Reef Central Online Community

Go Back   Reef Central Online Community > General Interest Forums > The Reef Chemistry Forum
Blogs FAQ Calendar Mark Forums Read

Notices

User Tag List

Reply
Thread Tools
Unread 03/30/2012, 11:02 AM   #26
TimeConsumer
Registered Member
 
TimeConsumer's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: New Orleans, La
Posts: 1,919
Interesting observations. In the past two months I've switched from using just red sea original to a 50/50 mix with original red sea and red sea coral pro and have been happy with the results so far. My water mixes to about 440 cal, 10.5 alk, and 1500 mag. I'll keep a much closer eye on the water now that you mention the problems with consistency.


__________________
Steve - Retired from reefing, for now.
TimeConsumer is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 03/30/2012, 11:06 AM   #27
bnumair
Dr. Reef at ur service
 
bnumair's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Tulsa, Ok, USA
Posts: 7,751
Blog Entries: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by TimeConsumer View Post
Interesting observations. In the past two months I've switched from using just red sea original to a 50/50 mix with original red sea and red sea coral pro and have been happy with the results so far. My water mixes to about 440 cal, 10.5 alk, and 1500 mag. I'll keep a much closer eye on the water now that you mention the problems with consistency.
i have never had any problems with their cal. its always on target at 420-460 range. but alk swings from 6-12 range and recently been at low 6-7 range. mag is always over 1500. i think u are mixing the two thats why u getting good results.
here is the comparison i found on RC in another forum.

Red Sea Coral Pro 490 7 1300
Marine Environment 480 7.5 1450
Aquatic Gardens 430 8 1240
Red Sea 400 8 1300
Oceanic 580 8.5 1650
Tropic Marin Pro Reef 450 8.5 1380
CoraLife 560 9 1380
Crystal Sea Marinemix 340 9 1050
Crystal Sea Marinemix Bio-Assay 340 9 1050
Tunze Reef Salt 420 9.5 1350
D-D H2Ocean 450 10 1380
OceanPure 510 10 1320
SeaChem Marine Salt 500 10 1400
SeaChem Reef Salt 540 10 1450
Tropic Marin 375 10 1230
Brightwell Neomarine 370 11 1140
Instant Ocean (new) 400 11 1350
Kent 540 11 1200
Reefer's Best 420 11 1200
Reef Crystals (new) 490 13 1440


__________________
Water Quality: NO3 0,Phos 0,Cal 440,Alk 7.5,Mag 1300

"Reef Fast, You Crash, Reef Slow, You Pass" Mike's Reef 3:16

Current Tank Info: 350g DT,95g sump, 50g Frag tank, 4800gph return 4x Sea swirls. 6x AI Vega Color. 200# Pukani rock, dual recirculating skimmer, Biopellet, GFO Carbon rx's, Cal rx. Closed loop. 1.5hp chiller, genesis renew. Apex & RKE
bnumair is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 03/30/2012, 11:47 AM   #28
Mental1
Registered Member
 
Mental1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 1,593
I am just going to get s small box of whatever I can find to do a water change this weekend. Anything has got to be an improvement. It could be another perfect storm too. Last month redid all rodi filters. Last weekend changed out the calcium reactor. Maybe it is a little bit of everything. Really sad at the coral losses. Then I think I will try the ESV B-Ionic. Stupidly, it never occurred to me to roll the buckets around -- a little bit tougher with the bags and probably would have to recruit my husband.


__________________
Sherri

Current Tank Info: 400g - 65g DT and 180g peninsula DT both drop into basement. 5 tanks plus a QT in the basement.
Mental1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 03/31/2012, 01:42 AM   #29
MammothReefer
Registered Member
 
MammothReefer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Mammoth Lakes, CA
Posts: 3,442
Those numbers aren't accurate anymore. Red Sea changed there values, and instant ocean doesn't get 1350 mag.. it's more like 1250.

