Instant Ocean

[fbm]

I am using instant ocean salt and my calcium is 260ppm and I have been dosing for calcium and it still wont go up. Noone locally can test for magnesium, but I am going to start adding magnesium to my system. My question is will I see the calcium come up as the magnesium comes up or will I still have to dose for calcium? Or could my tank be using up calcium that fast? I have mostly base rock that is starting for form coraline algea now, so could the algea be using it up real fast?

 

[turningtim]

Don't add anything you can't test for. I would test the mag before you add it to the tank. What are you using to bring up the Cal?
I would get rid of the IO and use a better salt.
JMO
Tim

 

[dma57]

I had the same problem until I was told to switch salt brands and try Coralife. Wa La.....no more calcium problems. I've heard from quite a few people who've had low cal levels with Instant Ocean. A lot of people use it with no problems so maybe I got a bad bucket.........it happens!

 

[moneyman]

Out of the box, IO has sub standard level of calcium and magnesium for reef tanks. The few buckets of IO I used all had around 350 cal and 1110 mag. You'll have to dose for its deficiency.
Once your mag is around 1300 ppm, you'll have to dose calcium. Dont bother dosing calcium at low mag level. You'll just throw your money away.

 

[grubsnaek]

i use intant ocean and my levels tend to be a little high. not very consistant.

 

[turningtim]

Originally Posted by grubsnaek
i use intant ocean and my levels tend to be a little high. not very consistant.
That is the BIGGEST pain in the butt! You never know what you're going to get. I almost lost my tank b/c of IO and the constant maintenance of dosing and guessing what is going on.
I won't use IO to melt ice in my driveway. I'll stick with Tropic Marin. Yes its is more expensive but between time spent testing, test kits and extra additives trying to get IO in line its worth it. TM is always on the money and less headaches......
JMO
Tim

 

[lion_crazz]

Thomas712 did lose his whole tank to Instant Ocean.
I also found it to be a ridiculous pain, so I stopped using it as well.

 

[saltn00b]

so what are the good REEF salts?
i have been switching over to Red Sea Reef PRO, and it has been maintaing much higher calcium levels. what are the other options that people really like?

 

[fbm]

I got some kent liquied reactor that doses calcium and mag together, is this good?
And what salt brand do you guys recommend?

 

[bkh_sd]

I had pretty good luck with Oceanic, but switched to Tropic Marin Reef Grade Salt Buckets once I started building up the reef. Its really the best stuff. Never have a problem with calcium or anything else really. Though I still like the faster dissolving of Oceanic better.. But I make my saltwater a week in advance so that part really doesn't matter haha...

 

[lion_crazz]

I love both Oceanic and Tropic Marin. Red Sea Pro also seems to be pretty good.

 

[saltn00b]

i was curious if anyone else had heard of the paint mixer technique ?
in one of the magazines i read, some marine biologist came up with this to keep his multiple tanks alive during a long power outage, and it now works better than the old PH in a mixing container for 24 hours technique.
basically water, add salt as usual, and then take out your power drill and a 7 dollar paint mixing bit from your local hardware store, and start churning at high speed. all of your salt is dissolved and gasses exchanged after about 10 minutes. if you do it in the direct center of your container, a spiral column of air will penetrate all the way down to the bit. i have been using it for the last few months and it works great!

 

[1journeyman]

Hmm. Very interesting. What's the pH test at when you are through mixing?

 

[saltn00b]

i havent mixed or checked in a while now, so i would have to get back to you on that, but my DT never changes from 8.2

 

[gwh57]

IMO The IO brand salt is probable one of the most widely used salts in the business. I am not saying that it is the best, but it is a very stable, consistant salt mix. I changed to -- because it does have higher cal and Mag levels. Lots of people tend to blame tank failures on the saltmix they were using at the time. If you search and read some other forums I think you will find IO is a prefered saltmix to most others. I think most any tank will need cal, alk, mag supplements at some time. New tanks tend to use large amounts of cal while going through the growth period. FWIW

Test whatever mix you use to see what you are putting into your tank.

 

[saltn00b]

but why is Tropic Marin 90 bucks for bucket in my LFS and all the other reef salts are like 50 ?

 

[lion_crazz]

Wow, those prices are ridiculously high. Tropic Marin here is $55, Oceanic is $60, and alll the others are around $35. And those prices are on the expensive side.
I can get a 160 gallon bucket of Tropic Marin for $50, and a 200 gallon bucket of Oceanic for $40.

 

[saltn00b]

damn its almost worth it for you to buy em for me in piilly and freight em down to florida lion!
hehe
the websites all sell the 50-55 dolla red sea reef pro for like 10-12 bucks, plus 45 actual freight

 

[sly]

Originally Posted by fbm
I am using instant ocean salt and my calcium is 260ppm and I have been dosing for calcium and it still wont go up. Noone locally can test for magnesium, but I am going to start adding magnesium to my system. My question is will I see the calcium come up as the magnesium comes up or will I still have to dose for calcium? Or could my tank be using up calcium that fast? I have mostly base rock that is starting for form coraline algea now, so could the algea be using it up real fast?
I used Instant Ocean and saw different things. It's not consistant. I switched to Oceanic and now my calcium levels are actually a little high. But consistant.

 

[hatessushi]

I used Oceanic and found the calcium to high and the PH to low, so after that bucket I switched to Tropic Marin Pro and ance again found the calcium to high and PH to low. Next I will try Coralife Reef Crystals. IMO TM was way over priced and when you get it on you hands and brush it off there is a residue so you have to wash it off. Oceanic was fairly clean and disolved the best. When I started the tank I used a bag of Coralife -- and the levels were perfect. I guess I should have stayed with that.