Oceanic Salt Users

[solonfairy]

i have never had issues with algae from Oceanic
not saying others havent, just my experience has been good.
I am interested in the 1350 from IO salt. Maybe they have upped it, but IO used to be around 900 for me everytime i tested it. I made sure that it wasnt falling outta solution due to poor mixing too.
I think it just goes to show that no matter what product it is, there will always be variances in its production.
I like #2 combos at wendy's. I have gotten a few bad #2 combos in the past. Doesnt keep me from going to wendy's and ordering a #2 combo.
Just be careful with everything you use in your tank and the things you use to test them.
Everyone around the boards on the net are talking about going back to IO. Everybody forgotten about the super dkh spiked batches of IO a few yrs ago. I am sure Thomas hasnt.
Good luck to all.

 

[golfish]

Originally posted by SolonFairy
iI am interested in the 1350 from IO salt. Maybe they have upped it, but IO used to be around 900 for me everytime i tested it. I made sure that it wasnt falling outta solution due to poor mixing too.
.
I've been using IOt off and on for 20+ years, everytime I've tested it the mag levels its always been 1300-1350...I've never had a problem with IO salt, I've really never had a problem with any salt mix except Oceanic

 

[solonfairy]

Maybe my particular batch of IO that I tested Mag was a bum batch. (admittedly, i only tested that one bucket, but heard others with similar results) I have used it, reef crystals, kents, and crystal seas off and on for nearly 10 yrs, not quite 20 yrs. (ya got me on that one--wow 20 yrs!)
I have used oceanic since it came out and on multiple systems. I guess I have been lucky and always picked out the right buckets at the store.
I guess everyone's results vary.
How often do you do water changes and how much. My thinking would be that if you are at 1600 now, you wait a month and your Mag falls to around 1400ppm. (yeah, it will probably take longer than a month for Mag to fall 200ppm) Then you do 20% water change (average for most people) with the 1600ppm oceanic and it brings your Mag back up to say 1450. Then next month is falls to 1250. Another water change, BAM!-you are sitting around 1300 or so. After two months, you arent worry about the higher Mag in your oceanic because it is helping you.
This is all guessing. You'd have to figure Mag usage and how much the water changes would raise your tank reading each time.
Then again if you are doing weekly water changes, it throw my little experiment out in the street.
Good luck all.

 

[golfish]

Originally posted by SolonFairy
I have used it, reef crystals, kents, and crystal seas off and on for nearly 10 yrs, not quite 20 yrs. (ya got me on that one--wow 20 yrs!)

Gee Solonfairy N paste, I've always thought of you as a newbie.

 

[solonfairy]

Yeah I have all of these corals around me growing like mad and fish doing really well. If I ever figure out the keys to my sucess, then maybe I can move out of the ranks of newbie.
I used to chat with this cool fella once. I cant figure out what happened to him. We'd talk about tank stuff and he taught me how an auto-topoff with a kalkreactor worked. I was really greatful. He was very informative, but I was able learn and progress even though I didnt get to chat with him anymore. I havent heard much from him in a long time. I hope his tank is coming along as well as mine is. There are some things I have picked up along the way I may be able to share with him to return the favor he once did for me. Maybe I will run into that guy sometime again soon.

 

[golfish]

Well, you hang in there, I'm sure that fella has read or wrote any of the things you've picked up that might help him. Its not like he needs any help anyway.

 

[solonfairy]

So be it.

 

[jamnman]

I just switched to Reef Crystals due to a Diatom bloom from every water change.
My Mag level was off the chart from Oceanic salt.

 

[ohioreef]

What is the desired Magnesium level?

 

[solonfairy]

1300-1350 is target

 

[beth]

Hmmm, I wonder what the problem is between Mark and Kip? :thinking:

 

[acrylic51]

I've read numerous threads about Oceanic leading to algae outbreaks. It might not be all in the husbandry of peoples tanks!!!!!

 

[donahue]

i have algae blooms after every water change i do with oceanic. thats before and after ive been using ro/di water. I think im going to give IO a try

 

[golfish]

I'm sure every product has a bad batch now and then, no matter what it is. I just got a bad bucket from the start and that was enough to turn me off of this product.
Looks like I'll be using Tropic Marine for a while

 

[donahue]

Let me know how that works out for you.

