And Steve, what Chris is talking about is so true. Get better salt man.

Well the biggest reason I hate IO, is the fact that I couldn't get rid of the cyano blooms. It was rediculous. No matter what I did it came back, including blackouts.

I changed to Seachem Reef Salt, and it went. Unfortunately, Seachem is hard for me to get, so the supplier sent me Red Sea, and I don't like it either, same prob with the supps, and now STN in one of my frags :mad2:

can you get OceanPure Pro Down Under?

To tell you the truth, I've never looked for it.

I know we can get Tropic marine, as of about October (I think), we get alot of cheap rubbish though. I only tried Seachem as it was on special, and I liked it.

Can get Red Sea coral Pro, Aquamedic, and a few others. I'll have a scout around though for OceanPure, to see if I can get some to try. Going to order Tropic marine now, until my Seachem order comes in.

I tried the Seachem and didn't like how it tested out.

Reef or marine. I know the parameters are a little low, easily fixed, but I have not had a problem with it.

What do you think of Tropic Marine Pro, it's cost effective compared to the other salts. Trouble with the labels they all claim to be great, but.......

Randy from reef chemistry uses IO. I have used ocean pure I didn't see a difference.I also used kent.I can get seachem.

ATI has a salt out but you have to add the calcium.

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11463235#post11463235 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chris wright [/i]
[B]Reef or marine. I know the parameters are a little low, easily fixed, but I have not had a problem with it.

What do you think of Tropic Marine Pro, it's cost effective compared to the other salts. Trouble with the labels they all claim to be great, but....... [/B][/QUOTE]

See what I do is when I am about ready to buy salt, I get a bucket of each and test them. The last time I tested TMP, I didn't like the results. I got a nasty-gram from there distributor telling me that the Pro has lower numbers because Pro users supplement. I understand where he's coming from, but I evaluate salt by cost and whether it fits my needs. I like my salt to have batch numbers like TMP and OceanPure Pro, as well as dKh of 8 - 10, and Ca of 385 - 450.

Once I have found a batch I like, I buy a large amount. I usually buy 2,400 to 4,800g worth at a time. I also really don't believe in sticking with a favorite salt. I think this is a huge mistake. I believe each salt will be high or low in various elements we cannot or do not test for, and that sticking with one will deprive the system of elements over the long term. Just a thought for you!

PS...many advanced reef keepers blend salts.

from the literature it does not appear to make much difference which brand of salt you choose

Now that I don't buy into. salts have radically different formulas, at least based on the results we get from our testing. Some also change quite a bit batch-to-batch.

would like to get your opinion on this article, which claims that our corals may not need anywhere near the light intensity we think they do:

[url=http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/3/aafeature1/view?searchterm=photoinhibition]http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/3/aafeature1/view?searchterm=photoinhibition[/URL]

I think there are some good points within the article. I know in my situation, I have a very difficult time with certain species of coral because of my intense lighting. Most LPS cannot adapt to it, even in the shade, ricordia is totally out of the question. I also note the corals close to my lamps will spread rather than grow upwards at a certain point.

The three common statements regarding light given in the beginning of the article are not considered current conventional wisdom though. But since the article was written in 2004, I give the author a pass on that.

The thing that bears out the info. in the article is the fact that when we change out halide lamps, if we do not raise them or filter the light, corals will bleach from the sudden change in light intensity. That is why I recommend that reef keepers burn in their lamps prior to putting them over their reefs.

There are some quite spectacular reefs that are lit with all sorts of lighting. So from this I conclude there is no "right" way to light a tank. I use powerful halides primarily because of the depth of my tank and to save energy costs by moving the lamps over the tank. I get great results with an added benefit that my anemones do not climb up the rocks to get more light.

I believe the article was published in March 2007, his previous article "Too Much Light" was published in July 2004.

You are right, there are so many ways to achieve success in this hobby, which means there is no single right way to do things. The problem is there are far more ways to fail! :)

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11464031#post11464031 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jnarowe [/i]
[B]See what I do is when I am about ready to buy salt, I get a bucket of each and test them. The last time I tested TMP, I didn't like the results. I got a nasty-gram from there distributor telling me that the Pro has lower numbers because Pro users supplement. I understand where he's coming from, but I evaluate salt by cost and whether it fits my needs. I like my salt to have batch numbers like TMP and OceanPure Pro, as well as dKh of 8 - 10, and Ca of 385 - 450.

