Reef Crystal IO salt

[globaldesigns]

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo

$1-1.50 a pound is the shipping cost that banditpowdercoat was quoting. You have to add that to the product cost for the total. So you're looking at $4 - 4.50/lbs to buy direct. A savings of $.50 - 1.00/lbs instead of buying it from Red Coral, which isnt a whole lot but it does add up. You may want to contact Littlesilvermax yourself to verify.

If that is the case then Red Coral isn't overcharging. I however, will eventually talk to LittleSilverMax. Thanks.

[Coleus]

Ok

I am about to give up with this reef crystal. I bought another reef crystal IO bucket and mix the salt with RO/DI water and leave it for a day. I also dosed 8 tsp of Seachem Advance Magnesium (which should increase 55 ppm) to the water before adding the salt.

Well. I test the MG with two different test kits and they all come to be around 1200

What am i missing?

If you buy IO salt and bulk Mg from chemmaster, how many tsp do you add to 15 gallon new water?

Thanks.

[whatcaneyedo]

A cup full should get you to where you want to be.

I make about 27gal at a time to do a 10% water change on my system. I use half IO salt and half Seachem Reef salt then add a little more than 2 cups of a similar Mg mix. By doing so my tanks Ca is 450, Alk is 9dkh and Mg is 1450.

Or use this calculator http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chemcalc.html

To raise 15gal of water from Mg 1000 to 1500 use 8.3oz (56.3 tsp aka 1 cup). If you dont want to go as high as 1500 try 3/4 cup.

[rayjay]

Originally Posted by Coleus

Ok
I am about to give up with this reef crystal. I bought another reef crystal IO bucket and mix the salt with RO/DI water and leave it for a day. I also dosed 8 tsp of Seachem Advance Magnesium (which should increase 55 ppm) to the water before adding the salt.
Well. I test the MG with two different test kits and they all come to be around 1200. What am i missing?

The results you get are not typical of the new I.O. salt mix.
If mixed to a s.g. of 1.0264 (35ppt) then you should be finding that the new IO should be about 400 ppm and 1350 ppm magnesium or so.
If your s.g. is lower then your mag level will also be lower, but with the new salt, your s.g. would probably have to be around 1.023 to get mag levels of 1200.
To boost magnesium takes a lot more of whatever product you are using to boost it, than most people would expect, because the flake is mostly water. (hexahydrate)

[banditpowdercoat]

I use 3 tsp of Ca and 1 cup of Mg for 15g of IO salt at 1.024 Sg isn't 1.026 a little high ?

[rayjay]

Originally Posted by banditpowdercoat

I use 3 tsp of Ca and 1 cup of Mg for 15g of IO salt at 1.024 Sg isn't 1.026 a little high ?

High is only in the eyes of the beholder I guess.
When I started seventeen years ago, it was normal to keep 1.026 for a reef tank as that is what the majority of the ocean water is at, where our fish and corals come from.
Many hobbyists keeping fish only used water with less salt content for one reason or another, but the same hobbyists kept the s.g. at 1.026 for their reef tank because it was better for the inverts and corals.
Based on my years of reading the forums on RC, I believe that the majority of hobbyists are using at least 1.025 - 1.026.

[banditpowdercoat]

Originally Posted by rayjay

High is only in the eyes of the beholder I guess.
When I started seventeen years ago, it was normal to keep 1.026 for a reef tank as that is what the majority of the ocean water is at, where our fish and corals come from.
Many hobbyists keeping fish only used water with less salt content for one reason or another, but the same hobbyists kept the s.g. at 1.026 for their reef tank because it was better for the inverts and corals.
Based on my years of reading the forums on RC, I believe that the majority of hobbyists are using at least 1.025 - 1.026.

Ahh, maybe I should raise my Sg a little then, since I started FOWLR and now trying to keep corals. hence Trying!!! LOL

[rayjay]

Just be sure to make the change gradual.
Perhaps just add water mixed at 1.028 instead of your normal top up water (to replace evaporation) until the level comes up to where you choose to keep it.
That being said, there are many who keep their reef tanks at 1.024. Obviously you do need to boost the calcium and magnesium if you want NSW levels for those elements, but not wanting the NSW s.g. level.
With FOWLR, changes to salinity still need to make made gradually in an upwards direction, but can be made rapidly in the downward direction because of the way osmoregulation works with fish.

[The Grizz]

I keep my reef tank @1.026 now using IO reef crystals and have notice that my coral's & livstock seem to like it better. My FOWLR is @1.024 using just the IO salt.

[The Grizz]

Originally Posted by Coleus

Ok

I am about to give up with this reef crystal. I bought another reef crystal IO bucket and mix the salt with RO/DI water and leave it for a day. I also dosed 8 tsp of Seachem Advance Magnesium (which should increase 55 ppm) to the water before adding the salt.

Well. I test the MG with two different test kits and they all come to be around 1200

What am i missing?

If you buy IO salt and bulk Mg from chemmaster, how many tsp do you add to 15 gallon new water?

Thanks.

Tai, I bought some of the Seachem Mg as well and for the price of it I am not happy with the results as you have to add so much to make an impact. With the Mg mix from ChemMasters you do use a lot more but the cost of it is SO much less in comparison to the SeaChem stuff.