This is what RS "should" mix to now



As far as a previous post about RC having a bad rep. Years ago they had some bad batches of RC, and they changed the formula around a fair bit. IO seems to be more in line with what most people want (well even 11dkh is high in my books 9-10 is what I'm looking for).

The best salt I've found is hW, but for the amount of water changes I do I found it was getting a bit pricey, however it's not to bad compared to D+D, or Tunze cost wise.

IO seems to just work for me and you can find it for less then 40$ for 200 gallons. The only downside is having to buffer you mag (cause it's not giving me 1350!), and I can't do to large of a water change or my alk jumps. The other day I tried to change 30 gallons on my system and saw a .8dkh a jump which is to much for my liking so I need to just stick to smaller water changes until I add the new frag tank on and double my water volume.


__________________
Reefin @ 8298'

Current Tank Info: 105 Peninsula
MammothReefer is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 03/31/2012, 05:06 AM   #30
Mental1
Registered Member
 
Mental1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 1,593
I will probably get IO just to do some short term water changes. But I had bad luck with it before. I will try ESV as the last designer salt. If it doesn't work and give me stability, then I will go to IO or something cheaper and buffer it.


__________________
Sherri

Current Tank Info: 400g - 65g DT and 180g peninsula DT both drop into basement. 5 tanks plus a QT in the basement.
Mental1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 03/31/2012, 11:00 AM   #31
MammothReefer
Registered Member
 
MammothReefer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Mammoth Lakes, CA
Posts: 3,442
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mental1 View Post
I will probably get IO just to do some short term water changes. But I had bad luck with it before. I will try ESV as the last designer salt. If it doesn't work and give me stability, then I will go to IO or something cheaper and buffer it.
D+D works nice to, I only used a single bucket of it however no complaints. Tunze salt is the same salt as hW just costs a little more (from what I understand).


__________________
Reefin @ 8298'

Current Tank Info: 105 Peninsula
MammothReefer is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 03/31/2012, 11:35 AM   #32
kissman
Registered Member
 
kissman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Lynchburg, Va
Posts: 2,963
I have been using red sea coral pro for years and have had no problems with mag! I love the salt! Tried Reef Crystals, coralife, sea cheam, and once i tried red sea coral pro never switched again!


kissman is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 03/31/2012, 01:03 PM   #33
JAustin
Acropora Nut
 
JAustin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Oklahoma City
Posts: 1,628
I use red sea salt, not the pro. My salt mixes up to 400 cal 1270 mg and 7.5 dkh. I do roll the buckett around for 10 min or so. It's a good work out!

Sorry to here your bad experiences. I hope you can get things back to norm.


__________________
211g Planet Aquariums Hybrid PVC bottom 48"x34"x30" and steel stand from CustomReefCreations - Reeflo Super Dart - OM 4way - SRO XP3000 External - ATI Dimmable 8x54w - Apex.
JAustin is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 03/31/2012, 01:56 PM   #34
Mental1
Registered Member
 
Mental1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 1,593
I think I just have to start testing all of my water before changing it. Everything looks better today and I have done nothing. Go figure. Hmmm.


__________________
Sherri

Current Tank Info: 400g - 65g DT and 180g peninsula DT both drop into basement. 5 tanks plus a QT in the basement.
Mental1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/01/2012, 04:05 AM   #35
Mental1
Registered Member
 
Mental1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 1,593
I was curious about my parameters as everything was looking better and here's what I got. Salinity is 1.025, Calcium is 550 (Elos), Alk is 11 (Elos)and mag is 1600. So I think everything was just too high as all of these probably came down a bit. I have decided to do 50-50 with the RSCP and IO. I have also dialed the reactor back.


__________________
Sherri

Current Tank Info: 400g - 65g DT and 180g peninsula DT both drop into basement. 5 tanks plus a QT in the basement.
Mental1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/01/2012, 05:04 AM   #36
tahiriqbal
Sialkot
 
tahiriqbal's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Manchester England UK
Posts: 684
Just ran a small test on RSCP (which I got 2 full buckets left) and mag came to around 1600 & Ca 520, bit too high for my liking (:. I am in the process of setting up 60g cube and may dump the RSCP and try something else!! IMO, I would spread the water change with25% ratio over next few days.

