oceanic salt "bad press"
- Thread starter mummra100769
- Start date
Saltz Creep
New member
My hair algae problem coincided with my use of Oceanic. That's why I'm switching back. BTW, a fuge should reduce nutrients that enable hair algae to grow. There are a couple of threads on RC about Oceanic and hair algae and more than a few people whose algae disapeared after switching back to IO. So, I'm giving it a shot going back to I/O and kalkwasser drips.
mhornsby858
New member
I use Oceanic and get readings of 500 - 560 ppm Calcium and before I knew about backing soda was putting in a little KH buffer to help low alk. I also have green hair algae but the Tang keeps it under control. How much baking soda do you add to let say 5 gallons of mixed Oceanic water?
jay24k
Active member
I put in 1/2 teaspoon and I rarely add buffer through the week however there is a calculator somewhere on the internet about baking soda. 2 teaspoons will raise 50 gallons 1 DKH I believe it was. If I am ever low during the week, I drop a teaspoon in once a day till it's back up. Works great.
Saltz Creep
New member
Calcium and Alkalinity Calculator
Just remember that baking soda will also lower pH while washing soda will raise it. You can make washing soda from baking soda by baking baking soda for 1 hour at 300F. I use a small plate in the toaster oven. If you're really lazy you can buy Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda in the laundry soap dept. Don't worry, it's not laundry soap, but PURE sodium carbonate. It doesn't contain fragrances or any additives either. I called Arm and Hammer to confirm this.
Just remember that baking soda will also lower pH while washing soda will raise it. You can make washing soda from baking soda by baking baking soda for 1 hour at 300F. I use a small plate in the toaster oven. If you're really lazy you can buy Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda in the laundry soap dept. Don't worry, it's not laundry soap, but PURE sodium carbonate. It doesn't contain fragrances or any additives either. I called Arm and Hammer to confirm this.
MiddletonMark
Premium Member
Good point there.
For mine, I've followed Randy's DIY 2-part recipe ... which is what Saltz Creep described.
I add 160 ml of my Calcium part to my newly mixed IO for a Ca of 425. I'm sure one could figure out the same for use with Oceanic, to boost the Alk a little higher [else to suppliment daily].
Personally, I still had problems using the baked baking soda + Kent superbuffer keeping my Alk between 7+8. I'm unsure why my tank chemistry gave me problems with Oceanic, but I had problems buffering enough and changed back to what worked with my methods/tanks better IMO. I wish I didn't have these buffer issues as I was happy with Oceanic ... but it seemed to be more work for me.
For some reason, the DIY Calcium with IO doesn't do that to me, though Magnesium supplimentation still will cost. [50# of dowflake CaCl was under $20 ... so, like the baking soda, pretty cheap to boost ... though Magnesium is not].
Anyway - that recipe is good to know with any salt, as so few come with exactly the levels we want. Along with the calculator - and test kits to verify - should help solve any imbalances you run into.
For mine, I've followed Randy's DIY 2-part recipe ... which is what Saltz Creep described.
I add 160 ml of my Calcium part to my newly mixed IO for a Ca of 425. I'm sure one could figure out the same for use with Oceanic, to boost the Alk a little higher [else to suppliment daily].
Personally, I still had problems using the baked baking soda + Kent superbuffer keeping my Alk between 7+8. I'm unsure why my tank chemistry gave me problems with Oceanic, but I had problems buffering enough and changed back to what worked with my methods/tanks better IMO. I wish I didn't have these buffer issues as I was happy with Oceanic ... but it seemed to be more work for me.
For some reason, the DIY Calcium with IO doesn't do that to me, though Magnesium supplimentation still will cost. [50# of dowflake CaCl was under $20 ... so, like the baking soda, pretty cheap to boost ... though Magnesium is not].
Anyway - that recipe is good to know with any salt, as so few come with exactly the levels we want. Along with the calculator - and test kits to verify - should help solve any imbalances you run into.
mummra100769
Premium Member
mummra100769
Premium Member
link
link
dag nabbit.
link
dag nabbit.
JB NY
Active member
Been using it for about 11 month. zero problems with it. I like it much better than IO which I was using before. Used to cost me an arm and a leg to get the calcium and magnesium to a decent level when doing water changes with IO. Oceanic has been great.
Oceanic alk is about 8 dKH, pretty much prefect IMO. calcium always measures about 480, but it get's used up so fast I still need to use my ca reactor and kalk.
Oceanic alk is about 8 dKH, pretty much prefect IMO. calcium always measures about 480, but it get's used up so fast I still need to use my ca reactor and kalk.
jay24k
Active member
Could it be bad batches? I don't have a phosphate kit so I can't tell. I know my hair algae started around the time I changed 4 things. Tap to Ro/Di, New Salt, 10k to 14k bulb and a fuge. Before that, tank has been setup for 1 year. I can't blame the salt as any could of caused it I guess.
dirtyreefer
New member
I just started to use Oceanic salt. As an SPS newbie, I need the calcium cos I haven't bought a reactor yet. I also bought this new product from Kent called "Coral Builder". It's basically superbuffer without affecting the PH.
IME, this would be a good combo for now with regular water changes to keep the calcium up, while dosing Coral Builder to increase the alk.
Does anyone else do this or share my same optimism?
IME, this would be a good combo for now with regular water changes to keep the calcium up, while dosing Coral Builder to increase the alk.
