Switching Salt Mixes

[farkwar]

Any tips on switching from one salt mix to another, safely?

[Nanofreak79]

I've switched quite a few times recently. I usually just stay with my maintenance schedule. So if I'm changing 5 gallons on the 17 or 10 on the 34 every week, I've just kept with that, using the new salt. I've had no ill effects.

[spazizz]

What are you switching from and to? Ive found best to let the new salt mix 12-24 hours to stabilize every thing. Once I went from Oceanic to IO I let it mix for an hour and when I put in the tank every thing died. Alk burn I think. So I let it mix for 24 hours before doing a water change on my other tank< every thing was fine. I also switched back to oceanic at some point, my corals were pissed from the high calcium, I only lost a weak acro. Now I just mix the two salts to get the perfect parameters. I still mix 12-24 hours.

Any tips on switching from one salt mix to another, safely?

[Nanofreak79]

Weird?

 

I've gone from many salts and never had any issues, through years of reef keeping. I mean we're not changing 100% here, all at once.

[farkwar]

Kents, too high Ca, too low HCO3.

 

toRed Sea Coral Pro.

 

Weird?I've gone from many salts and never had any issues, through years of reef keeping. I mean we're not changing 100% here, all at once.

No, not at once.

 

While doing water changes, yes.

[spazizz]

I don't think you will run into any problems with RSCP unless there is some thing wrong with the actual salt. I think it can be used within 4 hours of mixing.

[farkwar]

I don't think you will run into any problems with RSCP unless there is some thing wrong with the actual salt. I think it can be used within 4 hours of mixing.

I bought a Norwesco tank for storage.

 

Are you saying the Red Sea Salt cant be stored?

 

I now remember a thread about how it cant be stored. Conundrum.

[Nanofreak79]

I recently went from RSCP to regular IO, and then to seachem reef salt. No issues.

 

I bought a Norwesco tank for storage.Are you saying the Red Sea Salt cant be stored?

People say that the calcium precipitates after so long. I've never had that issue in the year or so I used it. I always have 20 ish gallons of fresh salt sitting around.

[spazizz]

That's not what I was saying... But i do remember reading thread about that as well, I just forgot.. I was just saying it had shorter mix time.

I bought a Norwesco tank for storage.

Are you saying the Red Sea Salt cant be stored?

I now remember a thread about how it cant be stored. Conundrum.

[Red_Blenny]

That's not what I was saying... But i do remember reading thread about that as well, I just forgot.. I was just saying it had shorter mix time.

 

Yup. That's what RSCP advertises. Longer it mixes, the more Ca and other trace elements will precipitate out of the solution (hence, all that hard crud that settles at the bottom of the mixing bucket).

 

Though if you do switch salt mixes, I say do a gradual switch over time. This is what I do when I switch salt mixes:

 

W/C #1 = 90% old salt, 10% new salt

W/C #2 = 80% old salt, 20% new salt

W/C #3 = 70% old salt, 30% new salt

W/C #4 = 60% old salt, 40% new salt

etc etc etc you get the idea.