Favourite Salt?

[Zoaelite]

Originally Posted by chi

Just bought a new salt to try. Since there was no one posting on this salt. S
Ive decided to be the forum guinea pig, i got the Aquavitro salinity. Each bucket has a guranteed value. My first batch had a really low alkalinity so I decided to mix the salt by pouring out the salt to another bucket and repeating that process by three times. My second batch of mix matched the results well. High calcium mag and alk.
Mixes cloudy. (Followed all the methods to mix salt, salt added to water then bringing up the temp but still cloudy. When added to the tank partially cloudy it cleared up within 15 minutes. Had no ill effects on my corals. Sps lps. Softies.
Liking it for the nice guranteed stats. Hate the mixing.

I also found fluval sea salt at aquariumswest in dt vancouver. The price is not to my liking so I passed.

Sent from my SGH-I727R using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Do a quick forum search you would be surprised @ some of the reviews.

Mini-crashed my tank with Ca levels off the chart, the mix left a precipitate as well. In addition to this I think Titus contacted them about screwed values, there response was to only mix the salt for like 30 mins.

I stopped using it for the obvious question, if I shouldn't mix it more than 30 minutes whats happening after I let it sit in my tank?

[Zoaelite]

^ Please mind the grammatical errors, was SCless & rushed at work.

Here's the link.

[Zoaelite]

And the Aquavitro response:

An alkalinity of 9/10 dKH and a magnesium of 1400 mg/L are within specification. A calcium of 590 is not. I checked the certified lab results and they show a calcium of 436. Have you double-checked the calcium concentration with another method or maybe you could have someone else test it for you?

I suggest not using a heater and don't mix it too long to avoid excess cloudiness. If you are using a large powerhead this will also cause precipitation. Mixing too long or mixing too hard (as with a large powerhead) will introduce excess CO2 which causes precipitation of carbonates. Elevated temperatures will reduce the solubility of calcium carbonate also creating precipitation.

Product Support
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[Proteus]

Yeah. When I contacted them I'm sure I got a temp or summer student who was only in office from there break of cutting grass.

Though I will say I again have a bucket as lfs only had salinity. Io. And fluvàl. Which also has high CA.


Ill be going back to RB next weekend

[Skimmerking]

I used IO for the longest time, tried some red sea salt didn't care, tried tropic Marin and now went back to IO Reef Crystals. I like it but now where I can find it in Manitoba. might have to go back to IO

[chi]

Yes, I've read them but I still decided that the way they formulated their product is still very decent. They test batch for batch for each of their containers. They crammed too much in too little of a container so I gambled on solving the problem by mixing the dry salt first. I was guessing that the density of each of the elements would also differ and causing the lighter elements to be at the top, my magnesium was at 1500 for the first batch along with a low alk (forgot to mention in previous post) I am not sure if anyone else tried to mix the dry salt before using it. I just don't see how a company can screw up on each container when they are one of the only companies that shows the statistics for each container. Anyways, just because of the inconsistency from bucket to bucket in terms of its mixing clear or cloudy and also the really high instances where people get elevated levels of each element, i will definitely not purchase it again. Very sorry to hear that your tank crashed , their reply was also very stupid...30 mins, my god...

[chi]

I will not be going back to IO, especially after the low mag levels ~1100 and low calcium levels (350) (for the batch I got atleast) I really don't want to keep dosing mag calc and carbonates for a nano tank the change in water chemistry is just too risky. But for large tanks IO is what I will use too, cheap and good.

[Wayne]

I went from IO Reef to Brightwells and my corals exploded! Both growth and colour. Unfortunatly the supplier I bought it from doesn't get it very often

[thmh]

Instant Ocean: Reef Crystals for me been using since i started this hobby!

[AdamsB]

I bought some Kent reef salt from dr fosters, salt and shipping and taxes were less than I can buy IO locally. Was using fluval salt but had some issues with it leaving a black residue in my mixing barrel. Been 2 months or so and I'm liking the Kent stuff!