Question about salt

[joy13]

I have been battling cryno bacteria since I started using coralife salt. Being fairly new I thought this was pretty much normal. Yesterday I was talking to a friend that has a saltwater tank about the same age as mine when he ran out of salt after the stores closed on a Sunday he asked if he could borrow some of mine. Within a week he had cryno in his tank. He has since gotten rid of it but is back to using his regular brand. Is it possible that coralife salt might have something in it that reacts to the water to cause the cryno?

 

[melosu58]

I personally dont think so. Excessive nutrients and not enough flow are chief causes. Here are some good links.

How to Battle Cyanobacteria: What To Do When You Just Can't Get Rid of It | Suite101.com

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/articles/20/1/Cyanobacteria-AKA-Red-Slime-Algae-/Page1.html

 

[bavass]

I did some research on salts trying to find a good reef salt. I have been using Coralife because I was battling Nitrtate Issues and even though all salts say Nitrate and Phosphate free there is still a trace and the charts and reading I did I found that Coralife had the least amount. I have used 100g worth of Coralife and I have had no problems so far. I have been thinking about trying Reef Crystals

 

[bavass]

What I would like to find is what Sea Salt has the best levels of Calcium, Magnesium, and Strontium

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Joy - when I was researching salts several years ago, I did run across some anecdotal evidence that some salt brands tend to promote cyano more than others. I *think* it was the infamous "Borneman Salt Study" and if you Google that, you should find info on it.

There was a lot of criticism in the reefing circles about the study and I won't go into all that here, but it more or less focused on the somewhat non-scientific way the "study" was done. That's why I said above that the evidence was "anecdotal".

For me, there's more at work with cyano than just excess nutrients - although having them doesn't help. I would think that pH and other water parameters play into it as well. And maybe some salts give you better parameters that tend to keep the cyano at bay while others give you parameters that tend to promote it - given the same nutrient levels. Just me thinking out loud...

Your friend's experience with cyano using your salt IS interesting. Does seem like an add coincidence, doesn't it. But again... the salt isn't really "causing" the cyano - it can't. But I would think it's possible that it could make it easier to get a foothold if the water conditions are right.

Bavass - you're not going to find an answer to that question. There really is no "best" levels for those things. The "best" level for calcium itself is highly debated. Is it 380? 420? 500? 560? Everyone will have different opinions on that. And if you think super high calcium is a good thing, then your alkalinity is going to suffer. It's a trade off.

The "best" salt, in my opinion, is the one that you can easily get whenever you want, and works for YOU in YOUR tank.

 

[joy13]

When I tested the water his nitrates were higher than mine but the nitrites and ammonia was at 0. I have checked water flow. I feed every other day and he feeds every day. I know it is a bacteria and not an actual algae. His cryno is gone but I still get to battle mine.

Those are the same links I have went through before trying to come up with a solution.

I got some oceanic that I will be trying for the next couple of months. I am thinking it could have just been somethng in the salt I am not testing for or even just a bad batch, I don't know what it could be from what I have been reading about the nitrates and phosphates contributing to cryno.

 

[ryshark]

This is interesting, I just switched over to Coralife and I am having some cyano issues now too. I don't know if it is coincidence or not. I wasn't even thinking about the salt change, I just thought I needed more flow. I ended up buying a Tunze as an auxillary powerhead to my two Vortechs, but I am still having some issues. My nutrient levels are very very low. I am overskimming big time(cone skimmer rated up to 700-gallons light bioload on my 180-gallon tank) and I run GFO and GAC 24/7 each in separate reactor chambers. My phospate test at 0-Elos and my Nitrate tests at 1-ppm-Elos and 0-ppm-API.
Now you got me wondering about this Coralife thing.

 

[joy13]

Once I am out of the Coralife I already have the Oceanic already. It is suppose to mix 90 gallons so I figure I should start seeing a change in my 8 gallon within a couple of water changes if it is the salt.

Ryshark how long has your tank been set up and what was the other brand of salt you were using?

