LF: Cheap Instant Ocean Salt

[GoFish]

I pour the dry salt in first then add either one or two 5 gallon jugs of RODI. Koralia powerhead and heater for at least 12 hours and up to 5 days before I'll throw it out
Could be calcium, I'll muraitic acid bath it tonight

[mikellini]

Originally Posted by Vancity

I pour the dry salt in first then add either one or two 5 gallon jugs of RODI. Koralia powerhead and heater for at least 12 hours and up to 5 days before I'll throw it out
Could be calcium, I'll muraitic acid bath it tonight

ALWAYS add salt to water, not the other way around. Adding water to salt means that it becomes highly concentrated almost instantly while pouring the water in, which causes precipitation of elements.

[GoFish]

Weird, not sure how 12 hours plus of mixing and heating wouldn't remedy that.
But will do from now on, thanks!

[mikellini]

Originally Posted by Vancity

Weird, not sure how 12 hours plus of mixing and heating wouldn't remedy that.
But will do from now on, thanks!

I don't understand how 12 hours of mixing and heating would do anything; unless the pH drops significantly, anything that has precipitated is probably staying that way (and ending up on the sides of your mixing container)

[GoFish]

Originally Posted by mikellini

I don't understand how 12 hours of mixing and heating would do anything; unless the pH drops significantly, anything that has precipitated is probably staying that way (and ending up on the sides of your mixing container)

Acid bath tonight, rinse tomorrow problem solved. Instant ocean has never done this to me.

[mikellini]

Probably because of the low calcium, less likely to precipitate.

[--lmao--]

whats your guys take on instant ocean reef crystals compared to the regular instant ocean. is it alot better? i use regular IO and i manually dose. would reef crystals reduce my doseing?

[TimT]

Originally Posted by mikellini

Probably because of the low calcium, less likely to precipitate.

I would concur but adding the water to the salt is going to cause residues to form, especially if the parameters are near the upper ends of their ranges and you use cold water to mix.


What I find interesting is that two different people posted test results from testing their buckets of IO. I assume Rich and Greg most likely bought at JL or KE?

Originally Posted by Bblinks

CA 380 Alk 11-12 and Mag 1200

How long ago did you get these #'s Rich and did you roll ?

Originally Posted by gregzz4

FWIW, my current bucket of IO is giving me 12.10, 470 and 1305, but only after a lot of rolling

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Have to agree with those posting that you always should add salt to water & not the other way around. At least that's been my experience.

[The Guy]

Been using IO since I started in reefing 3 years ago, I can't really say I've had any issues with inconsistency of levels. Maybe slight differences but nothing major. I keep hearing people say they roll the barrels, I can't see how that could help unless the barrel is not full to the top, otherwise I think it's a waste of time and effort with a full new barrel.
When mixing for a water change I always add the salt to the RO water as well. I check the mixture for temp, salinity, ca & alk before adding to my system. I tune up the mg level manually every water change, and my ca & alk are pump dosed.