Tahir


__________________
Tahir Iqbal
Manchester UK

Current Tank Info: 56cm x 56cm x 56cm
tahiriqbal is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/01/2012, 09:50 AM   #37
Mental1
Registered Member
 
Mental1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 1,593
Hi Tahir -- I have got 400g total water volume and am changing about 30g -- so won't have a huge impact.


__________________
Sherri

Current Tank Info: 400g - 65g DT and 180g peninsula DT both drop into basement. 5 tanks plus a QT in the basement.
Mental1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/01/2012, 10:27 AM   #38
Sport507
~Just a Farm Boy~
 
Sport507's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Central Indiana
Posts: 1,651
Metal1,

So sorry to hear about your issues and hope you can get things back on track. This is the second thread today I have read with Red Sea salt issues. I use IO RC and do not intend to change. It works for me so I'm not going to fix it.


__________________
Sport

If you do not test for it, DON'T dose it.

Indiana INDMAS Member
Sport507 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/01/2012, 12:24 PM   #39
Mental1
Registered Member
 
Mental1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 1,593
Thanks sport. I guess I get to design a new tank.

Just don't get lazy and assume you are okay. Make sure to measure your make up water. Every salt settles and can destroy your tank if you are not attentive.


__________________
Sherri

Current Tank Info: 400g - 65g DT and 180g peninsula DT both drop into basement. 5 tanks plus a QT in the basement.
Mental1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/01/2012, 12:46 PM   #40
Haksar
Registered Member
 
Haksar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Dubai
Posts: 1,041
I had issues with RSCP alk burn and RTNs.Lost a few acros as well.
Although I was mixing at 1.023 to counter the ALK on a 136 gallon tank while doing WC of 10-15% my issue was manily Mag and Cal with low readings.Now I mix 75-25% RSCP and seachem,things are slowly falling back in place.I use a cal reactor but dont add any trace elements.


__________________
Haksar
Haksar is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/01/2012, 02:25 PM   #41
Mental1
Registered Member
 
Mental1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 1,593
Okay -- just tested my mixing barrel. The IO has been mixing since last night with a pump and air, no heater. I have a brute barrel and am guessing about 30g. I added RSCP today and brought salinity up to 1.025. Just tested calcium and it was 500 and and alk was 11.5. So many corals in my tank have just been burned. I can't imagine what it was at full strength RSCP. I am a very unhappy person. I don't have a new mag kit so don't know where that is. Really frustrated. I thought cutting it 50-50 with IO would have had a different result. I just underestimated how far off it was...


__________________
Sherri

Current Tank Info: 400g - 65g DT and 180g peninsula DT both drop into basement. 5 tanks plus a QT in the basement.
Mental1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/02/2012, 03:33 AM   #42
Tokyoyankee
Registered Member
 
Tokyoyankee's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Posts: 241
Having problems with the red sea pro salt as well. Alk is at 250pp, calcium 430ppm and 1.024 SG. Really high alk. Goin test again tonight.


Tokyoyankee is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/02/2012, 04:33 AM   #43
Mental1
Registered Member
 
Mental1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 1,593
Well, I have a separate tank that I breed feeder fish in so I did a big water change on that tank using the newly mixed water, added more ro water into the barrel, and got salinity back up using IO. I just tested alk and it was down to 10 so hopefully the ca was down as well. I think I will make up another batch and do an extra water change. This time it will be 75% IO and 25% RSCP.


__________________
Sherri

Current Tank Info: 400g - 65g DT and 180g peninsula DT both drop into basement. 5 tanks plus a QT in the basement.
Mental1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/02/2012, 03:03 PM   #44
MammothReefer
Registered Member
 
MammothReefer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Mammoth Lakes, CA
Posts: 3,442
Remember ELOS alk kits read low when compared to Salifert & Hanna (about 2dkh)

This is fine though if you only use ELOS.


