Reef Crystals vs IO

[Thales]

Hey guys,

I was thinking about ordering some salt online because the price is pretty good and just about what I can get locally. I noticed that Reef Crystals is a little bit more expensive than IO but is supposed to have more Mg and Ca - anyone have any experience?

;D

 

[Elite]

Good price on IO salt online?? Where?
You can get them at Petsmart for $32 plus tax.

 

[Apon]

I used it before, didn't have any problems with it....I can't say if its any better.

 

[Thales]

Dr foster and smith has it for the same price and reef crystals for 34.99 with no weight charges. Only problem is they don't take paypal!

 

[Mr. Ugly]

I just use IO and add Dowflake and Magnesium

 

[sfsuphysics]

Reef Crystals is basically the more calcium happy version of Instant Ocean made by.... yup Instant Ocean.

 

[Thales]

Yerp, thats what I am reading. I'll prolly order some and see. Or, I can get off my butt and figure out how much dow and mag flake to add to the new water I mix up.

 

[Mr. Ugly]

2.5 C of Dowflake plus RO to make 1 gallon.

4lb Epsom salt plus RO to make 1 gallon. This is the old Mg recipe.

I've been adding 8ml of each per gallon of freshly made IO. That got me in the ballpark.

 

[Mr. Ugly]

[quote author=Apon link=topic=1536.msg13618#msg13618 date=1165780948]
I used it before, didn't have any problems with it....I can't say if its any better.
[/quote]

Reef Crystals or IO with DIY 2 part kicks butt on plain IO for stonys. Faster skeleton growth.

 

[Thales]

Hey Norm,

What's your 2 part recipe?

 

[Mr. Ugly]

Here are the newest Randy 2(3 if you count Mg) part recipes.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php#5

I haven't gotten Magflake yet. So I'm using the old Mg recipe.

2.5 C of Dowflake plus RO to make 1 gallon.
2.25 C of baking soda, baked at 300 for 1 hour, plus enough RO to make 1 gallon.
4lb Epsom salt plus RO to make 1 gallon. This is the old Mg recipe.

If you run a reactor, you might have to use the 2nd set of recipes in Randy's article.

 

[sfsuphysics]

Norm do you add the two part directly to your water change mix? Or do you dose it like a normal 2 parter?

I do the later, but then again I use oceanic and have no issues with calcium there.

 

[Thales]

Hey Norm thanks!

Where are you getting bulk Epsom salt?

My reactor is off until I get things balanced.

Heck, it might never come back on!

 

[Thales]

Ummm, duh - at Longs drugs!

 

[Elite]

How do you guys dose these? Do you drip or just dump the whole cup in?

 

[sfsuphysics]

For the calcium you can just shotgun dump it, I think the alkalinity part of a 2part you're better to drip it, I simply pour each into styro food cup containers with a drip nozzle on the bottom (airline tube air controller) and let each drip in over time.

 

[Elite]

I dumped about 60ml of alk into a 75G of water and the pH jumped from 8.0 to 8.5 .. not a good thing . I was always wondering why my corals don't look so good a day after I dosed alk ..

 

[Thales]

I really don't want to mix up the 2 or three part because I just want to use the stuff to boost water for water changes. Mostly just boosting Ca and Mg - alk is just fine.

Mike, what do you know about dumping magflake?

 

[Mr. Ugly]

Yep, alk is fine on IO. Just need to boost the other 2.

Mg you can just dump in.

The main thing to watch for is pH changes which you can get with alk additions.

That said, I just slowly pour in 100ml of the alk every morning before I leave for work. I've not seen any corals, fish, or anything get upset. Polyps on the sps are super extended and don't even retract when I'm dosing.

Elite, sounds like you don't dose every day? Might be too much pH fluctuation if you don't dose daily. Was this pH reading from a meter, or from a test kit? If meter, it might have been a mometary localized pH spike at the probe.

 

[Mr. Ugly]

Ok, guess I'll measure pH tonight and also tomorrow morning before and after dosing alk