Salt mixes

[snakeblitz33]

I just wanted to remind new hobbyists of the dangers from switching from natural salt to synthetic salt in an aquarium. If you have always used a synthetic salt in your system and your animals are used to it, and you switch to a natural salt, you risk killing all of your livestock. Also, vice versa, if you use natural salt for a long time and then switch to synthetic, you will also risk killing all of your livestock. But, if you alternate between natural and synthetic or you use both natural and synthetic mixes when you mix new saltwater, you don't risk the loss of livestock. BangGuy explains it pretty well:
"If you switch back & forth often or mix your salts then I doubt you will have a problem.
The problem switching salts occurs when one salt has a significant difference in the amounts of specific heavy metals. Algae and protist populations can grow to favor species that can more effectively utilize the elements in abundance.
So, when you run one salt for a long time and suddenly switch to a salt with much more, or much less, of a specific trace element then the dominant species of algae, dinoflagelate, etc. will die out and a new species will reign supreme. Imagine an SPS loaded with a particular species of Zooxanthellae and suddenly the amount of say, cadmium, decreases to zero and most of those Zooxanthellae die out quickly. The coral may or may not survive the transition to a new species of Zooxanthellae. This is just one example.
I think we can agree that opium is bad for you. What happens if a person is exposed to a certain amount of opium for months or years and then suddenly it is taken down to zero? It's certainly stressful and it can be fatal. The same thing happen to marine organisms in a closed environment." -BangGuy
I was reminded about this thread from awhile back and just thought I would share.
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/349506/best-salt-mix/20

 

[snakeblitz33]

I think this is important enough information to warrant at least ONE POST.
BUMP

 

[gemmy]

Great info. I think it also reminds the hobbyists that our tanks truly are delicate ecosystems and we must take that into consideration when we decide to make changes to them.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Thank you God! One Post! Hallelujah!

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/387704/salt-mixes#post_3413436
Thank you God! One Post! Hallelujah!

...We are here for you ... don't worry..LOL

 

[tur4k]

I'm all for a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality, but I'm not sure if buy this. Unless you do very very large water changes, the transition is going to be gradual. I switch between natural sea water, IO Reef Crystals and Tropic Marin all the time. I also do frequent 30% water changes.
I'm not saying that bad things can't happen from switching salts, but I don't think people should believe "ZOMG...all my fishes and verts are gonna die if I don't use my current brand of salt forever."

 

[snakeblitz33]

tur4k, you mix salts regularly, there's nothing to worry about. If you have had the same tank set up for a year, two or more and have only used one type of salt. ... for example, say synthetic salt, and then you decide that you are going to switch over to natural salt after your tank is already used to synthetic, then you are going to have some die off that may result in the death of your livestock.
You can transition between salts, and it's as easy as mixing natural salt and synthetic salt together in several batches,over a period of months to get gradually going towards 100% the new type of salt you want to use. If you already use a variety of the two different types of salt right from the start, then you probably won't have any problem at all using them both.
Just wanted to let hobbyists be aware of this phenomenon.

 

[1guydude]

WTH are natural salts? I figured all sea salts in our hobby are synthetic one way or another??? Snake u are throwing out stuff ive never even heard of...this hobby is diverse....

 

[tur4k]

Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/387704/salt-mixes#post_3413705
tur4k, you mix salts regularly, there's nothing to worry about. If you have had the same tank set up for a year, two or more and have only used one type of salt. ... for example, say synthetic salt, and then you decide that you are going to switch over to natural salt after your tank is already used to synthetic, then you are going to have some die off that may result in the death of your livestock.
You can transition between salts, and it's as easy as mixing natural salt and synthetic salt together in several batches,over a period of months to get gradually going towards 100% the new type of salt you want to use. If you already use a variety of the two different types of salt right from the start, then you probably won't have any problem at all using them both.
Just wanted to let hobbyists be aware of this phenomenon.
Crazy. I had never heard this before. Maybe I'm just lucky. I used natural sea water for close to a year before switching to reef crystals. Then I bounced back and forth between reef crystals and tropic marin for a while depending on what my LFS had in stock. Then I started ordering buckets of reef crystals from the internet and used that for months. A couple of weeks ago I noticed my RO membrane was shot and switched back to natural sea water until my replacement filters/membrane arrive.
I'm not saying you're wrong. I haven't seen any sign of this in my very limited experience, but you could very well be right. I just find it hard to believe that switching salts is going to kill your corals when these same corals have gone from tank to tank through the supply chain, often starting off in the ocean, before ending up in our tanks. It never hurts to be cautious though.

 

[snakeblitz33]

I would like to note on here that switching corals between aquariums that have natural salt and synthetic salt should not be a problem at all. The problem comes from changing salt mixes in a very well established tank. The microorganisms, bacteria, and other flora and fauna have already well established themselves to having certain elements in the water. By switching salts, you take away some elements and you add others. When the elements and materials are no longer there for the building blocks of life, a massive die-off occurs on a microscopic level which will shoot up your ammonia levels causing the tank to crash.
I hope that explained it a lot better. If not, I'll try to explain it differently, if possible...

 

[coralman05]

gland I looked at this b.c i thought about switching my salt type very soon..

 

[channing93]

I would still like to discuss what we were talking about but i have no more pm's for the day if you could email me my email its Thatonekidof93@yahoo.com that would be great

 

[bender77]

I'm thinking about switching salts, so, basically you are saying, if it takes 1 cup of salt to make my water I need to make 1/2cup old salt and 1/2cup new?