Does anyone else do this or share my same optimism?
Illusion
New member
I have used Oceanic since Feb 04 which was when the First 200g bucket hit Oregon... It was very cheap in price and I was tired of the other Salts.. CS, Kent, IO, Red Sea, and Coralife... Mg and Ca always seemed low and were quite expensive to raise to where i wanted them... I head Oceanic was supposed to have the best Mg and Ca levels and was really looking forward to it coming out... I have gone thru probably 8 buckets atleast and just got another one... So far my 224g SPS tank is still up and going without any issues... Corals seem to be growing like mad... My pH runs a bit lower than I like and I know its because of the elevated Mg levels but so far I have found no way to lower them easily... My Ca is 450-480 alk is 7-8 dkh and mG is 1480ish... My pH funs between 7.8 and 8.1 and doesnt seem to harm the sps at all.. I dont drip Kalk as I feel its too much work in my tank... My Coral growth seems to be Awesome with major noticable growth monthly... No other issues than the Mg being too high and the Alk being a tad bit low... Happy user here though.. Just about everyone here in Oregon is using it and I have yet to hear a major problem with it such as tank crashes ect..
James
James
mummra100769
Premium Member
see this is what i thought,you hear about this stuff on the boards enough and people just accept it as fact.
fact: oceanic has a high cal and mag sometimes lowering alk.
fact: some people have stated (more than two here on this thread) that they saw an increase in bad algae growth after using oceanic and that it subsided after they stopped using oceanic.
fact: one person said his softies open better when he stopped using oceanic.
fact:after searching for rtn (and stn) topics related to oceanic salt i found only two people had stated this and one of them was not ready to convict oceanic salt for the acro deaths he had.
it seems to me that oceanic salt is getting a bad rap.
btw i use red sea salt.switched from i.o. when i bought three fifty gal. bags in a row that had black floating gunk in the mix,also tested for nitrates and phosphates. could have been a bad batch but red sea has never done me wrong and my tank thrives.
fact: oceanic has a high cal and mag sometimes lowering alk.
fact: some people have stated (more than two here on this thread) that they saw an increase in bad algae growth after using oceanic and that it subsided after they stopped using oceanic.
fact: one person said his softies open better when he stopped using oceanic.
fact:after searching for rtn (and stn) topics related to oceanic salt i found only two people had stated this and one of them was not ready to convict oceanic salt for the acro deaths he had.
it seems to me that oceanic salt is getting a bad rap.
btw i use red sea salt.switched from i.o. when i bought three fifty gal. bags in a row that had black floating gunk in the mix,also tested for nitrates and phosphates. could have been a bad batch but red sea has never done me wrong and my tank thrives.
melev
Well-known member
To be fair, we have to realize that there <b>will</b> be some chemical interaction/reaction to a change such as using a different brand after using one kind for so long.
I used IO for a brief period of time, but to be honest I switched to Kent because it cost a couple dollars more. I felt it might be better. Later I switched back because I was broke :lol: but found IO didn't disolve well. Some of my livestock was burned by the white dots of salt that landed on them, and I swore never to use IO again. I used Kent for years, no matter what anyone else used. I know that many on RC followed the report by Ron about Bio-Assay salt after he declared it was good enough for baby urchins so it was good enough for our tanks... but I ignored it. The massive swell to use Bio_Assay made that company rich briefly, until the mass outcry that their tanks were crashing (chemical interaction/reaction is my guess). People with new tanks using that salt had no issue, but established tanks plummeted in health due to the switch.
When Oceanic came out, I got my 5lb sample and mixed up a bucket of water and tested the water. The numbers were good. I believe alk was 8dKH, which is good enough (NSW is 8 to 11 dKH), plus Mg and Ca were nice and high. So I made the switch. I change water about every six to eight weeks and haven't attributed anything negative to the salt. Some corals just go belly up for no reason. I never get algae outbreaks, probably due to my use of refugiums on my tanks.
So that is where things stand. I just opened up a new bucket of salt this weekend for a 50g water change, and have 5 more buckets of Oceanic. I'm sure I'll continue using it unless something solid comes out that causes me concern.
I used IO for a brief period of time, but to be honest I switched to Kent because it cost a couple dollars more. I felt it might be better. Later I switched back because I was broke :lol: but found IO didn't disolve well. Some of my livestock was burned by the white dots of salt that landed on them, and I swore never to use IO again. I used Kent for years, no matter what anyone else used. I know that many on RC followed the report by Ron about Bio-Assay salt after he declared it was good enough for baby urchins so it was good enough for our tanks... but I ignored it. The massive swell to use Bio_Assay made that company rich briefly, until the mass outcry that their tanks were crashing (chemical interaction/reaction is my guess). People with new tanks using that salt had no issue, but established tanks plummeted in health due to the switch.
When Oceanic came out, I got my 5lb sample and mixed up a bucket of water and tested the water. The numbers were good. I believe alk was 8dKH, which is good enough (NSW is 8 to 11 dKH), plus Mg and Ca were nice and high. So I made the switch. I change water about every six to eight weeks and haven't attributed anything negative to the salt. Some corals just go belly up for no reason. I never get algae outbreaks, probably due to my use of refugiums on my tanks.
So that is where things stand. I just opened up a new bucket of salt this weekend for a 50g water change, and have 5 more buckets of Oceanic. I'm sure I'll continue using it unless something solid comes out that causes me concern.
