Best salt

[jesse alex ethier]

I was using red sea pro but I was trying to keep alk at 9.5 to 10 but I was getting alk swings from the difference so I switch to instant ocean I tested that water and had a alk if 11.5 and I was at 10 for my tank so that would be a alk swing what salt I use any ideas would help

 

[BiGGiePauls33]

I use Reef Crystals and usually maintain about a 9 dKh with regular water changes.

 

[jesse alex ethier]

Everyone said rc has a higher alk than plain io

 

[Andy V]

What is your total water volume and how much are you changing at one time? If you do the standard 10% change, you would see the following:

90% @ 10dkh = 9 (weighted)
10% @ 11.5 dkh = 1.5 (weighted)

Total after water change is 10.5dkh

That's not really much of a swing. I also think the alkalinity you are getting could be the result of not letting it mix long enough. IO typically tests high before it's fully mixed. I run my tank at 7.3dkh and use IO without any issues.

If IO mixes closer to 11 - which is what I usually get - the result above would be 10.1dkh, barely a move at all.

I don't know the chemistry here - maybe @dz6t could chime in - but the formula above it just a math problem. In reality, when I change with IO, I should be seeing a larger swing, but my water typically only moves about 0.2dkh.

 

[jesse alex ethier]

Its 150 total water volume I do 60 gallons every week

 

[Andy V]

Its 150 total water volume I do 60 gallons every week

Why so much? It's not surprising that you are having difficulty keeping stable parameters. Again, you may have a good reason, but that seems to be a very excessive amount of water changing every week.

 

[Greg Hiller]

I choose a salt for consistent parameters and a reasonable cost. I really don't think water changes are a practical way of keeping alkalinity and calcium under control in all but the most sparsely populated tank. I've been using Instant Ocean for about the last 20 years.

 

[jesse alex ethier]

My nitrates are at 25 and I want to do sps so I'm just trying to get them down I test with sailfrit but if I keep alk lower the salt mix o would get a spike or should I raise my alk a little

 

[Andy V]

Nitrates at 25ppm are not a problem, even for SPS. Read the blue section of page 2 of this paper:

https://ecotechmarine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/World_Wide_Corals_CoralLab.pdf

Worldwide Corals has some of the best corals in the world. Does it look like they are having issues with SPS?

There are many reefers keeping SPS with higher than 25ppm Nitrates successfully. In fact, for a long time many reefers were wondering why they had poor coloration and it turns out that many people had phosphates and nitrates that were too low.

If this was the reason for large water changes, you can stop wasting your time and money now, because what you are doing is completely unnecessary. You should aim for consistency in pretty much everything in this hobby. Most people seem to prefer weekly 10% water changes.

 

[Kelly's Reef]

Nitrates at 25ppm are not a problem, even for SPS. Read the blue section of page 2 of this paper:

https://ecotechmarine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/World_Wide_Corals_CoralLab.pdf

Worldwide Corals has some of the best corals in the world. Does it look like they are having issues with SPS?

There are many reefers keeping SPS with higher than 25ppm Nitrates successfully. In fact, for a long time many reefers were wondering why they had poor coloration and it turns out that many people had phosphates and nitrates that were too low.

If this was the reason for large water changes, you can stop wasting your time and money now, because what you are doing is completely unnecessary. You should aim for consistency in pretty much everything in this hobby. Most people seem to prefer weekly 10% water changes.

Min maxing. Max light, max flow, min nitrates min phosphates. Not good or needed, for all corals. I find it amusing when people buy $700.00 lights to grow mushrooms, or obsess about Ca++ when growing softies.

 

[BiGGiePauls33]

My nitrates are at 25 and I want to do sps so I'm just trying to get them down I test with sailfrit but if I keep alk lower the salt mix o would get a spike or should I raise my alk a little

Didn't you recently start this tank within the last couple of months? I'm not an SPS expert by any means, but you should have a mature tank before jumping into SPS. Everything that is in my 29G biocube cam from my 14 biocube that was rock solid for the past 5 years. Just some food for thought, so to speak.

 

[Cheddah93]

I think it’s more stability here honestly, I have acropora and sps growing in my month and a half old tank.


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[jesse alex ethier]

No this tank is 6 years old I did however start one 3 months ago

 

[thespsguy]

take a look in these tests from brs https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/vide...533862369015400764566032415907408389974907494

 

[jesse alex ethier]

Ok maybe I'm just to aggressive at my nutreint export

 

[jesse alex ethier]

And I know sps do need some nutrients so I was aim to keep around 10

 

[dz6t]

I have tried many brands of salts, there is no particular one that stands out. Some salt dissolve faster but with a catch, these salt does not contain anti caking reagent, which cakes up quickly even in sealed containers.



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[dz6t]

I use the good old IO salt and the Coralife salt, they are cheap.
I used to use Aquaforest salt, cheap too via wholesale, but the quality control is not as I hope to be. Also these salt cakes very fast.



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[Andy V]

Ok maybe I'm just to aggressive at my nutreint export

Yes, changing 40% of your water every week is probably the most aggressive nutrient export (for a tank of your size) that I have ever heard of. You’re spending $60-$80/month on salt when you could be spending 1/4 of that. I would recommend asking more questions and doing more reading before pressing forward. And try to make sure you are reading quality information. Don’t listen to just anyone. You can PM me if you want to be pointed at n the right direction.


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[ReeferSutherland]

There’s a great BRS investigates on YouTube about salts


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