Once I have found a batch I like, I buy a large amount. I usually buy 2,400 to 4,800g worth at a time. I also really don't believe in sticking with a favorite salt. I think this is a huge mistake. I believe each salt will be high or low in various elements we cannot or do not test for, and that sticking with one will deprive the system of elements over the long term. Just a thought for you! [/B][/QUOTE]

An interesting idea to say the least. I read your other point about blending salts. I'm going to see what's available to me and go from there. Now when you say blend salts, I assume you would be talking mixing 2 or 3 brands at the most yes? Anymore would be a bit extreme?

I'd love to order big quantities, but I have nor the room or money at the moment. If I could have I would have bought HEAPS of Seachem. I add trace elements and vitamins, but I base this on the exceptional heealth that my aquarium shows, a little down turn now with Red Sea, not pro. I hope that this is temporary, as I have put a lot of work into getting to this stage.

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11465163#post11465163 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Elliott [/i]
[B]I believe the article was published in March 2007, his previous article "Too Much Light" was published in July 2004.

You are right, there are so many ways to achieve success in this hobby, which means there is no single right way to do things. The problem is there are far more ways to fail! :) [/B][/QUOTE]

I've seen a few examples where the light is less than what you'd expect and the corals are fine. The first was acro's kept under flouro's, and they looked good. This was at a MASS (Marine Aquarium Society Sydney) meeting, and the host was discussing the success of keeping these corals in lesser light. The only down side was the growth is slow. Mind you, he is looking to upgrade to t5's.

I've seen at Fish stores in Sydney, where sps and clams are kept under pc lighting only. It's a display tank and all the corals looked healthy.. Not all shops do this, most use metal halide, but from all the shops I've seen todate, they all keep their corals that are for sale under flouor's :eek1: Makes it hard to know what colour an acro will be.

yeah, I know some guys mixing a couple brands to get the levels they need. What trace elements and vitamins are you adding to your salt?

BTW, I have seen some fabulous SPS corals growing in overcrowded tanks that are getting little light and flow, and yet they flourish. Locally here Dang has a tank with rediculous corals and sometimes one will fall down in a corner and he just leaves it. He has a scroll growing in virtually no light in a corner with very litle flow and the coral is a magnificent specimen.

well I have seen corals grow in odd spots of my old tank where there wasn't as much light.Some like lees some like more(sps)I had moved some around only to find they liked less light even though they were corals that required high lighting.I am finding that my brain coral isn't opened as much the last day even though I placed him near the middle and away from the MH bulbs.I don't know if I should move the coral more.I will have to see.My friend has a 125 with florescent bulbs and VHO.His bulbs are old.He never uses RO water,He never does water changes,has a crappy skimmer,never adds supplements yet his corals are looking pretty good.He has mostly mushrooms and lps.The stuff that he has is pretty easy to keep.I don't think he even uses carbon.He feeds once a day.

well I found out today that my father in law has been using my bucket(My water change and top off bucket) to wash his clothes in and rinse them.It seems he has been doing this for I don't know how long.Lovely.I won't be using that bucket but I am ****ed because the last thing I needed to know is that soap residue may have been getting into my top off and water changes.I told him to keep the bucket but I was ****ed.I had told my wife to tell him not to touch my things but apparently he didn't think it was anything.

crap...there's your problem dude. It may not have been the silicone at all. I would ice pick him in his sleep.

Man that sucks.. You think people see all the effort you put into a tank they would leave your s$$!t alone whne they know how fragile and expensive everything is.

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11467010#post11467010 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jnarowe [/i]
[B]crap...there's your problem dude. It may not have been the silicone at all. I would ice pick him in his sleep. [/B][/QUOTE]

Open another thread Steve, you know where, and lets get stuck into him:lol: My wife knows not to touch "The Red Buckets"

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11467617#post11467617 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by erics3000 [/i]
[B]Man that sucks.. You think people see all the effort you put into a tank they would leave your s$$!t alone whne they know how fragile and expensive everything is. [/B][/QUOTE]

Unfortunately, I believe only fellow reefers would see this. It's one think to look at the bank balance, but how do you record the work we put into our tanks? Even with these journals there is no concept of time spent on them :(