thanks....I guess I didn't go back far enough.

For five gallons of newly mixed IO, I would add approximately 1 tsp of dowflake and 5.5 tsp of magflake to increase calcium by 70ppm and magnesium by 150pppm, correct?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

This calculator will help with such calculations:

Reef chemicals calculator
http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html

 

[RBU1]

Anyone test the new Seachem Salinity salt yet? Each parameter is supposed to be labeled on the bucket. I ordered 3 buckets and should have them next week....

 

[JRF]

Hi
Any info on the TM Bio-Actif salt, good , bad, or indifferent?
Thanks

 

[Canarygirl]

I just tested the new ESV B-Ionic Saltwater mix. It is a 4-part system. For the volume of my water change (~51g), the recipe was

1. 15 cups of sodium chloride: add to water and let mix with pump ~10 minutes
2. 5 cups of magnesium sulphate (epsom salts I think?), do same as above
3. 64 oz of Liquid ingredient "A" add to water change container, mix 1 min.
4. 32 oz of Liquid ingredient "B" same as above

I had read a review on MarineDepot to use less of the liquid ingredients so I used ~60oz of "A" and 30oz of "B," then measured parameters. This is how it turned out.

Alk was 8.5 dhk (Elos)
Ca was 450 (Elos)
Mg was 1200 (Elos)
K+ was ~400 (KZ)
This was at 1.0245 s.g.

At first I was a little disappointed in the Mg level, but then realized, "Hey!" I can just bump up the Mg a little bit. Not like when you try a bucket of new salt, find one of the parameters too high and it's kind of hard to do anything about it.

My question is, should I add more of the Mg Sulphate, or use ESV B-Ionic Magnesium supplement? According to the label of the B-Ionioc, it includes ions other than magnesium, and may raise salinity. I don't want to do that. But if I add more of the Mg Sulphate, is there any risk of it throwing off the ratio of chloride to sulphate ions that are supposed to be in seawater? The Reef Chemistry calculator mentioned that continuous use of the Mg Sulphate/epsom salts can eventually result in ionic imbalance. Don't want to do that either. I don't want to add more of the liquids A or B because I don't want to raise Alk or Ca.

It mixed up very clear and when I added to my system, I got less sliming from coral tips than I got with my last salt mix. But I still got some sliming (this may be from particulate matter from my sump getting stirred up...I don't know).

All in all, I was pretty satisfied with this. It is nice to have a bit of control because so many times I buy a salt mix and end up with different parameters than I am supposed to have. Most recently Red Sea Coral Pro that had ALk level of 11 dhk (instead of 7).

 

[RBU1]

Sounds like to much of a PITA for me...You have to mix all that crap....You can get the same or better results from other salts that are easier to work with.

I just tested the new ESV B-Ionic Saltwater mix. It is a 4-part system. For the volume of my water change (~51g), the recipe was

1. 15 cups of sodium chloride: add to water and let mix with pump ~10 minutes
2. 5 cups of magnesium sulphate (epsom salts I think?), do same as above
3. 64 oz of Liquid ingredient "A" add to water change container, mix 1 min.
4. 32 oz of Liquid ingredient "B" same as above

I had read a review on MarineDepot to use less of the liquid ingredients so I used ~60oz of "A" and 30oz of "B," then measured parameters. This is how it turned out.

Alk was 8.5 dhk (Elos)
Ca was 450 (Elos)
Mg was 1200 (Elos)
K+ was ~400 (KZ)
This was at 1.0245 s.g.

At first I was a little disappointed in the Mg level, but then realized, "Hey!" I can just bump up the Mg a little bit. Not like when you try a bucket of new salt, find one of the parameters too high and it's kind of hard to do anything about it.

My question is, should I add more of the Mg Sulphate, or use ESV B-Ionic Magnesium supplement? According to the label of the B-Ionioc, it includes ions other than magnesium, and may raise salinity. I don't want to do that. But if I add more of the Mg Sulphate, is there any risk of it throwing off the ratio of chloride to sulphate ions that are supposed to be in seawater? The Reef Chemistry calculator mentioned that continuous use of the Mg Sulphate/epsom salts can eventually result in ionic imbalance. Don't want to do that either. I don't want to add more of the liquids A or B because I don't want to raise Alk or Ca.

It mixed up very clear and when I added to my system, I got less sliming from coral tips than I got with my last salt mix. But I still got some sliming (this may be from particulate matter from my sump getting stirred up...I don't know).

All in all, I was pretty satisfied with this. It is nice to have a bit of control because so many times I buy a salt mix and end up with different parameters than I am supposed to have. Most recently Red Sea Coral Pro that had ALk level of 11 dhk (instead of 7).

 

[Canarygirl]

RBU1, there are not so many choices of low-alk salt mixes on the market, which is what my system likes/needs. There is Tropic Marin Coral Pro but it is low in Mg and tends to be high-ish in PO4. There is Seachem Reef...been there, done that. GetTanked...didn't have a good experience with that. Reefer's Best is too much $$ for me (plus I got a bucket with Alk of 11 dhk instead of 7.5 like it is supposed to be). I don't know of any others...so I'm willing to try this for a few WC's and see how the corals look.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

At first I was a little disappointed in the Mg level,

FWIW, that comes out to exactly the NSW level if you mix the salt to 35 ppt (sg = 1.0264; your magnesium becomes 1293 ppm).

If you want to raise magnesium alone, I'd use B-ionic magnesium if you have it already.

