oceanic salt "bad press"

[mummra100769]

lately there have been claims that oceanic salt is the cause of tank crashes and killing corals. i am wondering what has everyone else heard.

are there any horror stories out there about oceanic?i have read one on here that said the change to oceanic "may" have contributed to the slow death of his corals and i have heard that calcium can get way high if not checked,but has anybody had tank crashes?does anybody prefer this salt?

for the record i use red sea and love it (even though it has some solids that never seem to dissolve).

so lay it out there where does the vast rc community stand on oceanic salt?

what is your favorite salt?

 

[Scuba Dog]

Its just really low in alkalinity...I prefer IO...but got a bucket of oceanic by a shipping mistake..so ill just mix it half and half....oceanic and IO...

 

[NewSchool04]

I like IO also and now am trying Reef Crystals, IO's reef salt. I've noticed no difference.

 

[Gawain1974]

I've never tried Oceanic...I use Instant Ocean (or Reef Crystals if I have the extra money), and I've never had any problems that I can attribute to the salt.

 

[melev]

I've used Kent's Sea Salts for 6 years, and Oceanic for the past 8 months. I like it, and have 6 more buckets of it in the garage.

 

[senorpyro]

i've been using it since the beginning on both of my tanks, and have had great results. i've got no reason to change....

i've still got two 200 gallon buckets *cough* waiting for me that i'm going to have to open up in the near future.

 

[NewSchool04]

Hey, forgot to mention that when I used Oceanic about 6 months ago, I was getting ridiculous Ca readings. Way over 500. I stopped b/c of that but had no problems because of using it.

 

[marinenewby]

i havent had problems.. but i have only done 4 ... 5 gallon water changes with it...

 

[raze]

tropic marin, all the way

 

[melev]

Hey, forgot to mention that when I used Oceanic about 6 months ago, I was getting ridiculous Ca readings. Way over 500. I stopped b/c of that but had no problems because of using it.

Why? Isn't that the biggest complaint - that we can't keep enough calcium in the water? I love the fact that I never have to test for it again. :lol: (I'm saying this totally tongue-in-cheek, btw)

Some have mixed 50% IO with 50% Oceanic to get better readings.

 

[clown2be]

I switched from I/O to oceanic and used it for 6-8 months. I noticed my mushrooms had never opened like they use to with I/O, so I went back to I/O for my last 4 water changes and whala, mushrooms are open and huge. I don't know what the diff is , but my mushrooms like I/O.

My 2 cents

 

[mummra100769]

here ya go

here ya go

here is a similar thread going and still no mentions of tank crashes.there must be more than one out there.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=495904&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

 

[NewSchool04]

melev, I'm no expert but when I mixed this salt and I got a reading of 540 - 560 Ca w/ Salifert, and very low (can't remember the Alk reading) Salifert, I figured that something was wrong. The salt is manufactured to have correct levels at SG 1.022 or 023, I run my tank at SG 1.026. That meant that a 200 gallon bucket wasn't really a 200 gallon bucket to me with the SG that I mix salt too.
I used the bucket and went back to IO after it was done. Had no ill effects on my tank but I didn't like the high and low reading I was getting.

 

[melev]

Yes, I know what you are saying.

 

[NewSchool04]

As a side note. . . I'm thinking of trying it again b/c I'm switching my tank to mainly SPS. I can buffer for Alk and not worry about Ca. Or go to Tropic Marin, or maybe Kents. . . who knows!!!!
In any event, it's very confusing and I'm sure with no answer in site. Good luck all in your choice, I'm sure whatever you do go with, you will love or hate and then on to the next.

 

[mummra100769]

ok

ok

getting some good replies here and it is mainly what i have always heard that the alk is down and the cal is up,no tank crashes though.

 

[tomterreefic]

I've been using for about 2 months with no problems. As a matter of fact, my reef has never looked better. My SPS are growing like Kudzu now. My Ca was up last week, but I found that I'd left the variable speed top-off/kalk pump turned up from water change and pumped copious amounts of Kalk. My dKH only dropped to about 9 so I didn't worry about it. JME

 

[Saltz Creep]

There are a couple other threads about Oceanic possibly causing increased algae growth. Some people have tested fresh Oceanic mixes with PO4 readings of 0.5! My algae problems also started when I began using this salt. Maybe it's coincidence, but I'm going back to IO and kalkwasser.

 

[MiddletonMark]

I used Oceanic for about 6-8 months, starting last spring and ending in the fall this year.

Initially I was really happy with the high Calcium - but eventually ran into problems getting enough buffer in to keep my pH balanced and provide carbonate for calcification.

I mixed the two for a while near the end [Oceanic + IO] to good results, but figured I'd rather be back with IO + CaCl instead of all my top-up being buffer.

No big problems with Oceanic ... but nor any faster calcification with levels far above NSW. While some people's oceanic problems are big, real problems ... I think Oceanic's `bad press' now is partly due to bandwagon jumpers whose problems might be deeper than the salt they want to blame. I certainly know of people who have real problems with it ... but don't be swayed by people who talk too much [like myself].

 

[MiddletonMark]

crud