Thinking about switching salt mixes.

Probably in the minority, but I find IO Reef Crystals to be reliable and cheap when on sale via Amazon. I pay $40-$60 for a 200 gal box. I run a mixed reef at 1.025 salinity with 9 dkh Alk and 460 ppm Calc. I always measure and adjust IORC water changes but have found it fairly stable when mixed and aerated for 24 hours.

It's cheaper for me to buy IORC for water changes than IO and dose up to levels in my reef per water change.

I dose two part via a peristalsic dosing pump, so I'm mostly looking to match my tanks levels.
 
swk said:
The price and alk level have always outweighed the benefits for me. Although I hear there is a low alk version in the works.
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What alk level you looking for? Mine always tests out to about 9. Of course that does nothing for the price! :(
 
7.5 would be perfect. I do 25% changes and don't like to have to screw with calrx. I'm all about alk stability so I am admittedly ocd about it.
 
swk said:
7.5 would be perfect. I do 25% changes and don't like to have to screw with calrx. I'm all about alk stability so I am admittedly ocd about it.
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7.5 is what I shoot for as well. I ordered a couple boxes of IO. I'm already familiar with dosing Muriatic Acid to drop the Alk, so I'll just add a test for Cal and Mag and adjust those as well if needed. Dosing is super cheap so I'm not worried about doing that to my water change water.
 
DivingTheWorld said:
7.5 is what I shoot for as well. I ordered a couple boxes of IO. I'm already familiar with dosing Muriatic Acid to drop the Alk, so I'll just add a test for Cal and Mag and adjust those as well if needed. Dosing is super cheap so I'm not worried about doing that to my water change water.
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Perfect! I'm sure you'll find it works great and that there's no real need to spend that extra cash on premier salt mixes. I recently sent a triton sample off so I'll see how io looks in the tank. I'm sure lithium will be high and my po4 will be higher than they prefer at a minimum.
 
If you're looking to be at 7.5, I'd use tropic marin. For me that mixed up in the high 6's. Every IO salt I used was 11+.

There are a lot of good salts. Personally i'd just pick one that best matches your target alkalinity and just forget the muriatic acid.
 
CJBuckeyes said:
If you're looking to be at 7.5, I'd use tropic marin. For me that mixed up in the high 6's. Every IO salt I used was 11+.

There are a lot of good salts. Personally i'd just pick one that best matches your target alkalinity and just forget the muriatic acid.
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Tropic Marin Pro Reef would probably be closer on Alk, but I can get 400g of salt for a little less than 200g of TMPR if I go with IO. With Randy Holmes-Farley recommending both and leaning towards IO it only makes sense to me. To save myself a few cents of muriatic acid by going with TMPR doesn't seem to pencil out. In the end, it's just an experiment for me and I'll see how it goes. I haven't been having great success with RSCP over the past year so it's time for a change.
 
CJBuckeyes said:
Hydrochloric acid is nasty stuff, make sure to wear your PPE!

Let us know how it works..
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I use it regularly for cleaning Ab Shells, it's not that bad. I always wear latex gloves and keep good air flow.

I make 20g of water change water at a time. With strait RSCP, my Alk was usually around 12-12.5. I would generally add 15ml acid to drop it down close to 7dkh. I've been doing it for 6 months or so, and it's quick and easy. The only real trick is you need to run an air stone in the water for 12-24 hours to raise the pH back up.

I received my IO last night and made up a 20g batch of 50/50 RSCP and IO. I tested this morning and got 1.0263 (not bad for estimating!) salinity, 11.5 Alk, 430 Cal and 1260 Mag. So I dosed to raise the Mag up and added 12ml acid. I'll re-test tomorrow morning to check all the parameters.
 
swk said:
Why the blend?
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I don't want to shock my tank in case there are any big differences between the two salts. Reading around on Reef Central, some people recommend a slow transition (mixing) when changing salts, others say just toss it in there. I figured I'd play it safe. Plus I still have some RSCP salt and am too cheap to just throw it in the garbage!
 
Gotcha! I just switched outright. Only coral that suffered was an OG Mummy chalice. The sps literally thanked me ;-)
 
petsolution is having a deal on RC right now 49.99 a box and there is 10% off for up to $10 so good for 2 box sale. coupon code is september10. Comes out to $44.99 a box shipped not a bad deal. The coupon is good for this weekend only.
 
40 shipped when you get 2 boxes of IO.

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Yep, I paid $79.98 for two boxes shipped. I did my water change today and the tank's looking good. Time will tell how it does compared to RSCP.
 
Instant Ocean & Reef Crystals 160g buckets are 1/2 off at Petsmart today thru 10/11. I just got two buckets for $57.48 including tax and shipping. :thumbsup:
 
It just occurred to me that I hadn't updated this thread with my results. For the first couple water changes I mixed RSCP/IO 50/50 (not sure if I needed to) mostly just to use up the rest of my RSCP. The last couple water changes have been 100% IO.

The only WC adjustments I need to make are essentially the same I was doing before with RSCP, dropping the Alk with Muriatic Acid and dosing a little Mag to raise it up. Cal tests out at about 430 at 1.0264.

My tank chemistry hasn't really changed at all, algae growth is about the same, fish are healthy, etc. But I am definitely seeing improvement in both growth and color in my SPS corals. Purely coincidence perhaps, but I'm definitely glad I made the switch...my wallet is as well.
 
I've been using Microb lift and the levels are high. It's a newer tank and maybe not enough corals to use up CA and MG
 
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