Salt mix preference?

[sinbad]

<span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">One thought, I started out with Instant Ocean (regular) and went to Reef Crystals. I did not realize until later that it was suggested to do a gradual change. I did not suffer, but thought I would pass it on.</span></span>
<span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">One other thing, not sure if it is the Reef Crystals or all salt - but I used to mix it and pour it in right away. I had 2 fish with pop-eye (?), apparently due to a piece of salt getting in their eye. Now I mix and let that sit for about 24 hours to really dissolve and then pour in.</span></span>

 

[jef4y]

Seachem Reef Salt here.

I tried Salinity once and there was just too much dust/precipitate for me to deal with. The normal Seachem Reef Salt is cloudy enough, but I've come to deal with it. Salinity was just way too much for my taste.

I will say that the Seachem salts seem to be the only salts that I don't have to add anything (ca/mg/alk) to right off the bat.

 

[guerry]

Sewer Urchin;804540 wrote: Hey Rich,

I was reading on of those Quick Tips ( I don't remember if it was Quality Marine, Mark Callahan or Melev's) but they recommended using some buffer in with the top off water. I don't think that I do all of the dosing with that method would be good because I imagine that evaporation rates differ wildly through seasons, tank temp and use of AC/ heating.
However, I think that the use of some might give a more even dosing of ALK, without the spikes that could be associated with dosing pumps.
-or I could be over thinking things again ;-)

I know this doesn't apply to the salt mix but when you speak of spikes with dosing pumps with adding alk this is what I do, I dose every 2hours though out the day. I also dose alot to maintain my levels, 14 minutes 12 times aday with 1.1 dosing pumps Alk stays dead on. I do cal. in four doses

 

[rdnelson]

Guerry;804667 wrote: I know this doesn't apply to the salt mix but when you speak of spikes with dosing pumps with adding alk this is what I do, I dose every 2hours though out the day. I also dose alot to maintain my levels, 14 minutes 12 times aday with 1.1 dosing pumps Alk stays dead on. I do cal. in four doses

I am doing it the poor mans way. LOL I can't afford a nice dosing set up that would allow me to do very small doses. I can get it to about .5 Fl Oz in 1 minute (my timer will not allow seconds) so for right now, I have it set to dose 1 Fl Oz once a day. I am keeping an eye on it and may back that down if I see it rising too much. If that doesn't work, I may start diluting it as Dylan suggested and do it more often.

 

[ripped tide]

rdnelson99;804671 wrote: I am doing it the poor mans way. LOL I can't afford a nice dosing set up that would allow me to do very small doses. I can get it to about .5 Fl Oz in 1 minute (my timer will not allow seconds) so for right now, I have it set to dose 1 Fl Oz once a day. I am keeping an eye on it and may back that down if I see it rising too much. If that doesn't work, I may start diluting it as Dylan suggested and do it more often.

Is the current method keeping it stable or is it slowly rising?


I am mixing up my first hybrid batch of salinity/red sea coral pro...

 

[mvm]

D-D H20 salt for me.

 

[rdnelson]

Ripped Tide;804693 wrote: Is the current method keeping it stable or is it slowly rising?


I am mixing up my first hybrid batch of salinity/red sea coral pro...

Didn't get a chance to check it yesteray but will today. It was pretty low to start so for the first few days I mannually started the time each day to bring it up slow. The last couple days I have let it run on its set time so I should get an indication of stabillity over the next couple of days.

 

[grouper therapy]

IO for me. I'm not sure what it's "levels" are but I set my dosing regime to maintain my tank not a water change. The numbers I've seen on the various salts were not that drastic of a difference that it would affect a systems stability with a 10% to 20% water change. Theoretically if IO salt at 350 calcium , system at 400 calcium , water change of 10% would equate to roughly 1.25% drop in total system calcium levels.

 

[grouper therapy]

Instant Ocean for me. Adjust the dosing accordingly and enjoy the savings.

 

[ichthyoid]

grouper therapy;804781 wrote: instant ocean for me. Adjust the dosing accordingly and enjoy the savings.

+1

 

[glxtrix]

Whatever is cheap, lol. I've been around for a bit and tried many different kinds. IO was the first I started with...and now seems to be back in my tank after many years.

 

[acroholic]

I use Instant Ocean. JMO, but the cost difference for a reef specific salt is not justified when I can add Calcium or magnesium separately for less money. I buy IO in quantity and generally pay between $35-$40 per 200 gallon box when I do.

 

[kf2008]

Salinity, I'm getting good growth without dosing. Granted, I perform meaningful weekly WCs.