Salt discussion at MACNA

[ddm_aet]

I guess that helps a little,
but i still think theres to many what ifs,

how did they cycle the tanks, its looks like they codemned everything in them from the beginning. It shows month 1 with all the creatures in it.

So everything had to go through a cycle.

 

[Hara]

...and that was part of the test process, one salt brand actually had a prolonged cycle. They took everything into consideration IMO.

 

[Fluff]

I would just like to say, you guys are all switching salts for one test done on it. To test salts like that you would need say 8 tanks for each type of salt. Each tank would have to have salt come from a different bucket of the same salt.

Just like everything else, products do go bad, depended on packaging and storing. The salt you bought could just have been bad.

I'm not here to sell IO salt but;
I've been in the hobby now for 6 years, the most tanks i've had running at once was 6. All with IO salt.

Only once did i have a big cynao bacteria outbreak. I figured it out to be a plugged filter causing a nitrate spike and to little flow in the tank, plus i had CC in the tank. As soon as i fixed the problems it went away. I still use IO salt to this day.

IMO I bet all the salts out there are relatively the same. I would have to see a chemical makeup of each to change my mind.

Does anybody know the chemical makeup of each brand of salt?

I have always been a die hard IO fan. It's only been recently that their product doesnt' seem to be up to snuff. I bought a bucket that seemed to cause the cyano. I chalked it up to a bad batch and tossed out over half a bucket of salt. I bought my second bucket at a store that I know sell alot of it (they sell it at cost just to bring in business) so they have alot of turnover. This bucket was no better and my tank continued to degrade. My corals stopped growing and the cyano and hair algae just would get worse after I do water changes. This last bucket I threw out almost a whole bucket and switched to the new seachem marine salt. I'm paying twice as much for it but it is making a difference in the tank after just a couple pwc. That speaks volumes for me. I don't need a salt study to tell me the problem was with IO salt.

As for the salt study, I wouldn't put alot of stake in it either if it were a common hobbiest performing the study but I trust Borneman and the other professionals who are testing it to know what they are doing and to be very thorough with the tests.

Just my .02 for what it's worth.

 

[roka64]

I agree with Fluff, I am out of IO and decided to switch to reef crystals. I will see what happens. I will keep up my regular schedule. My first bag of IO gave me no problems. I got the bucket and Boom, cyano. I got rid of the cyano and within the next two PWCs, cyano was back. It could be me, or it could be a bunch of other things, I'll see if the RC makes a difference....

 

[ddm_aet]

maybe i've never had a problem with IO salt because i do not get it by the bucket.

I buy mine in wholesale cases, brown boxes, with clear vacuum sealed bags marked (not for resale on them)

very cheap at 30 dollars a case been buying it that way for quite awhile now

 

[melosu58]

And that`s fine. Nobody is trying to make anybody change what type salt they are using. I think that if you are having problems and are looking for something else you should be able to do so and in an informative way. Thanks for sharing your experience ddm.

 

[Fluff]

maybe i've never had a problem with IO salt because i do not get it by the bucket.

I buy mine in wholesale cases, brown boxes, with clear vacuum sealed bags marked (not for resale on them)

very cheap at 30 dollars a case been buying it that way for quite awhile now

Lucky you, that's a great deal. Not everyone has that option though. I bought it by the bucket cause I could get it for about 37 bucks and that is about as cheap as it gets for my area. The only other option was the bagged stuff and it just wasn't cost effective for me to do that with multiple tanks.

I still think IO is a decent salt. It has always kept my calcium around 400 and my ph at a steady 8.4. I have always sung it's praises and gave good reviews of it, until the last two buckets. Maybe it is just a bad run and things will straighten out. I think anyone using it without issues should stick with it. It's been out there for over 40yrs and counting. That has to say something for it. But with so many options out there, everyone should use what works for them. And I agree, it's good to share different experiences so everyone gets more than one opinion and can make a sound educated decision from those opinions.

 

[ellisz]

Borneman was an IO user as well. He was just as surprised as anyone. That being said, there have been many salt studies done over the years. Most if not all have their flaws but according to what was said, IO has always been at the bottom.

Some of the salts had single celled organisms before anything else was introduced. And one of the salts took 3.5 months to finish its cycle. To me, the test was very informative.

 

[Dr.Nate]

Hey, ellisz......

What would be the importance of some of the salts having "single celled organisms"? Can you elaborate?

 

[Devilishturtles]

I heard the same study at MACNA. I think, if I can remember correctly, the reference to single celled organisms means that they found other things besides salt and minerals, etc. in the salt. Definitley weird.

 

[ddm_aet]

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/11/aafeature1

I found this test on the chemical makeup of salts

 

[ellisz]

I heard the same study at MACNA. I think, if I can remember correctly, the reference to single celled organisms means that they found other things besides salt and minerals, etc. in the salt. Definitley weird.

Exactly. Salt was added to the water and then some salts started growing things before anything was introduced. Very weird.

Borneman did say that in defense of the Salt companies, to make a salt that is at the price point most aquarists want, materials used might not always be lab grade stuff. Suppliers might change something or maybe some contamination occurs? Only definite point is that even with pure water, fresh fresh foods, new bulbs, etc. cyano or algae could still occur. You might not have a problem but others do. Your salt brand was never really figured into the equation.

Just something to think about.