A Quick SPS and Salt Mix Question

T

TreyK

New member
I just saw a thread where a LOT of people looked to be using IO salt.

According to the below thread, the alkalinity of this salt seems to be too high for a low nutrient SPS system...

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1714505

So My question is how in the world do so many people use IO with alk that high and keep successful SPS tanks? Wouldn't it cause alk swings every time you do a largish water change? Dont alk swings kill stony corals pretty efficiently.

Wouldn't it make more sense to use Red Sea Salt (not Coral Pro), which appears to have darn near perfect parameters?

Sorry if I am missing something obvious, but this is driving me nuts.
 
If I mix the whole bag of IO, it mixes in the 8s for me. Running 7.6, or so, this raises to about 7.7 or 7.8 after the WC. Then, it slowly goes back down to 7.6 where it stays stable.

If you don't use the whole bag of IO, it might be a good idea to dry mix the salt before you use it.

I do keep some Tropic Marin onhand in case my Alk gets too high.
 
This has nothing to do with this thread, but in case you guys missed this, you can lower your alk in your mix by adding muriatic acid. I tried this this past weekend and it worked great. Because of my flatworm treatment, I was doing larger water changes than usual, so I deliberately brought my alk down to nearly exactly what my tank was running. You can search for the threads, there are several. I thought IO mixed to about 10 dkh?
 
rovster said:
This has nothing to do with this thread, but in case you guys missed this, you can lower your alk in your mix by adding muriatic acid. I tried this this past weekend and it worked great. Because of my flatworm treatment, I was doing larger water changes than usual, so I deliberately brought my alk down to nearly exactly what my tank was running. You can search for the threads, there are several. I thought IO mixed to about 10 dkh?
Click to expand...


+1

You can also adjust your dosing or do smaller more frequent water changes.
 
In brief, I would argue InstantOcean clearly mixes to a lower alk than many salt mixes. I think you are on the right track. I agree that fluctuating alkalinity is (in a nut shell) the most key parameter in stressing/killing stony corals. I prefer alk on the lower end, so I look for a salt mix that runs lower alk. I don't have a problem with additions to bring up cal, mag, etc...I just prefer alk to be on the lower end in my mixes. I know many long time reefers that operate similarly. Sounds like you are in this boat. In my experience and many others on RC, InstantOcean it is indeed one of the lower mixing alk salts there is, which is exactly what I'm looking for. I'm positive you could run more RC searches to find these findings.
 
blakers82 said:
In brief, I would argue InstantOcean clearly mixes to a lower alk than many salt mixes. I think you are on the right track. I agree that fluctuating alkalinity is (in a nut shell) the most key parameter in stressing/killing stony corals. I prefer alk on the lower end, so I look for a salt mix that runs lower alk. I don't have a problem with additions to bring up cal, mag, etc...I just prefer alk to be on the lower end in my mixes. I know many long time reefers that operate similarly. Sounds like you are in this boat. In my experience and many others on RC, InstantOcean it is indeed one of the lower mixing alk salts there is, which is exactly what I'm looking for. I'm positive you could run more RC searches to find these findings.
Click to expand...

Well that would be great news! If indeed Instant Ocean does mix with lower alk than what I have found stated here and elsewhere, that means I can save some $$$ on salt.
 
IO has always mixed to around a 7.5 for me. My issues are with it's lower calcium and mag levels which need to be brought up by supplements to where I want them.
 
I think that list is outdated and inaccurate. I been using IO and my alk is well around 8. MG in the 1100s and Cal around 390.
 
I had been using reef crystals for 15 yrs but then discovered it was mixing to 14 dkh which is too high for my liking
 
Most serious sps keepers ive been around don't run alk that low. Check out Melvs reef or John copps info on their tanks. I know copps runs RC and an alk of 9 for sure. Melvs reef I just looked up and he runs 9 to 10.
 
TreyK said:
I just saw a thread where a LOT of people looked to be using IO salt.

According to the below thread, the alkalinity of this salt seems to be too high for a low nutrient SPS system...

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1714505

So My question is how in the world do so many people use IO with alk that high and keep successful SPS tanks? Wouldn't it cause alk swings every time you do a largish water change? Dont alk swings kill stony corals pretty efficiently.

Wouldn't it make more sense to use Red Sea Salt (not Coral Pro), which appears to have darn near perfect parameters?

Sorry if I am missing something obvious, but this is driving me nuts.
Click to expand...



I have always strived to find a salt that matches my desired parameters. I used TM Pro for years, swear on it. Choose the salt that will likely cause your parameters to not swing too far, of course depending on the % to volume of water change. Red Sea, Not Pro, does seem to fit the bill for a zeovit user. As far as the non Carbon dosing systems go, I think most will work, just have to accommodate, CA/MAG/ALK and test before you go back on your normal automated dosing schedule. This is ultimately why I decided to not use dosers anymore, I hand dose my elements. Currently using BW salts, the jury is still out, seems to mix well, but smells like a lab experiment gone wrong when mixing, lol... The stuff literally goes airborne... Best of Luck :)
 
Im using red sea nopox and i use IO, i keep my alk steady at 7.7 using brs 2 part with a ghl doser and do a 10% water change a week. No problems
 
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