BioSea - Impressions so far

[Pikelet]

I just mixed up some BioSea to use in my 29g system. The salt was mixed for 12 hours with a Maxijet 400 powerhead in a 5g bucket of 0 TDS RO/DI water and parameters were measured with Seachem test kits and Tropic Marin precision hydrometer.

 

Here are the water parameters of the mix after 12 hours.

 

S.G. = 1.0253 @ 78F

pH = 8.4 - 8.5

Alkalinity = 4.5 meq/l

Ca = 300 mg/l (correction)

 

Overall the salt didn't dissolve as easily as does IO and it leaves a lot of larger particulates in the water even after about 10 minutes of mixing. At 12 hours the mix was clear but a few very small particulates remained on the surface.

 

Based on my experience, there is no way in hell that I'd use this after 10 minutes as has been suggested by someone in this forum. MDP recommends at least 45 minutes - 2 hours. I would use that as the bare minimum. One more thing I noticed on the finger dip test .... IO tastes much more like NSW than BioSea - not that either tastes much like a mouthful of Indian Ocean .

 

At this point I'm not sure whether to proceed with adding it to my Instant Ocean based tank as I have new corals added last week and I don't want to stress them more. I have a 10g cycled and ready to go so I might start by adding BioSea to that one first. Anyone have an opinion on what to do? BTW my IO tank runs at pH of 8.2.

 

I will keep ya'll updated when I decide.

[BCOrchidGuy]

and I found my Calcium level difficult to bring up past 320, and my pH to be a bit high as well.

 

Marine Environment is in my 72 right now and I will test my Ca pH etc tonight. That will have given it 24 hours to mix.

[cjm033]

bio-sea has been good on my tank so far i switched from red sea (i had algae problemss with it) i havent added any corals yet but ill update yall wen i do,Chris

[Dave ESPI]

FWIW, (pic with a lill dig. ) I never said it was the best thing to do, but that in a pinch I have used it in less than 10 min. Per haps you didnt mix the same as me, but I have seen very little particulate. I DONT like the Marine Environment though. Upon trying it, I lost 3 corals within a week with NO reason I could find.

Fuk the little bottle. Im sticking with my TROPIC MARIN and the Bio sea.

[Pikelet]

Originally posted by cjm033

bio-sea has been good on my tank so far i switched from red sea (i had algae problemss with it) i havent added any corals yet but ill update yall wen i do,Chris

 

Glad to hear it cjm. That makes me feel warmer and fuzzier inside but I hasten to point out that just about ANYTHING short of Morton's table salt would be a huge step up from Red Sea salt, if you believe some of the horror stories floating around on that stuff. Good decision to change I reckon. You might want to give Tropic Marin or IO a try if you start having probs with BioSea. IO might be GHETTO to some, but its upmarket ghetto.

[Dave ESPI]

Pikelet mad me snort Coffee out my nose

 IO might be GHETTO to some, but its upmarket ghetto.

"Neuvo-Getto-Riche`" HAHAHAH

LOL

Kinda like Pineapple soda.... Damn good, but not quite served with mammosa

[BCOrchidGuy]

Okay so I let it go for a bit more than 24 hours, but here are the results.

I set up my 72 gallon tank the other day, I put an inch and a half of coarse gravel in the bottom and topped it with fibre glass screen. Then I laid down an inch of aragonite sand, fine. Then I added about 50 gallons of fresh water, DI. I let the aqua clear 500 and a laguna pond pump run for 48 hours and then added the entire bag of ME salt, I let it sit for 12 hours and then topped off the tank with fresh water to the SG of 1.024. I added the little bottle a couple hours later and tested my water about 15 hours later. Inbetween I added 40 pounds of live sand.

SG 1.024

pH 8.3ish (Aquarium Pharaceuticals test kit)

Phosphate 0

Nitrate/nitrite 0

Ammonia 0

Iron 0

KH 10

Calcium 380

[LiQuiD]

IO has been around for over 30 years, they have to be doing something right. I used to try salts that said more calcium, trace elements, etc., as well as trying every additive under the sun. Was on garf's website www.garf.org and noticed that Leroy (the man in charge) has been using only IO for over 30 years and the only additives used is minimal seachem additives and man do they have some awsome reefs.

 

This coming from a Marine Biologist running a non-profit coral dna catagorizing biz. IO would still be the way to go.

[BCOrchidGuy]

the same topic and it was pointed out to me more than once that IO is great for a bulk salt, it is cheap and .... well it is cheap. I used to use it, I didn't have any complaints but I know there has to be a better salt out there.... One thing to keep in mind, when the good folks at Garf find something worth endorsing, they are not shy about it. No where on the site do they mention using IO because it is so great. I bet they go through buckets of the stuff a week, over time that cheap stuff can save them money. I love SeaChem products always have.

I for one would like to find a salt that meets my needs as a reef keeper, good predictable batches, no big swings from one bag to the other. I want calcium comparable to natural water, strontium, iodide. For me, ideally, a weekly 10% water change should be enough to keep all my corals, inverts fish and algae happy and healthy. I would love to get away from having to dose 3 different things or more a week. To many chances for things to go wrong.

 

Wouldn't it be nice to tell your significant other, here, fill this bucket with water to this mark, plug this power head thing in, and the next day drain this much water from the tank and then just pour this other bucket that you set up the day before into the tank. No worries, no hassels, heck our spouses may even get interested in the hobby.

