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Rygh's 250 gallon - Rev 3

So for peristaltic pump, just ended up fixing the Neptune DOS.
Their out of warranty price was quite reasonable. Way cheaper than a new pump.
 
I may need to switch salt. :mad:

I have used standard Instant Ocean for MANY years.
I supplement it with Magnesium, but otherwise it works great.
And they have a cheap 200G box, that has nice separate 50G bags.

But they changed the bags. The plastic is now more cellophane like.
It seems stronger for shipping, but it does not block moisture well.
So now may bags are starting to solidify.
Not good!

Probably go to Red Sea Blue bucket. I have used it before. Good salt.
They have nicely sized 55G buckets.

I am not really a big fan of the "premium" salts.
They tend to push the Alk/Ca too high, which can precipitate, or worse, add organics.
Since I run an auto-water-exchange, my mixed salt sits there for months.
 
I liked blue bucket a lot. But it doesn’t stay very stable in long term storage. So I’d have to mix and use within 36 hours.

Fritz, and both instant ocean salts were dirty as hell, and I just couldn’t stomach putting those in my tank.

Recently switched to tropic marine pro. I’m hoping that it stores better and cleaner than blue bucket.

Big reason for me is I’m doing much less frequent water changes.
 
I liked blue bucket a lot. But it doesn’t stay very stable in long term storage. So I’d have to mix and use within 36 hours.

Fritz, and both instant ocean salts were dirty as hell, and I just couldn’t stomach putting those in my tank.

Recently switched to tropic marine pro. I’m hoping that it stores better and cleaner than blue bucket.

Big reason for me is I’m doing much less frequent water changes.

Interesting, I use blue bucket too and I just tested a batch that’s been sitting mixed for a week (maybe week and a half) and alk was still at 7.7dKh. It’s been rock solid for me now going on 9-10 months I think.

fritz and IO/RC were awful for me.
 
Blue bucket starts growing nasty brown stuff after about a week or two for me.

And I get a lot of deposits. Not nearly as bad as the others but enough to make me hate cleaning my mixing bin.
 
I have has an occasional dirty IO bag also, yes, but rare. Brown residue on mixing barrel.

My problem - my mixing barrel is about 55G, and I really like to use the whole bag/bucket at once.
No measuring, and eliminates the issue with components sometimes settling out.

Interesting about blue-bucket issues.
I have heard that about the red bucket, but not blue.

I do have a small powerhead in my big storage tank, so it continually mixes.
 
Last I ordered IO, couple years ago, I felt that was a problem too with the hardening some were almost brick like. Yeah I still used them (did need to supplement some calcium and alkalinity though). Blue bucket seems fine for me, but I had a 100G container and a Tunze AC pump constantly moving the water too.
 
Blue bucket starts growing nasty brown stuff after about a week or two for me.

And I get a lot of deposits. Not nearly as bad as the others but enough to make me hate cleaning my mixing bin.

you’re just bad at mixing salt. ;) blue bucket has stayed pretty clean for me. Before I upsized my brute bucket, I don't think I cleaned my mixing bucket for 6 months and never even got a film or residue of any sort. RC and Fritz were dirty as heck for me though in the same bucket and same mixing pump.
 
I had fritz too and found it to leave a residue. Based off of the numerous BRS videos about salt mixes, I’m going with the tropic Marin pro. There was a 4 part one that looked promising as well but too much work.
 
I had fritz too and found it to leave a residue. Based off of the numerous BRS videos about salt mixes, I’m going with the tropic Marin pro. There was a 4 part one that looked promising as well but too much work.

I've thought about trying and switching to Tropic Marin Pro, but I just can't justify the cost. It's 1.75-2x the cost and I doubt my coral would be in that much better shape if I switched. I need to patent my Red Sea Blue Bucket mixing technique since I don't get any residue. ;)
 
I calculated it as only around .20-.40 cents more a gallon....I think. Can’t remember exact numbers but it’s seemed like a negligible cost in the grand scheme of things.

The tropic marine pro bucket makes a lot more water
 
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I've thought about trying and switching to Tropic Marin Pro, but I just can't justify the cost. It's 1.75-2x the cost and I doubt my coral would be in that much better shape if I switched. I need to patent my Red Sea Blue Bucket mixing technique since I don't get any residue. ;)

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According to BRS, the cost per gallon isn’t much different, mixed to standard salinity.
 
The thing is - Using those type of pumps for auto top off is probably pushing it for large tanks.
At 3+ liters per day, it runs quite a bit.

So I am really thinking of getting some sort of industrial one.
Not a super expensive laboratory one, but a heavy duty industrial one.
Any ideas?

Not 'industrial' by any means, but what about programming Apex to run two PMUPs? Need precision and fine control? Add a couple flow sensors (FS25)? Much less expensive to replace than a DOS when it wears out

I'm running auto changes on my system using a DOS and it seems like total overkill. I'd rather use DOS for fine tuned dosing.

For the curious: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/automatic-water-changes-with-apex-using-pmups.327444/
 
Not 'industrial' by any means, but what about programming Apex to run two PMUPs? Need precision and fine control? Add a couple flow sensors (FS25)? Much less expensive to replace than a DOS when it wears out

I'm running auto changes on my system using a DOS and it seems like total overkill. I'd rather use DOS for fine tuned dosing.

For the curious: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/automatic-water-changes-with-apex-using-pmups.327444/
I think a PMUP for water exchange would be risky because of mismatched flow, even with a flow sensor.
It really needs to be carefully matched or salinity drifts over time.

Interestingly, two PMUPs is $80, and it was only $75 to get the DOS fixed.
(I am sure different problems are different costs of course)
 
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