What brand salt mix??

[runway1]

I usually perform my water changes from a lfs using Tropic Marin. On occasion, I breakdown for the sake of convenience, and buy from another lfs that uses Instant Ocean.

Last time I do that! The IO just stunts my corals and brings my kH down to 10/11. When I use Tropic Marin, my corals perk right up and my kH stays at 13. I think there's a big difference. Any other experiences?

 

[arminkropp]

From what I've read Tropic Marin is the way to go, you cant beat it.

Just my opinion

 

[schoeplein]

Haven't used Tropic Marine - have good experience with Oceanic, tho. It keeps my system flourishing.

 

[MT79]

That is the first time I've heard anyone complain about IO having too LOW an ALK/dKH lol. 13 dkh is on the high side IMO, 8-11 is more appropriate. IO is high in ALK and low in CA IME. What you are seeing could be caused just by the switching of salts. Salt mixes have many different elements in them, a change in the amount of any of them will stress out inverts and possibly kill delicate animals. When switching salt mixes it is recommended/best to do it gradually over the period of a few weeks to allow everything to acclimate. FWIW I use IO and I've never had a problem w/ it- but I bump the Ca up to about 425 before using it.

 

[Mbeef61]

i agree fully with MT79...i think he explained it perfectly....they are totally different compounds used in different salts....so basically every time you switch salts you are switching the "ocean" that your livestock is in...so if you want to do that you need to acclimate them too it. (and i also fully agree about the 13 being a little high...i think 10 is the high side...and IO is also low in Ca with stock usage)

 

[nodoubt471]

MT79 and Mbeef61 are certianly right- i had the exact opposite happen to me. i regularly use IO, and went to switch to Tropic Marin. corals and inverts HATED it, i beleive that it was just the change they hated- not nessescarly the salt, since IMO Tropic Marin is the best salt you can come by.

p.s. if your looking for convenince, order buckets online- wayyy better pricing than LFS, even with the shipping costs, and its delivered right to your door

 

[runway1]

Ok, that explains my observation better. Thanks!

 

[Mbeef61]

hey MT79...i have looked into the low calcium and they say this: right now for water changes i add all the salt to the bucket and add the water to it...well this is the opposite of how you are supposed to add the salt...you are supposed to start with all the water you will use and then add salt slowly until it dissolves....adding so much salt with little water create a brine and much of the calcium can just percipitate out of the water instead of being dissolved

 

[MT79]

Mbeef61 I'm aware of Ca precipitation . IO is notorious for having low Ca. I've been using it for 2 years and it consistently test at 340-350ppm out of the bag. NSW has about 400ppm, but since IO has a fairly high alk (4meg/l compared to about 3meg/l in NSW) I bump the Ca up above NSW levels in order to keep things balanced.

 

[Mbeef61]

what do you use to bump it up for water changes? whats the price and ease of use

 

[MT79]

I use Kents Turbo Calcium. It's pretty easy-just add a few teaspoons of it after the fresh SW has had some time to mix. A little of this stuff goes a long way so the price isn't bad. I use this calculator to find out approx. how much to add- http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html
FWIW I'm not promoting IO over other salts, it's works for me HTH