Favorite salt ?

[Lager]

Sorry Folks,,Search engine has been been down for me,, for days.. Im looking for your CA and DKH/ALK readings for different salts instead of the IO i use now.. Im looking for non dosed,, right out of the Box ,CA and DKH/Alk readings .. maybe mag levels if you can test for them..Thanks..

 

[Sindjin]

Reef Crystals:

Cal: 350
Mg: 1350

 

[Dubbin1]

Re: Favorite salt ?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6501790#post6501790 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lager
Sorry Folks,,Search engine has been been down for me,, for days..

This search engine is never down http://reefcentral.com/search.php?menu=11

 

[Lager]

Sindjin? You dont test for DKH/ALK ?

 

[jmicky41]

Kent mixed with RO
Ca - 400ppm
Kh - 11.8dkh
Mg - 1320ppm
No3 - 0ppm

 

[Lager]

Jmicky41..Thank you very much,, Those readings seem great,, How long have you been been useing kent salt ? Im concerned about a constant level..

 

[Paintbug]

im one for kent too!! i tried instand ocean didnt like went back to kent. to make a long story short. i get the same numbers as Jmicky. my dKH is at 9.9 right know though. with a fresh batch its usually around 11 dKH

 

[jmicky41]

I've been using it for years, I only tested it that one time (back in Sept 2005). I used to use TM, but with numbers like that why pay the extra $$$. I do get trace readings of phosphate and silicate, but my tap water is loaded with both, and I don't have a deionizer.

 

[Lager]

Thanks Paint bug,, thats 2 for the Kent salt..Brief history,, started with IO in softie tank,, progressed to harder corals, and switched to Oceanic,, they went wonky with CA as we all know,, back to IO I went..Since then,, harder to maintain CA/DKH levels with out reactors useing io,,thus me looking at differnt salts..Has Kent salts been consistant ??

 

[LivingTropicals]

Tropic Marin forever - recently switched to Tropic Marin Pro.

 

[Sindjin]

Sorry....
ALK: 12.

 

[davidcalgary29]

A word of caution: be wary of Coralife's marine salt mixture. I recently purchased a bucket (on sale), and saw my Ca/dKH params go through the roof. I couldn't figure out what was wrong until I tested a fresh batch of salt water (made with RO/DI) and found Ca topping out at 550 ppm, with dKH at an astounding 15.

I immediately switched to Instant Ocean, did a water change, and am watching params slowly return to normal.

 

[Rurouni Kenshin]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6502443#post6502443 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by davidcalgary29
A word of caution: be wary of Coralife's marine salt mixture. I recently purchased a bucket (on sale), and saw my Ca/dKH params go through the roof. I couldn't figure out what was wrong until I tested a fresh batch of salt water (made with RO/DI) and found Ca topping out at 550 ppm, with dKH at an astounding 15.

I immediately switched to Instant Ocean, did a water change, and am watching params slowly return to normal.

That sounds good to me! What dont you like about it?

 

[davidcalgary29]

My tank is full of softies and inverts; I don't keep SPS. I'm not sure what the Ca toxicity threshold is for commonly-kept LPS/soft corals, but I can certainly tell you that my own stock hasn't done well at all at these levels, and my snails have been very sluggish. At least my shrimp have been happy (two molts for the peppermints in the past month)!

I also registered a high phosphate spike immediately after doing a water change two days ago, and am beginning to think that this batch might have been tainted.

 

[Rurouni Kenshin]

Oh I see, Too bad about the Phospates, sounded like it would be good salt for Sps.

 

[fishman805]

I like Coralife .... Don't like Instant Ocean ( precipitates too easily ) I've heard that Reef Crystals salt mix is used by most of the wholesalers including Fosters & Smith at their new facility...

The Coralife has really gotten my coraline algae to grow and I have no issues with it precipitating in the mixing tub... With the Instant Ocean I had precipitate all over the pump and the heater that I keep in the mixing tank....

Bob