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.
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.
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
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
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
I am also willing to bet that the Alk in that salt is very low,.. same deal with Coralife salt, and Oceaniac salt, very high CA and Low Alk. When you do pick up that alk test kit (and I highly encourage you to do it sonner than later) you might want to pick up some baking soda too.
yeah, I agree about getting an alk test kit...that's one parameter that can drop quicker than you realize. Baking soda is good but I prefer Reef Builder to bump up my alk.
Oh BTW,.. I use Instant ocean myself and couldn't be happier with it,.. well,.. I would like it to have higher Mag, but other than that I couldn't be happier.
why arent the salts balanced in their alk/ca/mag? Seems to me that would be to a manufacturer's advantage cause it would surely attract ME who buys 5 buckets at a time.
red sea pro is the same content as tropic marine pro. it is very reef oriented salt. the only draw back i see is the calc is too high at higher salinity levels.
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?
I've found reefcrystals to be pretty well balanced... better than most of the salts in that price range (particularly IO). Calcium around 400-420 and alkalinity around 9-10. At least that's what I got on the last few buckets. I can get it for like $32 a bucket from the drs.
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??????????
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.
Aggreed,.. but when you get your alk up I wouldn't be supprized to see that fall. Just add alk slow if your CA is that high to help avoid getting a snow globe.
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.
i figured instead of adding 1/2 cup of one salt to a gallon of water i would add 1/4 cup of one salt and 1/4 cup of the other salt to one gallon of water
Right,.. that's how I did it too. I was just reminding you that you want to add the salt to the water,.. not put the salt in the bottom of the bucket and pour the water in.
It's not dropping the CA fast that's the problem,.. it's raising the Alk fast that could get you.
This won't be a problem if you do water changes with new salt,.. it could be a problem if you add an Alk Suppliment though, like reef builder or Baking soda.
ah ok i see. well i will start it tonight and see how it goes over the next few weeks. I will test the 50/50 mix for nitrates/ph/calc before i add it and let you guys know what readings i get
ok mixed straight IO and got a perfect reading of 420ppm of calc. I am going to use this until i get the tank right then try a 50/50 or maybe stay with IO not sure.
What are you using to mesasure your SG? It's not a "Deep 6 Hydrometer" is it?
Whiskey
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