Reef Salt Brand

[Aquattro]

The problem with any "perfectly balanced, proper levels salt" is that as soon as you add it to your tank, it changes. If you have a healthy tank with corals that are growing at a constant rate, without supplementation, you'll have noticeably less everything in 24 hours. So, you have to supplement the tank regardless, whether that's with 2 part mixes, kalk reactors, Ca reactors, etc, you must replace what the corals consume. Water changes alone will not suffice in a fully stocked reef.
So if I have to monitor and maintain levels in the tank, I'm not so concerned with the levels of the 10 or 15 % new water I add, it will adjust with my maintenance routine.

[icecool217]

for those that buys IO salt, as stated by leducreef, it's on sale at Petsmart. Here is an additional $5 off $25 coupon.

http://petsmart-mail.com/P/v3/Coupon...=1007&ci=50078

[Red Deer Reptiles]

tony? did you think of adding bio sea salt or marine environment salt to your list.just a thought.dan

[BlueAbyss]

I'm curious about these 2 part salt mixes... why do they come as 2 parts? Are they liquid?

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

The problem with any "perfectly balanced, proper levels salt" is that as soon as you add it to your tank, it changes. If you have a healthy tank with corals that are growing at a constant rate, without supplementation, you'll have noticeably less everything in 24 hours. So, you have to supplement the tank regardless, whether that's with 2 part mixes, kalk reactors, Ca reactors, etc, you must replace what the corals consume. Water changes alone will not suffice in a fully stocked reef.
So if I have to monitor and maintain levels in the tank, I'm not so concerned with the levels of the 10 or 15 % new water I add, it will adjust with my maintenance routine.

Yup, totally agree. The amount of chemically "perfect" salt you add with water changes first gets dilluted with the remaining old water & then gets depleted by the corals, clams & coraline algae that suck it up quickly in a growing reef tank.

Perhaps with a nano tank & weekly water changes, I could justify the added expense of the really "good" salts, but with just under 500 gallons of sw in the display & sump tanks, that is just not feasible.

Besides, my friend Marie (as I think I mentioned before) uses IO & probably has the fastest coral growth rates of anyone I know.

[no_bs]

Wow $100 for a pail of IO. Wish we could get it out there for less. $39 all the time.

[TonyR]

When adjusting a non balanced salt you do have to take into account ionic balances though. A balanced salt will have the correct chloride/sodium/sulphate ions. Adjusting a non balanced salt might throw the ionic balance out of wack. Short term not a problem but if using two part additives long term you could shift ionic values out of desirable ranges.
Using a balanced salt will help bring ionic levels back into line via regular water changes.

[banditpowdercoat]

Originally Posted by TonyR

When adjusting a non balanced salt you do have to take into account ionic balances though. A balanced salt will have the correct chloride/sodium/sulphate ions. Adjusting a non balanced salt might throw the ionic balance out of wack. Short term not a problem but if using two part additives long term you could shift ionic values out of desirable ranges.
Using a balanced salt will help bring ionic levels back into line via regular water changes.

And which salts are ballanced?

[TonyR]

Hiya
Any salt that when mixed delivers levels at or close to NSW. IO for instance needs adjusting so that means adding chlorides,sodium and Sulphates from the bucket.
So we mix up our salt to 1.025, check the levels and find we are low. We then add Calcium chloride,Sodium Bicarb/carbonate and Mag Chloride/Sulphate to the mix. Chlorides then get bumped up thus increasing salinity, sulphates and sodium(due to the Sodium Bicarb) also increases.
Now add to that a two part additive regime and one could find those ionic levels slowly creeping up over time.
As for a balanced salt then H20 pretty much hits the spot with regards to NSW levels out of the bucket.
Ive never been a fan of two part dosing due to the fact that without water changes chlorides, sodium etc can become elevated over time. How long might it take? I couldnt tell you but seeing as you cant tell or test then its pretty much a lottery imo.
The chlorides used in H20 are slightly lower, this allows for the addition of chlorides such as Magnesium Chloride or Calcium chloride if you choose to use as a two part method for your Ca/Alk regime.

[TonyR]

Hi peeps

I realise that its been a while but thought you all might be interested in a recent article by Practical fish keeping (a very popular aquatic magazine in the u.k)

5 salts were tested, these being D-D H2O,Reef crystals,Tunze,Tetra and Red sea coral pro.

The salts were tested by an accredited laboratory and D-D was found to have a formula that was closest to Natural sea water with no additives needed to buffer the salt.

Further reading can be found here although the full article is only available in the magazine which may not be available in Canada.

http://www.theaquariumsolution.com/h...ines-best-test

All the best Tony