The Reef Tank banner
3K views 45 replies 7 participants last post by  DarthOcellaris 
#1 ·
the side of the red sea pro salt bucket says that a level of 450ppm of calc will be at 1.022 and the higher the SG the higher the calc level goes. I kept my SG at 1.024 so i have a calc level of 520ppm. This was checked with a api kit and verified with sailfert so i know its right. And it is the same reading with freshly made water before added to the tank. So question one is....will my calc being 520ppm hurt anything? Should i lower my SG to 1.022 to lower calc? Should I just switch salts? I have a half bag of IO left although i think its crap. Everything is doing fine from what i know.
 
#2 ·
why don't you like IO? I'd bet half the folks on the board use it with success (I lean towards the IO reef crystals stuff, but it's the same manufacturer).

calcium is only part of the story. if the red sea salt has a calc that high, I imagine it's alkalinity is deficient. It's the opposite with instant ocean; IO has a high alk level and a lower calcium level (11-12dkh and ~330-350ppm calcium). Mixing the two would probably make a good salt.
 
#3 ·
did you also do a CA test with the salt mix @ 1.022? Does it read 450ppm?

a LFS says RC is designed for the reef tank but if that's the case, then why isn't it designed to have those CA levels @ 1.026 which is what NSW salinity is?

I use IO and simply bump up the CA with Seachem Reef Advantage Calcium fwiw
 
#4 ·
yes 1.022 reads 450ppm as advestised on the bucket. ok i will try to do a 50/50 mix of IO(although i hate it) and red sea pro and see what i get. I have used io twice in my life and both times the freshly made water had a nitrate level of 10-20. if i get a nitrate reading of even .01 im not using that crap
 
#6 ·
im not wanting a clam i have had a clam for a few weeks now and it(he)(she) is doing great. my nitrates now are between 25-50 according to sailfert. but with the three water changes in a week(one to take water out to give someone my soft corals and one was my normal change on sunday and today i am going to take two gallons out and replace with 50/50 red sea pro/IO to see what happens) my nitrates should end up being much lower...............plus that skimmer i got started producing yesterday and i already have about 1/2" of skimmate
 
#18 ·
Red Sea can't be Tropic Marine Pro the ammount of salt you mix to water on Tropic marine is weird,.. different than all the others that I've seen.

Anyway,.. What do you mean by "Reef Orented"? If it doesn't have much of the fastest used thing in a reef (Alk) then I tend to think it's better suited for something else?

Whiskey
 
#16 ·
i am getting the alk test tomorrow so i will let you guys now where the alk is with red sea pro. But if this 50/50mix of IO and red sea pro gives me good para then i think that will be the deal from now on.........but still will 520ppm of calc actually hurt anything??????????
 
#22 ·
the higher the Ca content the higher the risk of pump burnout from Ca buildup. the higher the Ca level the warmer the item in the tank the more likely it will start to build up Ca. this is why heaters and PH impellers get encrusted in Ca.

G~
 
#25 ·
This will bring Alk up slowly which is just what you want to do. Alk is something that must be maintained in a tank though,..

I immagine with a 24G and a Durassa clam you will need to really keep ontop of your Alk level, even more so when you move into SPS,.. before the reactor I had to dose Alk to my 125G SPS tank 2X per day and it still wasn't stable enough.

Very soon when you get that Alk up you will be back here asking how to keep CA up ;) The clam will suck it down fast if it's happy.

Whiskey
 
#39 ·
Not exactally.

Think about it,.. If you mix 1 TSP of reef builder in 1/4G of water,.. what will the alk be?

If you mix 1 TSP of Reef builder in 100G of water,.. what will your Alk be?

Same thing happens when you mix a tun of salt in a very small amount of water,.. very high Alk/CA/MAG/Trace elements as well as Salinity.

Whiskey
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top