[LiQuiD]

Speaking of what is in natural salt water. I know I saw a few people on these boards from NYC and Jersey and was wondering if anyone has tested the local water? I'm about 15 minutes west of Manhattan and could just drive over to the water and quickly fill up a 5 gallon jug. I just figured the water is too polluted in the area. If anyone from the area reads this please let me know.

[Dave ESPI]

LiQuiD posted an interesting conceptualized Fantasy

Speaking of what is in natural salt water.   I'm about 15 minutes west of Manhattan and could just drive over to the water and quickly fill up a 5 gallon jug.

 

 

yeah..... GREAT Idea. let us know how THAT works out.

Grab some Live sand too while yer making the trip. X)

 

WAHT KIND OF CORAL IS THAT DADDY ?

Hypodermicus Needlus.

[SteveC]

I heard they have great LR there too, in the trademark "Concrete Boot" shape. Frequently you get "Mafia Toe" coral as a hitchhiker!

[Pikelet]

Hoffa???

[Satchmo]

Actually, I spoke with a guy that's running a large FO system using water collected at Sandy Hook (Jersey shore). He claimed to have had no problems. Of course, I can't imagine this working with a reef.

 

As for the Hudson River, I wouldn't waste your time Liquid. The mercury levels alone will make quick work of your livestock.

[LiQuiD]

I was doing some reading on ocean water currents, kind of like the air jetstreams, and for the most part it runs directly north up our coast. It runs rather quickly from what I have read basically some water that was in Florida last week is up in Jersey this week. I didn't mean out of the Hudson River, I've partied enough down by that water to know nothing would survive, I mean perhaps a little further south. Maybe just below Staten Island before all those crazy chemical things off the Turnpike. Really, I know Dave seems to think the water must glow green around here (where are you from Dave?) but I would think a little farther south (maybe not Sandy Hook) might be OK.

 

Mother nature is one of the biggest power heads there is (quote that) and circulates these waters pretty well. Aside from the jokes, HAS ANYONE TESTED IT!?, other than the Hudson River. Salt aint cheap, we live next to the ocean, I know the location but c'mon. As far as anyone really knows, the water could be perfect

[LiQuiD]

Oh yeah, thanks Dave, didn't even think of the sand. I remember as a kid at my shore house in Long Beach Island, NJ bringing back buckets of little sand crabs in the sand I would scoop up. That sand had tons of stuff living in it, and I didn't see one needle. It just might work. Thanks again.

[Crakeur]

there was a guy on the boards a few months back who was selling his tank and he said that all water changes were done with water taken from the Jones Beach area. Assuming the pics of his tank were current and real, it looks like he had no problems at all with local water.

 

Regarding your comment on the water moving from florida up the coast, some time towards september we start seeing tropical fish in the waters off of Westhampton. We get a few butterflies and other tropical fish in our traps every year. The old man swears up and down that he will snag a fish or two for his tanks but never gets around to it.

[LiQuiD]

I guess I am gonna make a trip and "test the waters" so to say. If all is good I will let you know.

[Crakeur]

Good luck. Watch the undertoe and whatever you do, do not take the rolled up carpet with the chains and cinderblocks attached to it. I am trying to start a reef and figured that would be a good "base." Has anyone seen my mother in law recently? She seems to have "gone away."

[cranfordrd]

Here's a link to a thread which tells you where on LI you can get water from the ocean, I know the bridge but not quite sure where you'd park and how you would actually get the water without falling in!

 

http://www.premiumreef.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000968.html

[LiQuiD]

Thanks, but it is quite a hike for me to go that far into Long Island. If the water is a pristine as he says over there, it can't be that much wprse over here off the Jersey shore. I'll let you know how my tests go. Thanks again.

[Dave ESPI]

SI I left some RODI water in a customers house to do W/C with. THe 'tarded painters moved the buckets from the "warm" area of the house to the garage. I didnt realize this untill the 125 was 1/4 the way empty and old used SW was poured down the drain.

I checked the temp of the water a balmy 83 degrees in the tank.

I did likewise with the buckets in the garage. A crisp refreshing 54 degrees. F********** & ********* & ******** were a few choice words I speued, much to the amazement of the mice in the corner making a nest.

 

I had only a 100 W heater with me and the 2x 200 W ers in the sump of the 125. It would take HOURS to heat 6 buckets.

 

So Fu*k it. I mixed 1/2 a 50 gal bag of bio- sea up in 2 of the 5 gal buckets at 54 degrees. Salinity was off the charts. It all blended perfectly even at that low of a temp in less than 10 min.

 

I

WAS

BLOWN

AWAY

!

 

 

So, the fish and LR got a little bit of a cold shower. The tank total temp only dropped to 78 in the matter of a 1/2 hour. The fish were happy and barely seemed to notice the change. The only one to complain was the Fn' Powder Blue Tang ( hee is a Jerk anyways) as he showed his dissaproval by turning BLACK.... the dumb asss shouldnt have been such a begger and swam under where i was pouring water in at.

 

Damn 'tarded fish.

 

Just an anctedote addition to this thread.

[Pikelet]

Originally posted by Dave ESPI

I checked the temp of the water a balmy 83 degrees in the tank.  I did likewise with the buckets in the garage. A crisp refreshing 54 degrees. F********** & ********* & ******** were a few choice words I speued, much to the amazement of the mice in the corner making a nest.

 

Don't you just hate that fraction of second it takes to realise that you've just made a sickening and horrendously embarrassing mistake ?

 

Isn't it called an Ohnosecond?

[tinyreef]

brrrr!

 

use/borrow the microwave next time!