 

[lukinrats]

RBU1, there are not so many choices of low-alk salt mixes on the market, which is what my system likes/needs. There is Tropic Marin Coral Pro but it is low in Mg and tends to be high-ish in PO4. There is Seachem Reef...been there, done that. GetTanked...didn't have a good experience with that. Reefer's Best is too much $$ for me (plus I got a bucket with Alk of 11 dhk instead of 7.5 like it is supposed to be). I don't know of any others...so I'm willing to try this for a few WC's and see how the corals look.

Hi, just wanted to say that I use Coralife, and I keep my dKH around 7-8. It usually mixes around 9, but my water never stays at that + I do not detect any obscene levels of PO4 or NO3, so its good in that area too

 

[Canarygirl]

thankyou Randy and Lukinrats.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

:thumbsup:

Thanks for the salt info.

 

[ECFENCING]

I just tested the new ESV B-Ionic Saltwater mix. It is a 4-part system. For the volume of my water change (~51g), the recipe was

1. 15 cups of sodium chloride: add to water and let mix with pump ~10 minutes
2. 5 cups of magnesium sulphate (epsom salts I think?), do same as above
3. 64 oz of Liquid ingredient "A" add to water change container, mix 1 min.
4. 32 oz of Liquid ingredient "B" same as above

I had read a review on MarineDepot to use less of the liquid ingredients so I used ~60oz of "A" and 30oz of "B," then measured parameters. This is how it turned out.

Alk was 8.5 dhk (Elos)
Ca was 450 (Elos)
Mg was 1200 (Elos)
K+ was ~400 (KZ)
This was at 1.0245 s.g.

At first I was a little disappointed in the Mg level, but then realized, "Hey!" I can just bump up the Mg a little bit. Not like when you try a bucket of new salt, find one of the parameters too high and it's kind of hard to do anything about it.

My question is, should I add more of the Mg Sulphate, or use ESV B-Ionic Magnesium supplement? According to the label of the B-Ionioc, it includes ions other than magnesium, and may raise salinity. I don't want to do that. But if I add more of the Mg Sulphate, is there any risk of it throwing off the ratio of chloride to sulphate ions that are supposed to be in seawater? The Reef Chemistry calculator mentioned that continuous use of the Mg Sulphate/epsom salts can eventually result in ionic imbalance. Don't want to do that either. I don't want to add more of the liquids A or B because I don't want to raise Alk or Ca.

It mixed up very clear and when I added to my system, I got less sliming from coral tips than I got with my last salt mix. But I still got some sliming (this may be from particulate matter from my sump getting stirred up...I don't know).

All in all, I was pretty satisfied with this. It is nice to have a bit of control because so many times I buy a salt mix and end up with different parameters than I am supposed to have. Most recently Red Sea Coral Pro that had ALk level of 11 dhk (instead of 7).

Canary girl: I am about to try ESV ...what does esv claim the mg should be?

please post back with how you like the salt..

 

[Canarygirl]

ESV states that the Mg should be closer to 1350, but I puposely reduced the proportions of 2 of the 4 ingredients (the liquids A and B), because I wanted my Alk to be closer to NSW range, and I wanted the Ca to be in balance with the Alk so I reduced both liquid additives. Today I got a reply email from ESV; they are going to call me next week but the email stated that they do not recommend reducing the proportions of additives A and B, because along with the reduction of Ca, Alk, and Mg, other ions in seawater will also have reduced levels. They said that they made the salt mix to have elevated levels of Ca, ALk, and Mg "because most aquarists prefer it." So, this is not an ideal situation for my tank...maybe all I can do is request a version with NSW levels of all elements instead of elevated levels.

P.S. I have a "highlighter prostrata" that has not had this hairy of polyps since...maybe never. This started after the WC with ESV SW mix.

 

[ECFENCING]

Thanks canary girl...

450 ppm Calcium • 3.25 meq/L Alkalinity • 1400 ppm Magnesium is what the claim is

3.25 I think converts to 9 dkh for alk... a little high than what I am currently running but I am going to give it a go.

So boosting the mag wouldn't work for you?

I think being consistent is what really matters ....or slowly changing over to ESV so that your levels are not affected and keeping up with water changes or dosing to make up for ca and and/or alk and/or mag if needed...

Randy: Is there any benefit to performing daily water changes other than consistency? I was thinking of using the LM3 and a remote pump to dump out old water to a drain and pump in new water to perform daily water changes and performing larger water changes maybe twice a year..

I guess it all depends on what works for each individual system...weekly water changes, monthly water changes, every two weeks, or continuous water changes....

 

[Canarygirl]

boosting the Mg would work fine for me...not an issue

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Randy: Is there any benefit to performing daily water changes other than consistency?

The big advantages to slow daily changes are:

1. They are totally automatic
2. I need not match anything in the new water. Not temp, salinity, or anything else.
3. The creatures are exposed to no sudden changes in anything.

 

[ECFENCING]

Thanks Randy!

So how do you keep the SG constant in the new makeup water bin if you are drawing from it to replenish the tank since the water level will be changing you can't use an ATO?

Or is it really negligible if you keep a lid on the storage container?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The sump water level never changes because it adds water and removes water at exactly the same rate. It takes it out a bit upstream of where it adds it in the sump. So my auto top off (using limewater and a float switch) is unaffected.

 

[Canarygirl]

Randy, do you use a Liter-meter III setup for the auto wc's?

 

[Aquarist007]

Randy: Is there any benefit to performing daily water changes other than consistency?

The big advantages to slow daily changes are:

1. They are totally automatic
2. I need not match anything in the new water. Not temp, salinity, or anything else.
3. The creatures are exposed to no sudden changes in anything.

I don't quite understand this---if you don't match the salinity in the change water then over time will the salinity not drop in the system?
I can see this with matching the evaporation rate but not with a water change