Reef nutrition

Mixing Salt

Jeff Rehling

Jeff Rehling

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Since I got my RO/DI unit, I'm making home-brew. Couple questions...I'm currently using Kent Reef Salt mix. Is that sufficient, or are there better options for coral health?

Second, do I just get a small powerhead (240 GPH) to do the mixing?

Thanks reefers
 
Depends on how much you're mixing at a time, but a small powerhead is probably fine. I use a larger return pump but I mix 50 gallons at a time. As to the salt question that's a topic hotly debated on every forum daily. I finally mad my choice by talking to a few o the most successful reefers in the area that had "my" kind of tank and asked what they used.

But there's some legitimate questions about what's best for any individual tank. Some salts have lower alk and calcium numbers when mixed. These are fine for tanks that are dosing or running Calc reactors. Some have higher concentrations of the core numbers as well as organics and can be cheaper in the long run by alleviating the need for extra dosing (again depending on how the tan s stocked and frequency of water changes.) Some salts should only be mixed just before use and other salts are fine to be mixed weeks or months in advance and remain stable.

I use Reef Crystals in my tanks for a few simple reasons. I can mix large batches and keep it till I'm ready (it's stable.) It's very inexpensive and can often be found at drastically reduced sale prices a few times a year. One of my tanks is a full blown SPS tank with large colonies and requires dosing or a cal reactor anyway.

Others will have different opinions and needs, but Kent is good stuff as well and a lot of folks use it.
 
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If you are making 5g at a time, just stirring it manually is easy and effective.

I use reef crystals too because it’s reliable, stable, inexpensive, easily found, long track-record. Since I never had a problem with it I never went looking for an alternative so I haven’t tried all the newer ones out there.
 
I am really liking the Tropic Marin Pro Reef. It dissolves and is ready for use near instantly and my corals don’t close up and slime during water changes, they are perfectly happy after a water change.

If I’m mixing up 5 gallons in a bucket, a small pump or powerhead works great. Dissolves faster if you warm up the water with a submersible heater. Your sg will be a lot more accurate this way too.
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That's the news stuff right?

I used it for about six months and had a horrible time getting it to mix well. It was always cloudy and yellow. Left brown film on my mixing barrel.

I switched back to reef crystals and am happy again.
 
OnTheReef said:
I am really liking the Tropic Marin Pro Reef. It dissolves and is ready for use near instantly and my corals don’t close up and slime during water changes, they are perfectly happy after a water change.

If I’m mixing up 5 gallons in a bucket, a small pump or powerhead works great. Dissolves faster if you warm up the water with a submersible heater. Your sg will be a lot more accurate this way too.
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Click to expand...

Most salt manufacturers recommend mixing cold and then bringing it up to temperature later. The reason for this is that the calcium (especially) precipitates in warmer water. In some cases it doesn't matter, but I've yet to see a high calc, alk and organics salt mixture that doesn't say specifically cold water.
 
grizfyrfyter said:
That's the news stuff right?

I used it for about six months and had a horrible time getting it to mix well. It was always cloudy and yellow. Left brown film on my mixing barrel.

I switched back to reef crystals and am happy again.
Click to expand...
Yeah same stuff. I let it mix for along time and I have to clean the mixing can. I run vinegar in it then rinse very well
 
I find it (vibrant sea)mixes quick and clean for me... I hate the "packaging" and the claim of "up to" 220 gal... BS. Just tell us it makes 180 or whatever it is if you mix it to the sg we all (reefers) do. If you're gonna market it as high potassium I can only assume it is geared towards reefers.
I would like to get back to the aquavitro salinity again, hopefully I can score a pallet like I used to...
 
Coral reefer said:
I find it (vibrant sea)mixes quick and clean for me... I hate the "packaging" and the claim of "up to" 220 gal... BS. Just tell us it makes 180 or whatever it is if you mix it to the sg we all (reefers) do. If you're gonna market it as high potassium I can only assume it is geared towards reefers.
I would like to get back to the aquavitro salinity again, hopefully I can score a pallet like I used to...
Click to expand...

I wasn't a fan of Salinity. It precipitated more than any other mix I've tried. I still can't get the sludge off my 55 gallon mix container.
 
Pick a salt and stick with it. It's more about consistency than anything else when it comes to reefing.

Been using IO for a long long time and haven't had any issues with it (I mixed it at least a day in advance in the 30G brute bucket with the eheim 1260).
 
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