Cali Kid Corals

Might be changing salt mixes.

i have been using IO for 15+ yeas for FOWLR tank. In my new reef tank, i switch to Tropic Marin Classic since i get a bit tired of dirty mixing container. The cost different isn't that significant since my tank is not that big. Now, the lack of availability of Tropic Marin is bugging me. i have been monitoring the availability for the last month and nothing. Once my pail run out, i'm thinking to going back to IO. Cheap and easily available. Amazon auto-ship every 6 weeks will work for me. I'm impressed by how fast Tropic Marin dissolved and mix clean. I don't mind paying the small premium if its available.
 
I think Tropic Marin Classic is a lot more available than Tropic Marin Pro. I’ve seen it just sitting there in LFS’s, for example at Cali Kid in Concord last weekend.
 
You might want to consider Red Sea blue bucket.
A slight step up from IO. Very close to normal sea water parameters.
Reasonable cost, and usually available everywhere. Including BRS and Amazon.
I have used it with success, mixes well, and no issues changing from IO and back.
The main problem for me is that the 200G sack is a single sack, not 4x50G bags like IO, so a hassle.
 
rygh said:
You might want to consider Red Sea blue bucket.
A slight step up from IO. Very close to normal sea water parameters.
Reasonable cost, and usually available everywhere. Including BRS and Amazon.
I have used it with success, mixes well, and no issues changing from IO and back.
The main problem for me is that the 200G sack is a single sack, not 4x50G bags like IO, so a hassle.
Click to expand...

I use Red Sea Blue Bucket, but I still pump the mix through a 5 micron sediment filter otherwise the bucket will get dirty eventually. I just use a BRS 10" canister connected to an MJ-1200 and dump the whole thing in my mixing bin.

This was after around 3 of the large 175 gallon buckets of salt.
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Anyone have any recommendation for "clean" salt mix other than tropic marin? ESV salt have good review, but darn expensive.
 
Tips:

With some salts, or if temp is hot, I get a white residue in the mixing barrel, which I suspect is precipitate.
If you add a bit of magnesium just before you mix the salt, this is greatly reduced.
I suspect that during initial mixing, local concentrations of alk/ca are high, and MG reduces precipitation.

I always get a bit of brown crud in the mixing barrel over time.
I have found that this gets much worse when my carbon is overdue for replacement.
I suspect ammonia from Chloramines is causing bacterial growth.
 
rygh said:
You might want to consider Red Sea blue bucket.
A slight step up from IO. Very close to normal sea water parameters.
Reasonable cost, and usually available everywhere. Including BRS and Amazon.
I have used it with success, mixes well, and no issues changing from IO and back.
The main problem for me is that the 200G sack is a single sack, not 4x50G bags like IO, so a hassle.
Click to expand...

i went with Red Sea pro coral.
 
rygh said:
You might want to consider Red Sea blue bucket.
A slight step up from IO. Very close to normal sea water parameters.
Reasonable cost, and usually available everywhere. Including BRS and Amazon.
I have used it with success, mixes well, and no issues changing from IO and back.
The main problem for me is that the 200G sack is a single sack, not 4x50G bags like IO, so a hassle.
Click to expand...
The Fritz blue box I bought at Neptune’s a couple weeks ago came in 4 bags, but I prefer one large bag/sack because I can’t get my salt scoop into those little bags (and we all know better than to dump the whole bag into our mixing container at once, riiight?)
 
rygh said:
Tips:

With some salts, or if temp is hot, I get a white residue in the mixing barrel, which I suspect is precipitate.
If you add a bit of magnesium just before you mix the salt, this is greatly reduced.
I suspect that during initial mixing, local concentrations of alk/ca are high, and MG reduces precipitation.

I always get a bit of brown crud in the mixing barrel over time.
I have found that this gets much worse when my carbon is overdue for replacement.
I suspect ammonia from Chloramines is causing bacterial growth.
Click to expand...
Most salt mixes do contain some ammonia, phosphate, etc to help grow some bacteria. Tropic Marin pro is an exception, claiming no phosphate or ammonia. Now if you are using salt for a coral QT having .03ppm phosphate and some ammonia from the get-go is not a bad thing. If you are doing water changes to reduce P then maybe tropic Marin is better.
 
I Returned the Red Sea Black Bucket after a few conversations with local reefers. Trying to figure out if I just stick with IO , use Red sea blue top or wait for tropic marin to be in stock again.

@rygh
 
RandyC said:
I use Red Sea Blue Bucket, but I still pump the mix through a 5 micron sediment filter otherwise the bucket will get dirty eventually. I just use a BRS 10" canister connected to an MJ-1200 and dump the whole thing in my mixing bin.

This was after around 3 of the large 175 gallon buckets of salt.
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Click to expand...
First, I’m jealous that you found a MJ-1200. (The Cobalt brand one not actual maxi jet which is a lower quality pump). They seem always sold out. I can’t believe the amount of junk you are filtering out, I have never seen anything similar with Red Sea blue or fritz blue (or tropic Marin). I wonder if using a lid and wiping down the container with RODI between every 2 or so uses has prevented the creeping crud for my case?
 
I always wipe out the brute can after I mix salt. I have seen what salt does to things and it just kinda seemed like a common sense thing to me.
 
Chromis said:
... I prefer one large bag/sack because I can’t get my salt scoop into those little bags (and we all know better than to dump the whole bag into our mixing container at once, riiight?)
Click to expand...

To clarify:
With setting and poor mixing at vendor, you can get an uneven mixture in a large bag.
Plus once open, the salt absorbs moisture which can result in lumps.
So it is better to use the entire bag at one time.

But definitely add slowly, don't just dump it in really quickly. Yes, that would be bad.
 
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