Hans-Moleman Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 which salt mix would you recommend. Tropic Marin, Oceanic, Red Sea, Instant Ocean? Plus, where is a good place to buy salt mixes online. I live by petsmart and all they have is Instant Ocean. Thanks for your advice. Link to comment
Neon Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 Oceanics #1!!! you could get from either liveaquaria or marinedepot Link to comment
crazyfishdude Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 I love Instant Ocean and Oceanics www.thatfishplace.com Link to comment
djconn Posted September 1, 2004 Share Posted September 1, 2004 I'm using Oceanic as well and love it because it dissolves in like 3 minutes. Its a little on the low side for Alk but right on for CA. Link to comment
ReefDiver Posted September 1, 2004 Share Posted September 1, 2004 I use Oceanic and have had great results. Like djconn said the Alks a little low but the CA is great and it dissolves super fast. Link to comment
DitchPlains Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 Oceanic you have to buffer with DKH to raise Alk. Tropic Needs Calc additives, 6 1/2 dozen of the other, but those are the best salts out today. Link to comment
AReeferIsExpensive Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 IO works good for me because its EVERYWHERE, so if i ever had an "emergency" i could go to any LFS and be guaranteed to find it and also, i dont have to do ANYTHING to my water..just mix, wait a couple hours, and drop it in. Link to comment
markbidwell Posted November 29, 2004 Share Posted November 29, 2004 In my area the only brands available are Instant Ocean, Reef Crystals and Kent. Can I get by with one of these instead of shipping heavy bags of salt? Mark Link to comment
natrate Posted November 29, 2004 Share Posted November 29, 2004 I use Nutri-Sea water. No mixing or filtering. It cuts tanks maintenance down to practically nothing. For about $8/month, it's worth it to me. Link to comment
dougman Posted November 29, 2004 Share Posted November 29, 2004 I use SEACHEM reef salt , a fast mixer, contains no drying agents (in the form of silica , fumed silica inparticular.) mix is a bit moist as a result. No sodium theosulfate, ( common tapwater declorinator) who mixes with tap water any way? and does not use magnesium chloride or calcium chloride as source of these two elements. both of these release trace amounts of free ammonia when mixed. Not the end of the world, because it is diluted with mix water and most likely rapidly absorbed by the tanks bio- filter anyway, but who needs it,, check it out, on your next mix test for ammonia,,, check out seachems website for details . anyway sorry for rambling i just really like this salt Link to comment
Raskal311 Posted November 29, 2004 Share Posted November 29, 2004 Tropic Marin is the best and at $50 for 200gal isn't too bad for a good brand saltmix. Link to comment
tontor33 Posted November 29, 2004 Share Posted November 29, 2004 Anybody read this? http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-03/rs/f...ature/index.htm Link to comment
fungia Posted November 29, 2004 Share Posted November 29, 2004 That's great that Shimek took the time to do the study, but how relevant is survival of sea urchin larvae to growing corals? Hard to say what this really means for the average nano-reefer. There is a much better study on artifical sea salts that was done by Marlin Atkinson and Craig Bingman. It was published in the old Aquarium Frontiers online mag- I couldn't find it now except for this link through about.com. It was also published as a PEER-REVIEWED manuscript in the scientific literature...something Shimek didn't take the time to do. http://saltaquarium.about.com/gi/dynamic/o...s/1/default.asp FWIW, I've had great success raising fish (Banggais) and growing and propagating all types of corals (SPS, LPS, zoanthids, corallimorphs, soft corals), keeping Tridacna clams, sponges, seagrasses etc over a 15 year period using nothing but Instant Ocean. It's cheap, it's fairly close to natural seawater and it's widely available. I've heard Oceanic salt is simply some other brand in different packaging...any comments? Link to comment
tontor33 Posted November 29, 2004 Share Posted November 29, 2004 Not saying that sea urchin study was that relevant, I was more interested in the composition of the salts that were broken down later in the article. Instant Ocean and Corallife had extremely large concentrations of copper, etc. in them vs other salts, and that information was mainly obtained from the manufacturers directly or from the study that you mentioned. Not knocking IO, I used it up until recently, just thought that the info was interesting. Link to comment
Dr. Saltwater Posted November 30, 2004 Share Posted November 30, 2004 Hi Hans Moleman! (Name sounds very ... Dutch!) The best results with different brands of salt were proven by: - Reef Crystals! - Topic marine PRO! By good results I mean the quantity and quality of your waterparameters after dissolving this salt in (RO-)water AND in the way I dissolve the salt. If you want good results (duh) with mixing salt, do it in following orders: Step 1: Fill a bucket/barrel with RO water. Step 2: Let the water come to a temprature, with a heater ofcourse, of 77F (25°C) and place a strong powerhead in the bucket/barrel. Just one you are not using in your tank. Step 3: Check if the water has the wright temperature. Than measure 35grams/0.264172Gallon almost equals 140grams/1Gallon (35grams/1Liter) salt off exactly and sprinkle it over the top of the water. Don't throw everything in directly! Let it stay with the heather and powerhead for 4-6 Hours. Step 4: After 4-6 hours check the saltlevel (SG) and correct it with the wright quantity of water/salt (water more often if used to much salt). If corrected or allright let it stay for 24 hours to let the salt dissolve good. Step 5: After 24 hours the water will be very sharp/clear and ready for use! Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted November 30, 2004 Share Posted November 30, 2004 Reef Crystals here... Link to comment
ReefTankForMe Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 is it ok to use different brands of salt? I currently use Coralife but may switch if I find something better or a better deal. Is it ok to use two diff brands in the same tank? Link to comment
Kogut Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 I use oceanic for the record. I'd use reef crystals if I could get it cheap around here... :| not near any good LFS's, though... Link to comment
ReefTankForMe Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 so is it ok to switch brands then, on a tank that is up and running? Link to comment
Pinchy Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 i should be fine- i do it all the time- switch mostly from marinemix to instant ocean and back and forth depending on our store supply.. this is pretty interesting: "Both of the salts that had good larval survivability are readily available at reasonable prices. The Crystal Sea Marinemix-Bioassay Formulation is not commonly available to hobbyists, being designed and marketed for bioassay laboratories. However, it is available online from various vendors. The Crystal Sea Marinemix - Bioassay Formulation is essentially the same as standard Crystal Sea Marinemix which it differs from only in lacking the dechlorinator found in the latter salt (R. Spellman, pers. comm.). Standard Crystal Sea Marinemix and Bio-Sea Marinemix salts are widely available." -from taht article. Link to comment
phishen Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 NOOOOOOO if you switch salts, your tank blows up! Link to comment
bikinibottom Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 This thread has been done about a dozen times. Do a search. Link to comment
666 Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Originally posted by bikinibottom This thread has been done about a dozen times. Do a search. This thread was also started back in august. so ease up killa. Link to comment
Joe Mac Posted February 24, 2005 Share Posted February 24, 2005 Instant Ocean. Designed and formulated for dissolving in RO/DI water (which we should all use). Proven, consistent, success. Joe Mac Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.