The hardest part of keeping a reef tank for me

[PirateLove]

Im sure I have asked this plenty of times before but How do you keep your parameters stable when you need to do a water change? I keep my Alk at 8.5 and Calcium at 450 like the sticky at the top tells me to do.
I have never had such a problem with figuring out how to do water changes. If reefers spend hundreds of dollars on dosers or keep their parameters stable using kalk what do you do when your water change batch is way off? And if these are the correct parameters why are people using Reef Crysles when the Alk is like 13dkh?? I just spent extra on BRS's new HW marine mix because it states Alk will be 9dkh and calcium 450. I just tested my new batch and the alk is 9.5 That is going to throw my tank off correct? Very confused =(

 

[thegrun]

Ideally you should use a salt mix close to the parameters you keep your tank at. Many reefers do not dose so they use the higher calcium/alkalinity/magnesium found in "reef" salt mixes to supplement what their tank consumes. If you are making a 10% water change even though the salt mix is 13 dKh and your tank is at 8.5 dKh the end result would only raise the alkalinity to 8.95 dKh.

 

[Martini5788]

The hardest part of keeping a reef tank for me

It can throw it off, but it really depends on how big of a water change you are doing. A lot of people use reef crystals because they do smaller water changes not massive ones so it doesn't throw the parameters off that much but it does replace the stuff that has been used up. Also, what do you have in the tank, coral wise?

 

[Sk8r]

I used Oceanic for years, but the MG is high; now switched to Instant Ocean, which is better for the consumption pattern of my tank. You have to observe what this pattern is, and if you are always low or high in something, look at the brand content. I don't have a doser, I just run tests. Now, actually, that 9.5 isn't going to be a disaster, but elements CAN pile up on you if your tank consumption isn't keeping up with it. You're right to test the pure new mix...and now you know, for this batch. Unfortunately it's the Wild West when it comes to products for aquariums: standards are occasionally like the Pirate Code, 'more like guidelines,' but it won't throw you too badly. Also, If you have a large barrel of salt, ingredients separate and settle during shipment, so you might try to mix that up a bit. One thing IO does is ship you a box of smaller bags, so I hope there's less chance of settling: I can't swear to it. You're still in the good zone, not all that high, but do test both new mix and tank water as a matter of course.

 

[Sapelo]

I mix my dry salt whenever I receive a new bucket (just dump it back and forth between two clean, dry buckets a couple of times). This seems to help with any settling/separation that may occur during shipment.
But you are correct, mixes vary from brand to brand and bucket to bucket. This is one of the "joyful challenges" of the hobby.