 

[thincat]

I've been using "coralife" salt for 9 months now and I have no cyano at all. In fact I switched to coralife at a time when I did have an issue with cyano. My mistake is that I also added more flow and cut my feeding, so I am not sure which did it. my last testing which was this morning are. ammonia 0, nitrite 0, PH 8.3, Ca 450, Mag 1200, nitrate 0, phospate 0. I know that I have my AQ pretty wired in and I have a pretty light load as far as fish. If it aint broke don't fit it. So over all I'm happy with the salt and I get a shirt to boot.
I forgot to mention that this set up is 1yr and 11 months now.

 

[Jaybird]

I ended up buying a Tunze as an auxillary powerhead to my two Vortechs

two vortechs and a tunze.....jealous over here!

 

[bavass]

Joy - when I was researching salts several years ago, I did run across some anecdotal evidence that some salt brands tend to promote cyano more than others. I *think* it was the infamous "Borneman Salt Study" and if you Google that, you should find info on it.

There was a lot of criticism in the reefing circles about the study and I won't go into all that here, but it more or less focused on the somewhat non-scientific way the "study" was done. That's why I said above that the evidence was "anecdotal".

For me, there's more at work with cyano than just excess nutrients - although having them doesn't help. I would think that pH and other water parameters play into it as well. And maybe some salts give you better parameters that tend to keep the cyano at bay while others give you parameters that tend to promote it - given the same nutrient levels. Just me thinking out loud...

Your friend's experience with cyano using your salt IS interesting. Does seem like an add coincidence, doesn't it. But again... the salt isn't really "causing" the cyano - it can't. But I would think it's possible that it could make it easier to get a foothold if the water conditions are right.

Bavass - you're not going to find an answer to that question. There really is no "best" levels for those things. The "best" level for calcium itself is highly debated. Is it 380? 420? 500? 560? Everyone will have different opinions on that. And if you think super high calcium is a good thing, then your alkalinity is going to suffer. It's a trade off.

The "best" salt, in my opinion, is the one that you can easily get whenever you want, and works for YOU in YOUR tank.

Yeah I know I will never find the answer to that question from anybody other than myself and trying different brands. I guess I should have said it different it was more a I WISH I COULD rather than want to find

 

[ryshark]

Once I am out of the Coralife I already have the Oceanic already. It is suppose to mix 90 gallons so I figure I should start seeing a change in my 8 gallon within a couple of water changes if it is the salt.

Ryshark how long has your tank been set up and what was the other brand of salt you were using?

My current tank is 1-year old, I transfered a lot of stuff from my old 75-gallon tank into my current 180-gallon. Before the Coralife I was using DD-H2O and before that I was using Tropic Marin Pro. However, I am not convinced it is the Coralife just yet. I'm going to keep using it because the parameters are good and the price is right. I get the bucket for $40 from an LFS. Plus one of my favorite tanks (which I have only seen online in another forum) uses Coralife saltmix and that tank is Beautiful.
I do admit that until about a week and a half ago, I was not feeding the tangs any nori on a clip, I was just throwing in lots of algae based flake food. There is a chance this was mucking the water up. I stopped feeding so much flake (I was doing it about 3-times a day) and started putting the seaweed on a clip again. Right now, when I stir the sand up the cyano still comes right back within 2-days. It sucks! If I can't get control of it soon, I will probably buy a sand sifting goby.

 

[ryshark]

two vortechs and a tunze.....jealous over here!

Yeah, I didn't think I would spend so much on powerheads, but flow is very important if you want an sps dominated tank. This hobby has turned into a huge expense, but I enjoy it. Before the Vortechs and Tunze, I had modded maxi jets and JBJ powerheads. I must say that the quality in comparison is a huge difference. Although, the modded maxi-jet did move a lot of water.

 

[Bige]

I use to buy all my saltwater premixed from lfs and they used coralife salt. I had cyano from day one. Bought power heads and cut back on feedings. Still, bad cyano. Then I started mixing my own saltwater. I have tried every brand but have been very pleased with oceanic. I have not had cyano since I stopped using coralife. I mix my own oceanic salt and point a power head at top of water. I dont know which changed things but I'm not stopping either one to find out.

 

[joy13]

So far cutting the feeding back to every third day now instead of every other day and increased flow until I am done with the coralife. I am have enough for another 3 weeks so I am giving the cut back in feeding and extra flow a chance to work.