New to reef keeping. Salt question

[billwarren]

I am new to reefkeeping and I would like someone feedback from users of Oceanic salt.
Everyone seems to have their favorite sale for whatever reasons and I am curious as to the results users of oceanic are getting.
Thanks
Bill

[ronkent]

I started out using Oceanic on a fellow reefkeepers advice and actually had no probs with it. I actually switched over to instant ocean because my calcium level was well over 600 and having a new tank really have nothing in it that is really calcium dependent. But for the short time i used it i had no problems ands my buddy has been using it for quite awhile now and has 3 beautiful tanks.

[billwarren]

Thanks for the feedback
Bill

[krucial]

I used Oceanic for a while but Its low on Iodine and it also cause alot of brown film on my tank. I switched off to Tropic Marin and everything seems to be running alot smoother....

[comatose]

at first i was only using Oceanic but the calcium readings were to high and ALK reading to low, so i decided to do some testing a few months ago.
i found that Oceanic readings were:
Salinity 1.026 (refracto)
Cal = 520 (salifert)
Alk = 7.6 (salifert)
PH = 7.8 (pinpoint meter)

then i tested Crystal Sea:
Cal = 380
Alk 11.2
Ph = 8.5

so i decided to try 50-50 mix, i Mixed exactly equal amounts of both Oceanic and Crystal Sea. and here are the readings i got:
Cal = 440
Alk = 9.6
PH 8.3

the readings were perfect, so i been using the 50-50 mix ever since and my tank has looked great.
not only that but Oceanic cost $39 for 200 gal mix and Crystal sea $18.99 150 gal bucket, so i actually save money and get better readings.

[billwarren]

Are those the numbers a person would aim for in a reef tank??

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

FWIW, I don't care for Oceanic salt for a variety of reasons discussed in this thread (basically boiling down to them deciding what to put in , and what not, without telling me that they do not even intend to try to match NSW with respect to many of the ions in NSW):

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=400888

[billwarren]

what is NSW??

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Sorry, Natural SeaWater or Natural Salt Water. :)

[billwarren]

The only natural sea water available here is from Catalina.
And condiering the pollution in the water at the beaches in Socal I would be hesitant to use it.
I have heard good and bad things about using catalina water

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'm not suggesting that folks use real seawater (although that can be fine).

What I am commenting on is that Oceanic does not even try to match the natural environment that corals are used to, but rather has decided that some things should be elevated and some things should be left out of the recipe for artificial seawater. Without knowing all of these decisions they made (only a few that folks have tested for or asked them directly), I would not use their recipe.

[Hobster]

Bill,

There has been many polls and threads on salts. It seems that the most popular is Instant Ocean (IO) Probably because it's been around for so long and has a pretty good track record although it too has had some problems. Reef Crystals is by the same company and a little higher in Ca. I also think Kent is made in the same facility but could be mistaken on that. There is a old salt mix article that compares them (might be up in Randys Chemistry articles?)HTH

[Hobster]

way down toward the end:)

http://web.archive.org/web/20030608135355/http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1999/mar/features/1/default.asp