__________________
Reefin @ 8298'

Current Tank Info: 105 Peninsula
MammothReefer is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/02/2012, 03:11 PM   #45
Mental1
Registered Member
 
Mental1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 1,593
Quote:
Originally Posted by MammothReefer View Post
Remember ELOS alk kits read low when compared to Salifert & Hanna (about 2dkh)

This is fine though if you only use ELOS.
I thought they were accurate? I did not know that about Elos tests kits. I got really mad at them a few years back when they did not change the written out instructions but changed the formula -- I thought everything was fine at a 9.5 10 -- it was half that. Quality control seems to be missing in a lot of saltwater aquarium products. So what is the accurate reading then? You know, it's amazing we keep anything alive.


__________________
Sherri

Current Tank Info: 400g - 65g DT and 180g peninsula DT both drop into basement. 5 tanks plus a QT in the basement.
Mental1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/02/2012, 08:33 PM   #46
bertoni
RC Mod
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Mountain View, CA, USA
Posts: 88,616
The numbers for the Red Sea products don't list the SG... Here's a link to a page that shows the results along with the SG:

http://www.redseafish.com/uploadimag...2010%20Eng.pdf

If you're targeting 1.0264 SG, the numbers are different.


__________________
Jonathan Bertoni
bertoni is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/03/2012, 01:03 AM   #47
Mental1
Registered Member
 
Mental1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 1,593
Quote:
Originally Posted by bertoni View Post
The numbers for the Red Sea products don't list the SG... Here's a link to a page that shows the results along with the SG:

http://www.redseafish.com/uploadimag...2010%20Eng.pdf

If you're targeting 1.0264 SG, the numbers are different.
I am not sure I understand -- I am under the impression that 1.0264 is the same as 35 ppt. Can you say more?


__________________
Sherri

Current Tank Info: 400g - 65g DT and 180g peninsula DT both drop into basement. 5 tanks plus a QT in the basement.
Mental1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/03/2012, 08:43 PM   #48
bertoni
RC Mod
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Mountain View, CA, USA
Posts: 88,616
Yes, 35 ppt 1.0264 are the same at a reference temperature of 25 C, but I need remedial communications classes. The numbers given in this thread are different from the numbers in the link that I posted. Sigh!


__________________
Jonathan Bertoni
bertoni is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 05/07/2012, 05:33 AM   #49
Mental1
Registered Member
 
Mental1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 1,593
I thought it is only fair to Red Sea to come back to this thread and explain what I believe happened in my tanks. I did a fresh water dip on a Copperband butterfly a week ago and tested the pH of my RO water as part of that process. It was 8.3 -- I was shocked. I believe what happened is that something affected my well water causing it to become very alkaline, then with the heightened parameters of the Red Sea salt, I believe that my pH in my tank could have been as high as 8.8. I do have a pH monitor on the tank, I did see it high, I had just calibrated it, but I thought it had gone screwy for some reason and stupidly, did not investigate it. So I believe the cause of the SPS and euphyllia deaths in my tanks is due to the extremely high pH. So everyone is recovering, I tested my ro well water and it is back down to normal at 7.5. Still do not know what caused this but I will keep an eye on it from now on. Oh -- I am going to switch salts anyway -- going to ESV...


__________________
Sherri

Current Tank Info: 400g - 65g DT and 180g peninsula DT both drop into basement. 5 tanks plus a QT in the basement.
Mental1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 05/07/2012, 05:47 AM   #50
kissman
Registered Member
 
kissman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Lynchburg, Va
Posts: 2,963
8.3 is not high. I am using red sea i havent seen any problems with my ph


kissman is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:04 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Powered by Searchlight © 2024 Axivo Inc.
Use of this web site is subject to the terms and conditions described in the user agreement.
Reef CentralTM Reef Central, LLC. Copyright ©1999-2022
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging v3.3.0 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.