 

[tony detroit]

After seeing the reputation Oceanic puts in their tanks I don't want any part of their salt. The extra magnesium and calcium would probably benefit me about 6 hours, that is why we dose. If you're that desperate for magnesium/calcium invest in a kalk drip and a bottle of TechM.
IO Benefits
-Widest dealer network, if you move outta town, you'll find it
-Again, commonly used, if you're frag trading this is a plus
-Commonly used by vendors, again, buying from people using the same salt is good
-Available at chain stores, meijer, I think I even saw the little boxes at walmart once, etc. I can get it in the middle of the night if I have to
-Been in business for twenty some years, stand behind their product
After my experience with my Oceanic tank, and the 15 or more threads I read about similiar tanks leads me to believe that if they messed up their salt batches they wouldn't tell anybody about it anyhow.
I'm not sure why people jumped on the Oceanic bandwagon. IO always worked fine for me. 90% of the people I know that run Oceanic don't have test kits for strontium, molybdenum, magnesium, or phosphate anyhow, they don't know if it is making a difference or not. I think they're just giddy to try new products.
I'm sticking with IO.
I don't want any part of Oceanic.

 

[beth]

My calcium reading are over the top with Oceanic. Using selifert, I can't even take a standard reading.

 

[solonfairy]

i ran tests across the board on a new bucket of oceanic i just opened last nite ... seems as if Ca is creeping up the scale on the recent batches...
here are the #s
mixed at 35ppt at 80*F -RO/DI home system
pH 8.2
Ca 640
dkh 6.6
mag 1350
no3 0
po4 0
SiO3 0
i'd like to see dkh up a little... but most salts are low anyways
and yeah... 640 is high and i could see it a problem in a new tank, a tank with a low Ca consumption, and a tank relying on weekly water changes for mal-nutrient removal and/ or trace replacement ... but for me doing a 50g water change on sotny reef of total system volume of ~280g... the extra calcium is welcomed
also if you wanted to adjust the numbers before water change it would level out... this would take a bit of experience with reef chemistry... adding "dkh" drops Ca.... these are the ratios i experienced by adding 2 dkh
start - 640/6.6
+2dkh 610/8.6
+2dkh 580/10.6
+2dkh 550/12.6
+2dkh 520/14.6
+2dkh 490/16.6 (getting close to balanced... high, but balanced)
so.. as you can see.. by bringing dkh up you can get the salt to balance out if you need
but be careful... you must do this with a low pH dkh additive (bi-carbonate)... because if you do it with a high pH dkh additive and get pH around 8.5 or higher with a dkh over 13ish and you will get massive precipitation.
so... if you arrive at a stable oceanic mix for water change of 490/16 at 8.2pH and do a 20% monthly water change it isnt doing anything but helping your tank
my problem (now) with this product is that is shouldnt need to be adjusted... simply for newcomers to the hobby or those with low demand systems. ... it should be ready to go at usable levels right out of the bucket.
but for me with my high Ca demand and my pretty good grasp on CaCO3 relationships in a high demand system... it is still my salt of preference and i have been successful w/ it for a year now.
some folks are having good luck with a 50-50mix of oceanic and instant ocean... just a thought...
if i were to switch, i dont know what i would switch to.. unless IO has raised their levels recently.... i had always found it substandard... the reef crystals gave marginally better Ca-Mag reading but not worth the difference in price. .... that tropic marin pro formula sounds good, but i have never tried it nor tested it
and.. i still cant forget thomas' super high dkh batch
once again... i guess no matter what you use.. you should always test a new batch upon opening it and be prepared for any corrections that may be needed.
up til this last batch... oceanic has read around 480ppm on Ca for me.... so stuff always changes... that life i guess.

 

[mary]

What was wrong with the Innstant Ocean? I have always used it.

 

[thomas712]

It had inconsistancies to it.
Usually it has low magnesium which in turn caused alk and calc to fall unless you dosed all three constantly. I had a killer batch which ran a 95 dKH that killed all shrimp, crabs, snails and at least one fish of mine. It did this in less than 2 minutes. Made my corals really sick as well. I had to do emergancy water change using LFS pre mixed water.
Some folks have never had this problem, but in the years that I have used it I could never get coralline algae to grow in my 90. Now that I am using Oceanic the coralline is growing.
Point is that no matter what salt you use. You should always test the water change water from a brand new batch to see where things are for Alk, Cal, Mag. This way you will know what you have to dose to maintain things or bring them up to par. If you start a water change batch and it gets really cloudy to the point of foam and or stays cloudy then you should never use it.
The Oceanic for me has been running low on alk, but I can sovle that with buffering. Mag has been good or me but not for others, calcium has been in the 500 range and will drop some with my buffering. I can handle that.
The IO that I was using over the last two years I had to dose Mag, calcium and alkalinity and wound up chasing the numbers over and over again.
In any salt there appears to be good batches and bad batches. Buyer beware.
Thomas