PDA

View Full Version : SALT!!!! what's what, what-to-use for what...


Sk8r
03/31/2013, 02:16 PM
There's reef salt and there's regular marine salt, which is cheaper.
Why is regular marine salt cheaper? Because it doesn't need high levels of mg and cal, which it actually shouldn't have.........because it could build up and up without coral to eat it.

Who should use regular marine salt? FOWLRs and softie reefs.

Reef salt, which is pricier, has extra nutrients, namely calcium and mg, at a higher level, but in a tank with hungry coral, that's not going to hold it. You need to use reef salt to do your water changes (no sense knocking your levels down) and if your corals are eating, you should be using kalk in your ATO reservoir (under 70 gallons) or running a calcium reactor if larger and packed---sometimes both, if really heavily packed.

Who should use reef salt? Stony coral tanks, LPS and SPS.

Who should be testing alk/cal/mg? EVERYBODY...FOWLRS and softie tanks because a deficit in mg is going to trash your alk, and when alk goes south, corals aren't happy and fishy slime coats aren't happy, which opens the door to infections and parasites...maintain a healthy tank. Keep your alk up, and test the Great 3 weekly: test alk as a first recourse if you're having any Issues you can't figure.
With stony reefs dripping kalk, just test mg. As long as you keep the kalk going, the mg being at 1300 is going to keep that ratio locked as if with a padlock.