switching salt soon

[Myka]

Originally Posted by BlueTang<3

I find your tangent after rolling the pail down the stairs around the house i always found very low alk readings from the few pails of h2 ocean i used. I always keep 90 gallons or so of water around for emergencies and with the h2 ocean i found it leaves some nasty stuff in the tub along with other salts also. With the Rb there is nothing even after 3 weeks. Another reason i changed is the crappy plastic handle on the pails or h2 ocean almost broke me toes a few times. When you read on zeovit.com some people say mg bang on some see it as high as 1800 so it seems weird.

Hmm, my first pail of H2Ocean tests 9 dKH with Elos kit. I find H2Ocean mixes cleaner than IO, with IO leaving flakes or stuff on the bottom of the tub (some are shiny!?!), but they both leave calcium deposits in the mixing tub...to be expected. Don't you get that with RB? Sometimes I think weird readings can be bad test kits, bad batch of salt, or poor testing habits. Never know...

[BlueTang<3]

Yeah i dont find calcium deposits but i got a lot of flow in there and wipe it out a lot. I will check its levels and post the results in a day or so.

[daniella3d]

Interesting. I never ever had any deposite with IO or Reef Crystal but always have had a brown deposite, sort of shiny, with H2O and I tried 3 buckets with the same result. After writing to DD they said it was due to ferric oxide they add...not exactly pure salt mix huh?

Originally Posted by Myka

Hmm, my first pail of H2Ocean tests 9 dKH with Elos kit. I find H2Ocean mixes cleaner than IO, with IO leaving flakes or stuff on the bottom of the tub (some are shiny!?!), but they both leave calcium deposits in the mixing tub...to be expected. Don't you get that with RB? Sometimes I think weird readings can be bad test kits, bad batch of salt, or poor testing habits. Never know...

[Myka]

Originally Posted by daniella3d

Interesting. I never ever had any deposite with IO or Reef Crystal but always have had a brown deposite, sort of shiny, with H2O and I tried 3 buckets with the same result. After writing to DD they said it was due to ferric oxide they add...not exactly pure salt mix huh?

Hmm, haven't had that. However, ferric oxide is simply GFO minus the G. Ferric oxide is a fancy way to say rust. Not a big deal...however I'm not sure having the GFO mixed in the salt is really a good thing.

[bignose]

thanks everyone lots of good info here. I've also noticed some small flakes at the bottom of my mixing tub.

[daniella3d]

Yes, no big deal, but still not pure sea salt

However I am not sure what is the crystalic shiny deposite, as it is not ferric oxide. I use ferric oxyde and it is not shiny.

Originally Posted by Myka

Hmm, haven't had that. However, ferric oxide is simply GFO minus the G. Ferric oxide is a fancy way to say rust. Not a big deal...however I'm not sure having the GFO mixed in the salt is really a good thing.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by daniella3d

always have had a brown deposite, sort of shiny, with H2O and I tried 3 buckets with the same result. After writing to DD they said it was due to ferric oxide they add...

Originally Posted by daniella3d

However I am not sure what is the crystalic shiny deposite, as it is not ferric oxide. I use ferric oxyde and it is not shiny.

Originally Posted by Myka

I find H2Ocean mixes cleaner than IO, with IO leaving flakes or stuff on the bottom of the tub (some are shiny!?!)

I am mistaken, it is my H2Ocean tub that gets the shiny flakes. Sorry, I have a tub of IO and a tub of H2Ocean.

Ya, I think their reasoning behind the shiny flakes being FO is kinda weird. For one, why would they add FO to the salt mix anyway? For two, since when is FO shiny? I'm not overly concerned about it because the salt seems to work just fine, but it doesn't make me go "Huh?". I just don't dump the flakes in the tank.

[gobytron]

IMO, salt is salt.
I have used many of the major brands out there and have never noticed any significant difference.

there are some slightly different elemantal make ups with some brands claiming to tweak this or that but at the end of ever bucket mixed, you still test and adjust accordingly, regardless of what brand you use.

I read an article some time ago, I cannot rememeber where but it was back when H2Ocean first came out and made everyone feel like they needed to spend 90$on a bucket of salt to give their reefs the "best" possible care and it was talking about how so many brands actually are derived from the same places, using the same process.

I've never used a salt that mixed perfectly to match my system parameters...


I now use seachem reef salt...
why?

because it mixes the clearest the fastest...

I used to really like Tropic Marin Pro for this same reason, but you cant get it out here anymore.

[paddyob]

Originally Posted by Myka

I am mistaken, it is my H2Ocean tub that gets the shiny flakes. Sorry, I have a tub of IO and a tub of H2Ocean.

Ya, I think their reasoning behind the shiny flakes being FO is kinda weird. For one, why would they add FO to the salt mix anyway? For two, since when is FO shiny? I'm not overly concerned about it because the salt seems to work just fine, but it doesn't make me go "Huh?". I just don't dump the flakes in the tank.

I use H2Ocean. I mix it in a mixing bin with an old pump. I put the salt in and let it circulate for a day or so... and leave the pump running the entire time I have a mixture in the bin. I have not experienced any flakes in the bottom.

The directions state do not use H2Ocean for 24 hours. Is it possible you are seeing the flakes before it has had the proper time to dissolve?

That is one thing I don't like about H2O, the wait time as in the past I can use my salt by the time I remove the waste water.

BUT it gave me a reason to set up a proper reservoir ha ha!


I have used IO in the past and have no regrets from leaving it. Went to Sea Chem Reef Salt and then to Bio-Sea when Sea Chem became hard to find for some weird reason. H2Ocean.... got so many good reviews from reefers, I figured why not.

[gobytron]

If anyone can show any actual eveidence that one salt is superior to another through a direct controlled comparison I would be shocked.

Anyone?