Reef nutrition

Hard time maintaining params, need dosing advise

neuro said:
If I recall correctly, you want IO Instant Ocean (the purple one), not the IO Reef Crystals (the orange one).

I was told the Reef Crystals is for Fish Only tanks, while Instant Ocean is for marine/reef.

I use the Instant Ocean. Dr's Foster's and Smith usually has the best deal with free shipping.
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I think u got it the other way? RC is for reef... Blue one is for FOWLR?
 
neuro said:
If I recall correctly, you want IO Instant Ocean (the purple one), not the IO Reef Crystals (the orange one).

I was told the Reef Crystals is for Fish Only tanks, while Instant Ocean is for marine/reef.

I use the Instant Ocean. Dr's Foster's and Smith usually has the best deal with free shipping.
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I think that's backwards. IO regular is more for fish only tanks. IO Reef Crystals is for reef tanks. I think the only difference being that the Reef Crystals has slightly higher Magnesium and Calcium for corals. I have no idea which one is which color though.
 
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Nav said:
Lol, u dose 2 part or use Kalk?
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brleong said:
how's your tank doing? if it's doing fine, then you aren't using the wrong salt :)
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The tank is fine. I got it tuned to stay @ 8-9 Alk and 450 Calcium and mag @ 1300-1350. Tuning it about two or three times a year when I accidentally forget to correctly switch in a fresh batch of the Calc/Alk reservoirs.

Nav, I would start with the Crystals instead...
 
neuro said:
Nav, I would start with the Crystals instead...
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That's what I used on my prior 30gal...

Reviews on RSCP were mostly around less dosing, good trace elements and awesome coral growth, that's why switched to it.

It's kinda true cos my 2 head acan frag now has 4 baby heads popping out. Paly got a second head in 2 weeks.
 
Nav said:
So is IO Reef Crystals better for my tank? What other salt do you guys suggest for a 40gal? I'm disappointed that RSCP is not a good fit for me :( I've heard people with Nano tanks using RSCP...

So a 0.8% increase in Alk is considered bad?

Also 2 10% PWCs might not work for me (its my weekend thingy)
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Salt Mixes that have Alkalinity closer to NSW:
Brightwell NeoMarine
Aquavitro Salinity
DD H2Oceans Magnesium Pro
Tropic Marin
ESV B-Ionic Seawater System
IO Reef Crystals (edit)

Actually, pretty much every salt mix other than RSCSP has Alkalinity in the 7-10 range...

I'd say a .25 increase in dkH resulting from your water change is enough to be concerned. Ideally you'd want the alkalinity of the new water to be within 0-.5 dkH of your aquarium water (i.e. if your aquarium is at 8 dkH, your new water should probably be 7.5-8.5).
 
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what dosing methods are you using? I'm on IO RC. my alk consumption is way faster than my cal and I'm looking for some alternatives to adding baking soda in my ATO every week.
 
Bluprntguy said:
Salt Mixes that have Alkalinity closer to NSW:
Brightwell NeoMarine
Aquavitro Salinity
DD H2Oceans Magnesium Pro
Tropic Marin
ESV B-Ionic Seawater System
IO Reef Cryatals
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I want to maintain:

Alk 8.5
Cal 450
Mag 1400

Which one do you guys prefer? Any site that lists comparison of the defaults when mixed?
 
rygh said:
Anyone know the Alk level on a fresh batch of reef crystals mix these days?

I tried it a long time back, and it seemed to drive my Alk up. So I stopped.
According to my tests, and others, the Alk used to be way up at 13.
OLD link : http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1714505
But I have also heard they tweaked it.
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I will test mine. After reading this thread, it makes me want to do a small water change... lol. I'll make some water tonight and throw some salt in and measure tomorrow evening.
 
Tagging along. Been using Instant Ocean regular, but it always has been mixing around 11 dkh. I am looking for a mix that is around same as I want, or lower, because I can always dose. If it mixes higher, I don't want to deal with bringing it down like with Muratic Acid. I'm also looking to stabalize at 8.5-9, 420, 1250-1350.

Overall, I think I read somewhere that a 10% water change with higher levels than tank water does not really increase the tank that much. But I am battling hair algae and want to do frequent 20% water changes. I also don't want to deal with turning off my autodoser for Alk cause I usually forget to turn it back on.
 
FYI: I use normal instant ocean.
Yes, Alk mixes about 11, which is annoying, but not as bad a 13.
I add a bit of Mg and Ca on each batch as well. Seems to drop the Alk a little bit.

I have been thinking of switching as well. Mostly due to tweaking-hassles, not problems.

One big win was that IO seems to be very consistent from batch to batch.
In theory because of large volumes. That was a big problem with other salt mixes years ago,
 
Based on all comments, sounds like its not an easy thing to keep params stable... Whether IO-RC or RSCP or other salt ;)

Lots of tests over time probably is going to give the required PWCs & dosing amounts. Does it make sense to stick to RSCP with 10% water changes for next few weeks while trying to stabilize by dosing?

Switching to another salt will be my 3rd salt in this tank within 3.5mo :(

Yesterday when my Alk spiked after 30% PWC, everything was still happy other than the Duncan that only opened up 60%, need to check today. Are there any other ill effects in Alk spikes? I know Nems will be pissed (but my rock flower was happy)
 
Nav said:
Based on all comments, sounds like its not an easy thing to keep params stable...
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No, not easy. But not that hard either.
Don't kill yourself chasing the numbers too closely.
The ranges are pretty wide. Lots of good articles online.

However, while deviating from the ideal values is OK, rapid changes are most definitely bad.
 
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