instant ocean or reef crystals?

[fishyfishster]

Yeah can't beat the price

[Leah]

I am happy with Instant ocean too!

[mr.wilson]

Originally Posted by iceman86

Reef crystals is my brand, I've been looking onto h2ocean but too many mixed reviews. Plus big als has reef crystals pails for $35 right now

On the subject of pails, you should only use them if you are mixing all 160 gallons at the same time to assure it is homogeneous. This is why I prefer the 200 gallon box (4 bags of 50 gallon mix). I'm also too old to be dumping 45lb buckets of salt into 6' high reservoirs

I also find that once you open a bag or bucket the salt tends to clump with humidity thus altering the salt composition.

Keep in mind, these salts are rated at 1.021sg, not 1.025, so a 50 gallon bag will render only 42 gallons of "reef" water.

[mr.wilson]

Originally Posted by fishyfishster

Yeah can't beat the price

Actually you can. If you buy IO and add your own calcium chloride it will cost less than IORC and it will be closer to NSW levels.

The idea of supplementing calcium, alk, magnesium etc. through water changes only works if there is a demand/depletion and if the water changes are large and frequent. A reef tank that is 30 gallons or smaller would benefit from such a salt if weekly water changes of 10% or greater were made. A large tank with infrequent water changes would not benefit from supplementation through water changes. If you are dosing chemicals or using a Ca reactor, there is no need for a salt with level elevated beyond NSW.

H2Ocean and Tropic Marin are both closer to NSW levels than either IO product. Tropic Marin is supposed to be homogeneous, so it is better suited for people who want to use an open bucket over time without compromising quality.

[mr.wilson]

Originally Posted by Madreefer

Hmmm... wish I never asked the question. I just have to decide if it's worth spending $40 more per bucket of salt which turns out to an extra $480 a year in salt. Might try it but will have to wait for next trip to Vancouver. I dont know if I should be pi$$ed at you or thank you for the response. HAHA JK thanks

To further torture you... you might consider a cheaper salt, but carry out your water changes more frequently or in greater quantity.

FWIW, Randy Holmes Farley uses IO and adds calcium to get it to NSW levels. You won't find a better water chemistry authority than him.

[Leah]

I open my buckets and do water changes, I put the top back on properly and have never had a problem doing it this way...I also do not dose with anything and do not plan to.

[mr.wilson]

Originally Posted by Arok3000

Here is my take on many matters related to our hobby, including choice of salt brand.

In the industry that I work in, we have a failsafe procedure for every major equipment in use. They are always a similar model from a different manufacturer. If for some unseen circumstance the first unit fails due to internal fault or programming, the second unit has a significantly lower chance of failing in the same scenario.
Let's say there's a zombie virus outbreak on Vancouver Island, and there is a newfound cure for the virus in Winnipeg of all places. To send the antidote securely, we would send a batch by air on a Boeing, and another batch on an Airbus, then we would also send two batches via ground, one pulled by a Freightliner and one pulled by a Kenworth. This would give us the best chance of at least one shipment arriving.
Okay that scenario was a little extreme, but it gives you the idea.

Back to reefing, in my tank, I run two similar heater cycles on my controller, one runs an jager, the other runs a hydor. I dont necessarily trust either brand of these heaters on their own, but I trust the pair of them to not fail simultaneously more than I trust any single heater. Same thing goes with salt, I am not certain that reef crystals offers my tank everything it needs, so I also use h2ocean at the same time to mix things up a little. I may even add salinity in there as I like to try new products occasionally.
It can be debated that I am increasing the risk of mixing in a bad batch of salt, but that risk isn't great, and by not running one salt exclusively, in the case of a bad batch I am actually diluting that batch by 50% by including another brand.
I might be mistaken, but I believe Dez was a fan of running multiple salts also.

So not only does this allow wiggle room for potential model specific problems, but this also helps eliminate those long, sleepless nights of mentally debating which product you want to go with.

That said, I have always had a bucket of Reef Crystals on hand. ;-)

The failsafe game is a tough one. On one hand, diversification limits the extent of any disaster and on the other, you may be doubling your chance of failure with the worst of each technology.

I don't trust heaters either. It isn't a matter of if, but when they will fail. The bigger mystery is whether they will fail in the off position or fatal on position. The same is true of solenoids and actuator valves on auto top off systems; will the ATO jam in the "kill the tank" mode or "kill your marriage/flood" mode

I prefer titanium heater construction, but I do like the double fail safe of glass heaters with built-in thermostat. I set the secondary thermostat of an aquarium controller to a higher temp (80f) so it overrules the built-in thermostat (78f) should it jam in the on position.

Using multiple salts isn't a bad idea. You are more likely to encounter a salt with a deficit than surplus, but anything is possible. As salt prices become more competitive, salt manufacturers will be looking for ways to cut costs. If using magnesium sulphate is cheaper than magnesium chloride we would pay the cost.

[mr.wilson]

Originally Posted by Myka

Heh, good point. I have wondered about what else might be in natural sea salt, and hope they have decent filtering methods.

I have no idea how or if they filter the seawater first. The industry is too small to have its own collection and dehydration station, so the salt used would be from the same source as my bag of Miss Vickie's.

I don't know how they remove algae, bacteria and other unwanted incidentals like cigarette butts and needles Apparently orthophosphates are not present so they are removed somehow.

The other question is how salts interact as they dehydrate. Adding salt to an insufficient quantity of water or adding water directly to salt will yield strange results so I would assume the same is true of the dehydration process???

Originally Posted by Myka

Oh, and sea salt chips are gross, and I'll continue taking a fist full of "natural" supplement pills everyday.

Naturally-sourced products have equally as glossy ads and are distributed by huge corporations, so it's hard to tell who and what you are dealing with these days. If you are supplementing daily, there must be a high demand; I hope you are testing before you dose

Originally Posted by Myka

Mm, no. LED vs MH and Tunze vs EcoTech are much more dramatic recently.

Yeah, let's keep this civil and limit the discussion to safe topics like religion and politics.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by mr.wilson

I have no idea how or if they filter the seawater first. The industry is too small to have its own collection and dehydration station, so the salt used would be from the same source as my bag of Miss Vickie's.

This would imply general following of FDA standards.

The other question is how salts interact as they dehydrate. Adding salt to an insufficient quantity of water or adding water directly to salt will yield strange results so I would assume the same is true of the dehydration process???

I have thought about this, and then thought, "I guess they figured it out."

If you are supplementing daily, there must be a high demand; I hope you are testing before you dose

Haha, yes a few things! I do test iron and vitamin d for applicable dosing! Omega 3 and calcium is a guess!

Yeah, let's keep this civil and limit the discussion to safe topics like religion and politics.

[mr.wilson]

Originally Posted by Myka

This would imply general following of FDA standards.

Absolutely... just like tap water... according to local Egypt laws and standards, providing a civil war isn't pending