salt
- Thread starter Kit Chan
- Start date
Malolo
New member
Been using IO forever. Have to agree about low ca levels though. I think they do that to make people buck-up for reef crystals. I add 1 Tbsp of peladow and 1 Tbsp of baking soda to 25 gallons in mix barrel to bring it up to my tank values. Simple cheap and effective. I may try blending with Oceanic if its as inexpensive at the local petsmart as they say.
DitchPlains2
In Memoriam
Oceanic
Oceanic
Oceanic for me all the way, just don't buy the buckets, it's a shame the buckets can be hit or miss, but for me the 90g container for 20 bucks is more then worth it. I tried TM, Reef Crystals, and IO. I can say not much of difference between Io and reefcrystals, all decent. It's the high calc thats integral for sps that I love about Oceanic, buying buffer is easier to me then adding and calculating how much calc to add, without truly lowering ph, and if its kalk your using to raise calk your also raising alk n ph, it can be tough. I love Oceanic cause the calc is high and with a few teaspoons of Seachem's reef builder, I'm good to go. Sadly, I dont change my water that often, looks like tonight will be a good night to do a huge 25g water change.
imho
David
Oceanic
Oceanic for me all the way, just don't buy the buckets, it's a shame the buckets can be hit or miss, but for me the 90g container for 20 bucks is more then worth it. I tried TM, Reef Crystals, and IO. I can say not much of difference between Io and reefcrystals, all decent. It's the high calc thats integral for sps that I love about Oceanic, buying buffer is easier to me then adding and calculating how much calc to add, without truly lowering ph, and if its kalk your using to raise calk your also raising alk n ph, it can be tough. I love Oceanic cause the calc is high and with a few teaspoons of Seachem's reef builder, I'm good to go. Sadly, I dont change my water that often, looks like tonight will be a good night to do a huge 25g water change.
imho
David
ScallopKing
New member
TM, you just can't beat German products!
oligotrophic
New member
I have been using IO. No problems. In fact was able to observe natural induced Acro/SPS spawning with this kind of ASW so I believe IO is good enough for the reef.
These days when mixing the salt into a bucket, I try pouring the salt in small amounts over gaps of time. I notice if I were add the salt all at once into the RO/DI water -- some white 'carbonate' build up would occur at the bottom of the bucket. I suspect that white layer of build up/precipitate would be a form of carbonate, hence affecting a bit of chemical imbalance.
Adding small amounts of salt during mixing prevents precipitation.
These days when mixing the salt into a bucket, I try pouring the salt in small amounts over gaps of time. I notice if I were add the salt all at once into the RO/DI water -- some white 'carbonate' build up would occur at the bottom of the bucket. I suspect that white layer of build up/precipitate would be a form of carbonate, hence affecting a bit of chemical imbalance.
Adding small amounts of salt during mixing prevents precipitation.
oligotrophic
New member
nope, have not tried doing so.
But i try to age them 5 days or accelerate the mixing process with an old skimmer (for rapid oxygenation)
steveweast
Active member
People mix the two because IO is low in Mg(900) and low in Ca(380).....a very bad thing for stony coral keepers. Oceanic is designed to have acceptable values ( Ca 420, Mg 1300)...BUT... at a sg of 1.022. We keep our tanks at 1.025.....SO... Oceanic is too high in Ca and Mg at where we keep our salinity. This makes Oceanic a perfect choice to mix with low Ca, Mg salts like IO.
There's nothing wrong with IO....it's just low in Ca and Mg and needs to be adjused for stony coral keepers to reach ocean levels. I wouldn't use it for that reason....why do I want to use a salt that I have augment when there are several salt brands with ocean levels of Ca, Mg, and alk right out of the box ?
steveweast
Active member
I do not mix it....because I only use a salt with the correct levels of Ca and Mg for a sps user.....I don't use IO.
Here's something that you guys should realize.... You (sps keepers) are a very small portion of the total salt market. The vast majority of salt buyers are fish only keepers....followed by softy keepers....followed, distantly, by us...the sps keeper. There is no reason for a salt manufacturer to go to the added expense of adding more Ca and Mg just to add a few more buyers. If they did....YES....they would get a few more buyers....but their costs would be higher....which would mean less net income (since their competitors are not adding extra Ca or Mg to their salt). The vast majority of users don't need or care about the extra Ca or Mg.
Their solution....have two salts.....one that meets the vast majority of users and one that targets the sps user. That's why we're seeing the "pro" labels. This way, the salt manufacturer can get a higher price for the higher raw materials in the salt by targeting their efforts to the sps user.....at least those salt manufacturers that want to go after the small niche market of the sps keeper.
Here's something that you guys should realize.... You (sps keepers) are a very small portion of the total salt market. The vast majority of salt buyers are fish only keepers....followed by softy keepers....followed, distantly, by us...the sps keeper. There is no reason for a salt manufacturer to go to the added expense of adding more Ca and Mg just to add a few more buyers. If they did....YES....they would get a few more buyers....but their costs would be higher....which would mean less net income (since their competitors are not adding extra Ca or Mg to their salt). The vast majority of users don't need or care about the extra Ca or Mg.
Their solution....have two salts.....one that meets the vast majority of users and one that targets the sps user. That's why we're seeing the "pro" labels. This way, the salt manufacturer can get a higher price for the higher raw materials in the salt by targeting their efforts to the sps user.....at least those salt manufacturers that want to go after the small niche market of the sps keeper.
steveweast
Active member
I've been using Oceanpure for the past two years....even though it is slightly low in Mg (1200). The reason......Oceanic's higher levels were a bit of a hassle in that I would have to adjust....then re-adjust my reactor with every water change. I sometimes still do a water change with Oceanic if my Mg starts falling too low. Also, I go through ALOT of salt....about two 200gal boxes a month....SO...I look for a salt that I can buy in bulk and get a deal on. Oceanpure has been the winner for me (about $25 per 200 gal box in bulk)....even though I would perfer a bit higher on the Mg. But....in line with my above post...Oceanpure has now come out with their "pro" version......and of course, it's a little higher in price too.
steveweast
Active member
Note post above yours
Horace
New member
One thing on IO....IO is very low in Ca, very low in Mag and HIGH in Alk. For anyone trying to mimic natural salt water levels of all ions, this salt makes it very difficult and expensive. Personally I do not like the idea of having to add a boat load of Ca and Mg to my water just to get it to the proper levels. There is no reason i should have to buy supplements to supplement my change water! Also as stated before, IO has high Alk and when I do a WC with IO it raises my tank alk (I DONT WANT THAT). Every time you do a WC with IO it sets off the balance of Ca and Kh which as an SPS keeper is the very most important thing to maintain. For that reason I chose a salt that is as close to NSW levels as possible so I dont have to add ANYTHING. That salt happens to be Seachem Reef Salt. Out of the bucket the Alk, Ca, and Mg are all in an exceptable range w/out adding anything, and lastly it cost the same as IO 
Malolo
New member
Horace Im just curious what you use to tast alk because I have always gotten ~NSW levels for IO: 2.5- 2.75 @ 34-35ppt using a Hach digital titrator. It is a rather subjective endpoint (kinda pinkish-red to pinkish orange right at the finish) so kinda hard to nail exactly. Is evryone else seeing Hi alk in IO?
