Salt Mix Question

[mr_X]

actually, when you think about it, it's extremely stable. how much do you think a 15-20% water change effects your overall parameters? everything is a gradual change with this method.

the growth was pretty good.
these are about 6 months apart-
when rescued:

6 months later:

when rescued:

about 1 year later-

orange cap when purchased as a frag:

about a year later-

pink birdsnest when purchased:

about 1 year-

 

[mr_X]

a fts showing how much sps is in there( remember, this is a 5' x 30 front to back tank)....

 

[ryshark]

When I switch saltmix, I never phase it in either. I think the normal 20% water change is small enough not to worry about it.
Nice work dropping the proof mrX, your tank looks great and happy.

 

[saltwatertogo]

well i read all the post on salt mixes, I've been the retail, aquarium service & custom aquariums business for 28 years and still learnig. i've seen beautiful aquariums done every different way and use every different salt, from water changes once a month, and as unfrequent as 4 months ( but never an sps that was growing well or thriving with 4mo. water changes but many lps and softies ) i have used almost every salt out there at one time or another, and not to mention beautiful sps tank thriving and growing like crazy, with water mixed right out of the of the tap, thats right, right out of the tap, no RO/DI, mixed and put in the tank all within 60 mins. from the most basic filter systems , to the most elaborate computer controlled systems with 100% water change over 30 day period. the best advice i can you all is to find out wants in your tap water first. some times its not whats in or not in the salt, its whats in or not in your tap water, the single best thing you can do for your aquarium is do regular water changes that is if you have good water, you may need as little as a good carbon filter, or you may need an RO or RO/DI unit where i'm from in most cases you don't even need a carbon filter but we do recomend them, and we do have alot reef keepers who use RO/DI units but there's very little waste water and the membranes last 4 times longer or more, alot can depend on where you live goelogically on how good your water is.

My choice of salt has always been Instant ocean as far as i'm concerned its always been the standard to meet, next would be red sea salt, the unique thing about red sea salt is its taken right out of the red sea and no two batches are exactly the same, and all my service customs who use it their coral grow very well. 3rd. is kent marine and same goes for my reef customers who use it. but keeping in mind they all have great filtration, lighting, circulation, many run chillers, and most but not all of my SPS customers have calcium reactors, some form of algae filter, or the new thing is live sponge filters.

It comes down to the old saying if it works for you keep on doing what your doing.

fishman

 

[Ziggy953]

well i read all the post on salt mixes, I've been the retail, aquarium service & custom aquariums business for 28 years and still learnig. i've seen beautiful aquariums done every different way and use every different salt, from water changes once a month, and as unfrequent as 4 months ( but never an sps that was growing well or thriving with 4mo. water changes but many lps and softies ) i have used almost every salt out there at one time or another, and not to mention beautiful sps tank thriving and growing like crazy, with water mixed right out of the of the tap, thats right, right out of the tap, no RO/DI, mixed and put in the tank all within 60 mins. from the most basic filter systems , to the most elaborate computer controlled systems with 100% water change over 30 day period. the best advice i can you all is to find out wants in your tap water first. some times its not whats in or not in the salt, its whats in or not in your tap water, the single best thing you can do for your aquarium is do regular water changes that is if you have good water, you may need as little as a good carbon filter, or you may need an RO or RO/DI unit where i'm from in most cases you don't even need a carbon filter but we do recomend them, and we do have alot reef keepers who use RO/DI units but there's very little waste water and the membranes last 4 times longer or more, alot can depend on where you live goelogically on how good your water is.

My choice of salt has always been Instant ocean as far as i'm concerned its always been the standard to meet, next would be red sea salt, the unique thing about red sea salt is its taken right out of the red sea and no two batches are exactly the same, and all my service customs who use it their coral grow very well. 3rd. is kent marine and same goes for my reef customers who use it. but keeping in mind they all have great filtration, lighting, circulation, many run chillers, and most but not all of my SPS customers have calcium reactors, some form of algae filter, or the new thing is live sponge filters.

It comes down to the old saying if it works for you keep on doing what your doing.

fishman

Ok totally have to disagree with you on the tap water.

If you are going to have a reef tank or any saltwater tank for that matter I 100% of the time recommend using RO/DI water. Just like building a house you want a solid foundation, the foundation in our systems is the water we start with. Why on earth would you start with questionable water??? Why not go with 99.99% pure water? Just seems to make sense to me and is what I ALWAYS recommend to people getting started. If you don't want to buy your own unit buy the RO/DI water from your LFS, most make and sell it. I haven't been doing this for 28 years but I sure as heck had a very healthy and thriving system.

BTW, there are a lot of things that are added to our water that are healthy for human consumption but are not good for our fish, corals and inverts.

 

[melosu58]

BTW, there are a lot of things that are added to our water that are healthy for human consumption but are not good for our fish, corals and inverts.

I have to totally agree with this. I do work for a large water municipality and I do know what they add to water to make it safe for human consumption. Things like Chlorine, phosphates, silicates, nitrates and many other compounds that are safe for us humans but not for our reef tanks.

 

[ryshark]

I agree, no tap water. Heck, I don't even use water which mearure 1ppm TDS. For those who don't have RODI units and buy the RODI water from the LFS, or if you buy premixed saltwater from the LFS, make sure to test for at least Nitrates. Awhile back when I was buying water from the LFS, I tested it and got 60ppm of Nitrate. I called the LFS about it and he said he knew he needed to change his filters soon, but didn't know it was that bad.

 

[mr_X]

your tank looks great and happy.

Did look great and happy. I had to break it down due to an impending breakup and relocation. i sure do miss it though.
stay tuned. i'll be going a bit larger as soon as i make settlement.
thanks.