okay to mix salts?

MNgirl · 05-27-2004, 10:34 AM

Our 110 gallon project is finally going to start! We had to put a small delay on it as we had a powerhead explode in our 55 gallon and caused the entire tank to fill with smoke and needed to do water changes and etc. with that tank. We have been using Corallife Salt in the 55 gallon tank since we started the tank......but the 110 gallon tank came with a large tub of Red Sea Salt. We had planned to fill the new tank halfways with new RO water and then syphon the water from our 55 to fill the rest of the new tank but is it okay to have two different brands of salt mixing together or do I need to go and buy Corallife Salt to mix the new stuff with.

Thanks,
Kim

FastFish720 · 05-27-2004, 10:53 AM

You can mix the salts together, personally I've used red sea salt and didn't like it very much.

David Grigor · 05-27-2004, 12:18 PM

If you plan to use any of your existing Live sandbed, I would mix the new SW outside of the tank in some tubs.

You want to put the sand in first before filling to minimize the water getting cloudy.

If sandbed is going to be totally dead new stuff. Be sure to add that before the water for the same reason. In this case mixing the SW in the tank is a non-issue.....

I can't comment on mixing SW. I've always used IO exclusively.

JnS · 05-27-2004, 01:59 PM

you still need help?

Soltaker · 05-27-2004, 02:12 PM

I switched from Red Sea to IO with very little acclimating so-t0-speak. I had about 1/4 bucket of Red Sea when I bought a new bucket of IO. I did mix the 2 types together, but IMO it did little or nothing. Or rather, I personally did not see any adverse effects from switching brands.

MNgirl · 05-27-2004, 05:13 PM

Thanks for the responses!!! I checked inside the Red Sea tub and it looks as though there is a bag of instant ocean in there so that is actually the salt that I will be switching over to.

I bought 2 bags of "Live Sand" from Premier Pets today and it looks as though I will need to buy more....that doesn't seem like it will be enough. I have 60 pounds of sand in the 55 gallon that I will hopefully transfer the top layers over to the new tank and just dump the bottom layer outside. The two bags that I bought today are 20 pounds each so that will only give me about 100 pounds of live sand. I only want the sandbed to be about 2 inches deep so it might work....guess I will have to see.

Yes Jerry, I would really appreciate your help with this move!! Unfortunately we have no water! We have two RO units and cannot figure out how to hook up either one to our plumbing. Neither my husband or I are very "handy" people and are clueless when it comes to plumbing so we are having troubles. I have already caused the pipes to spit water all over the laundry room so I am putting that on hold for today.

David Grigor · 05-27-2004, 05:15 PM

You can buy adapters at Home depot that will allow you to hook if with up to either garden hose or faucet......

MNgirl · 05-27-2004, 05:17 PM

Okay! Thanks!! I will have to go there in the morning and find something that will work!

JnS · 05-27-2004, 05:21 PM

Kim,
I have some sand if you need more.

the adapter will be best to make water...but when my brother gets back from vacation I am sure he can hard pipe it for you.

just let me know when

Jerry

David Grigor · 05-27-2004, 05:43 PM

Do you have a brand name of these bags of Live sand.

The only thing live about it is the bacteria which in about 2 weeks any dead sand you put in there will be just as good. IMO: It's a waste of money.......

The main reason you want live sand is for the worms, mini-brittles, pods etc. Processed bags aren't going to have any of that stuff in it......

MNgirl · 05-27-2004, 08:01 PM

It was Arag-Live Brand Sand....
yes, I know it was probably a waste of money but that is the same sand that we bought when we set up our 55 gallon (at the time that I had set up that tank...I did not know about any of these websites that I know now and didn't know any better then what the LFS was telling me)
I just wanted to match the sands so they would look alike. Plus, I am hoping that the bacterias will help my tank not go thru any cycle phase as I do this transfer.

If I wanted Live Sand that has worms and pods and brittles in it....where would I get that?? Just from other people's tanks that they are breaking down??? I do wish that I had more "life" in the sandbed......I would love to get some spaghetti worms and such that would be fun to watch. I will have to check into that!!!!

BTW, I did as you suggested and I hooked up an adaptor tonight to the RO unit and I hooked it up to the garden hose outside in the front yard.....I am not sure how these RO units work because I have never seen one that was working but this thing is very, very, very slow!! I would have stood out there all night just to fill up a bucket!! Are they really that slow or do I have it hooked wrong....it was just trickling out. If that is the case....it may take me all week to fill up enough water......maybe I will just run to CUB and buy 60 gallons of RO water from them

Soltaker · 05-27-2004, 09:41 PM

yup....they can be pretty slow....especially when a unit is brand new.

patience

David Grigor · 05-28-2004, 10:01 AM

Fine, you can do whatever you want. Certainly isn't going to hurt ( except the wallet ) to use more.

The amount you already purchased plus the fact your LR is fully cured is plenty. You could easily get by with just getting some dry aragonite in what ever grain size you want. Put the dry stuff on the bottom.

You can get the biozyme stuff in a little red container ( has a long shelflife ) for about $3-4 at Petco ( mailorder about 1.50 ). That can dose the first week or so for safety measure and will do the same thing.....
I always keeps some around just in-case....

David Grigor · 05-28-2004, 10:07 AM

As far as RO units go, This is why you want to get the larger 100 gpd unit. $$ is very little difference. Smaller units are fine for just daily topoff or when you can plan in advance but people forget about emergency situations where you might need 30-40 gallons asap in an emergency situation.

I would really frown apon using Cub R/O. You really don't know how good of filtration that is and could still be loaded with nitrates and phosphates...... If really need to do that option go to SF and get the RO water....

redlion4 · 05-28-2004, 11:50 AM

No matter how fast the RO unit is, if being prepared for an emergency is a high priority then RO water storage should be planned for.

We only have a 50gpd RO unit, but we always have ~30 gallons of RO water on hand in our modified Rubbermaid trash can. We use water from this supply to mix sw for water changes, mix with kalk, and for normal top off (no kalk) on our 55 gal tank. We could add & link additional storage if desired, or simply upgrade to a larger container instead to increase storage capacity.

Agreed though, if the price difference is negligible then the higher output unit is a plus. Don't forget to take the price difference for replacement filters into account. Usually not a big deal given the replacement frequency, but something to keep in mind.

Ryan