Changing Salt

[Caige]

I have been using Instant Ocean for a 6months on my new 125G Reef tank. I'm tired of adding calcium so changed to Red Sea Salt....I am adding it during my twice a week PWC's. each PWC is 10 gallons....

Does anyone see this as being a problem? Will I see chemical changes or anything I need to be prepared for?

 

[MarineFlake]

And and the great salt debate begins anew...You will see differences in the salts if you are testing for them. Otherwise, you may never notice a difference.

 

[melosu58]

All salt mixes have their pros and cons. IO seems to have a lower calcium . I use oceanic salt for it`s high calcium but it has a lower alk than most salts. If there was the perfect salt mix we would all be using it.

 

[divedeep1689]

is it a bad idea to suddenly change to a new salt brand? And has anyone ever used the petco brand?

 

[Innovator]

IF there was a perfect salt mix, we couldn't afford it XD

 

[thincat]

is it a bad idea to suddenly change to a new salt brand? And has anyone ever used the petco brand?

I don't think the difference would be in any type of chemical reaction. Check the label on the petco salt and cross ref it against your other salts. More then likely it's like Sears brands. Made by someone else and just their name on it.

 

[divedeep1689]

huh i may end up switching to petco brand tho i know its not the same as the instant ocean i use as it has a awful taste to it when its dry lol had it on my fingers by accident

 

[ryshark]

I have been using Instant Ocean for a 6months on my new 125G Reef tank. I'm tired of adding calcium so changed to Red Sea Salt....I am adding it during my twice a week PWC's. each PWC is 10 gallons....

Does anyone see this as being a problem? Will I see chemical changes or anything I need to be prepared for?

I'm sure you will be fine. When I switch salt brands, I usually mix 50/50 the old salt and the new salt. Probably doesn't make much of a difference since we are only talking about 10-15% of the total water volume.

 

[bavass]

I went from Instant Ocean to Coralife and I have had not problems. I am not sure which brand I want to use so eventually I may try another brand!

 

[thincat]

Trying them out is the only way to really know.

 

[ccCapt]

Not sure what you mean by low calcium with Instant Ocean, unless you got a really old batch. It (Instant Ocean) has been reformulated and the calcium levels are right around 400 and alk around 11 dKH. I used to use only Red Sea Coral Pro, but the calcium was a little too high for me (470) and the alk a little low (7). I now mix them 50/50 and get around 430 calcium and 9 alk.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Not sure what you mean by low calcium with Instant Ocean, unless you got a really old batch. It (Instant Ocean) has been reformulated and the calcium levels are right around 400 and alk around 11 dKH. ...

Do you mean Reef Crystals, and not Instant Ocean?

I agree that the new forumulation for both RC and IO have bumped up the cal/alk levels from the past, but those numbers for IO still seem a little high. They seem closer to the numbers I get on my reformulated Reef Crystals (at 1.025) after its been mixed for 48 hours or so.

 

[ccCapt]

Do you mean Reef Crystals, and not Instant Ocean?

No, IO. New RC mixes to around 490 calcium and 13 dKH alk at 35 ppt.
Synthetic Salt Mixes - Reef Central Online Community

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

No, IO. New RC mixes to around 490 calcium and 13 dKH alk at 35 ppt.
Synthetic Salt Mixes - Reef Central Online Community

Hmm. While I've seen an increase in levels in the old versus new, they're nowhere near those levels. Go figure.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

I just mixed up a batch of IO reef crystals and though I used a little less because tank salinity was a little high, the dKH was around 8 or 9 on a batch that I used 9-1/2 cups for about 20 gallons (1/2 cup short). Didn't check the calcium, but there are not a lot of corals in the tank currently.

 

[ccCapt]

Hmm. While I've seen an increase in levels in the old versus new, they're nowhere near those levels. Go figure.

I personally get 420 ca, 11 dKH alk and around 1300 mag with the 200g box of IO I have and I used Salifert test kits for all 3.

 

[ryshark]

I now mix them 50/50 and get around 430 calcium and 9 alk.

I like those numbers!

 

[Ziggy953]

I think it goes without saying that each bucket, bag or box of salt mix is not the same as every other bucket, bag or box of salt even of the same brand.

Caige,

What is your CA level? What CA demanding critters do you have in your system? If you are hitting 400ca and 3x that in Mag then you are doing just fine unless you have a heavy load of SPS corals that are depleting your calcium levels.

 

[MarineFlake]

I use Kent Sea Salt, bags only. I have found that the smaller bags (I get them in cases of three) have more consistent make up. FWIW, I have tried IO, Oceanic, Coral Pro, etc but I stick with Kent in bags only as it tested more consistently for SG, Ca, Alk etc. For anyone wondering, I did try the 200g bucket of Kent and did not get the same results. At any rate, I am in the "you can't go wrong with any of them" camp.