Reef Discussion

[Susan Bates]

oh took everyones advise and have ordered my RODI unit, thanks for the help.what is the best salt to use in reef tank and should i add any thing else to it?

 

[daveH]

Red Sea Coral Pro is a good popular choice. I used it when I first started but changed a couple of years ago to NSW.
I found everything thrived with the natural water and would not go back to mixing up again plus I enjoy going and getting my own water.
On the occasion that there's bad weather conditions and I can't get it myself my LFS sells excellent water really cheap.

 

[suta42]

:)Hi Susan,

I use Red Sea blue bucket. It does the job quite well, parameters are closer to natural sea water.

Things may have changed in the past year or two, but I had problems with the black bucket ie Red Sea pro, not mixing properly and inconsistent parameters.

(Just FYI any of these big buckets can have a problem if finer particles settle down the bottom of the bucket. To mitigate this you need to manually mix the salt before using.)

Disclaimer: I'm slack in this department :rolleyes but i test the parameters initially to see if they're as predicted. If yes, I don't bother with the manual premix before making up the solution.

HTH.

 

[Agent M]

There are plenty of good options on the market - the Rolls Royce of salts is something like Tropic Marin. There is new research to suggest that harder to keep Goniopora corals do better with this salt mix.

In general though, just go with something that mixes well and doesn't take too long to dissolve. I'm using Ultimate Aquacare at the moment that I got from Majestics Aquarium in NSW. Very reasonably priced even after shipping and dissolves in a flash if I stir it in one direction for a few seconds to get the watering turning.

http://www.majesticaquariums.com.au/water-quality/salts/22kg-marine-reef-salt.html

Also @Morphology is a supplier for Blue Treasure salt shipped to your door. Also very reasonably priced.

Once you find a salt you are happy with, try to stick with that brand as its better for your corals long term to have that stability, and it might just be your little secret to success ;)

 

[ReeferRob]

I use Red sea exclusively here, used to use Forty Fathoms, Tropic Marin, Instant Ocean and Marine Environment. I wouldn't wash your wounds with Instant Ocean marine mix. :mad:

 

[Buddy]

I have been using the Blue Treasure salt from @Morphology lately. I find it mixes better than the Red Sea.

 

[Susan Bates]

There are plenty of good options on the market - the Rolls Royce of salts is something like Tropic Marin. There is new research to suggest that harder to keep Goniopora corals do better with this salt mix.

In general though, just go with something that mixes well and doesn't take too long to dissolve. I'm using Ultimate Aquacare at the moment that I got from Majestics Aquarium in NSW. Very reasonably priced even after shipping and dissolves in a flash if I stir it in one direction for a few seconds to get the watering turning.

http://www.majesticaquariums.com.au/water-quality/salts/22kg-marine-reef-salt.html

Also @Morphology is a supplier for Blue Treasure salt shipped to your door. Also very reasonably priced.

Once you find a salt you are happy with, try to stick with that brand as its better for your corals long term to have that stability, and it might just be your little secret to success ;)

thank you again,you have been very helpful to me with my tang and everything. should i add anything else to the water when i mix it? and how long can i store it for after it has been mix. Tang is looking good, water is testing great, i nearly gave up, now it i can just get rid of this green hair that is growing like mad

 

[daveH]

The only time you will need to add anything to your ASW is after the tank has been running for a bit to see what your stock depletes from your Calc, Alk and Mag ratio. Randy's Recipe is a very economical and effective method of keeping everything in balance.

 

[Agent M]

thank you again,you have been very helpful to me with my tang and everything. should i add anything else to the water when i mix it? and how long can i store it for after it has been mix. Tang is looking good, water is testing great, i nearly gave up, now it i can just get rid of this green hair that is growing like mad

No worries, glad to help. And good to hear about the tang - you're doing well :)

No need to add anything, just follow the instructions on the salt bucket for how much salt to mix with your RO water. I'm not sure how long it can be stored exactly but storing it for weeks at a time isn't a problem.

You can add certain things like calcium to the plain RO water you will be using to top up the tank regularly as water evaporates, but at this stage I wouldn't worry about it until you have a tank full of corals.

 

[Susan Bates]

No worries, glad to help. And good to hear about the tang - you're doing well :)

No need to add anything, just follow the instructions on the salt bucket for how much salt to mix with your RO water. I'm not sure how long it can be stored exactly but storing it for weeks at a time isn't a problem.

You can add certain things like calcium to the plain RO water you will be using to top up the tank regularly as water evaporates, but at this stage I wouldn't worry about it until you have a tank full of corals.

thanks, i have quite a few corals now. any ideas about the green hair

 

[ReeferRob]

Nitrates and phosphates cause the green hair algae.

 

[Susan Bates]

Nitrates and phosphates cause the green hair algae.

thanks Rob, i do have nitrates but 0 phosphates

 

[Agent M]

Green hair algae is a separate issue altogether - I would start a new thread about it and we'll start tackling it from there. There are a few different options and we'll need some info from you to tailor a solution just for you

 

[Buddy]

Because its a new tank, the hair algae is completely normal. I would just let it run its course.

 

[Morphology]

thank you again,you have been very helpful to me with my tang and everything. should i add anything else to the water when i mix it? and how long can i store it for after it has been mix. Tang is looking good, water is testing great, i nearly gave up, now it i can just get rid of this green hair that is growing like mad

We use the regular blue treasure salt and make up 1000 litres at a time with RO going by the bucket directions and just keep using it until it's finished. 1000 litres takes about 4 hours to mix with a 3000lph pump running inside the IBC. We store it out of direct sunlight in a sealed IBC so there is no evaporation. Nothing is added. We do check the salinity with a hydrometer before we change water just in case there has been salinity changes. Generally our tanks use a heap of alk due to the 'dirty' conditions the morphs like to live in (higher levels of nitrate and phosphate than SPS tanks) so we regularly top that up separate to the water changes. Tank additions are a bit of a thing you figure out over time like @daveH suggested.