Salt tests

Hi all,

I am using Coralife's salt and was getting Calcium readings of 600,
Phosphates of 0 and KH of 5 using RO water mixed to a SG of 1.023. The
RO water is made from creek water and has a pH of 7.5 but mixes up to
8.4 with the coralife salt.

Well I've finally managed to get hold of two other brands of salt and
went through the chore of testing them today. Thought I'd share my
findings. I mixed each in about 6 litres of RO water. I'm in Oz, don't
know if that makes any difference to the makeup of the salt. Should I
have checked nitrates (I was getting sick of testing and got lazy)? I
used the same test kits for all the tests, they are all different brands
but the comparison between each test will still be correct, even if the
readings aren't 100% accurate.

Red Sea salt
SG 1.023
pH 8.4
Ca 480
Alk 10
* PHOSPHATES 0.5 *

Aquasonic's Ocean Nature
SG 1.023
pH 8.4
Ca 500
Alk 8-9
* PHOSPHATES 0.25 *

How is a person supposed to know what to use for goodness sake?

"miskairal" wrote in
message ...
How is a person supposed to know what to use for goodness sake?

Really, just pick one of the widely available ones and stick with it.
It's mostly personal preference. I've never seen concrete evidence
that any one salt mix is superior, nor inferior. Some will disagree
with that, but again, everyone has their prefs.

About all you can do is experiment and go with what suits your needs.
I do not mind salt high in calcium levels as my tanks suck calcium up
pretty quick.....usually cal and alk go hand in hand within a range.
A relatively new tank presents problems until its matured and
stabilizes out in relationship to elements it consumes



On Wed, 15 Feb 2006 18:44:55 +1000, miskairal
wrote:
Hi all,

I am using Coralife's salt and was getting Calcium readings of 600,
Phosphates of 0 and KH of 5 using RO water mixed to a SG of 1.023. The
RO water is made from creek water and has a pH of 7.5 but mixes up to
8.4 with the coralife salt.

Well I've finally managed to get hold of two other brands of salt and
went through the chore of testing them today. Thought I'd share my
findings. I mixed each in about 6 litres of RO water. I'm in Oz, don't
know if that makes any difference to the makeup of the salt. Should I
have checked nitrates (I was getting sick of testing and got lazy)? I
used the same test kits for all the tests, they are all different brands
but the comparison between each test will still be correct, even if the
readings aren't 100% accurate.

Red Sea salt
SG 1.023
pH 8.4
Ca 480
Alk 10
* PHOSPHATES 0.5 *

Aquasonic's Ocean Nature
SG 1.023
pH 8.4
Ca 500
Alk 8-9
* PHOSPHATES 0.25 *

How is a person supposed to know what to use for goodness sake?

--
\\\|///
( @ @ )
-----------oOOo(_)oOOo---------------


oooO
---------( )----Oooo----------------
\ ( ( )
\_) ) /
(_/
The original frugal ponder ! Koi-ahoi mates....

"miskairal" wrote in message ...
I am using Coralife's salt and was getting Calcium readings of 600,
Phosphates of 0 and KH of 5 using RO water mixed to a SG of 1.023.
[...]
Red Sea salt
* PHOSPHATES 0.5 *

Aquasonic's Ocean Nature
* PHOSPHATES 0.25 *

How is a person supposed to know what to use for goodness sake?

If I were you, I would stay away from salt mixes which contain any
phosphates... From three you have tested, I would pick Coralife.

That's about what I had decided Pszemol as my tank is still so new and
I'm having enough trouble keeping algae at bay. I'll use this other
stuff in my quarantine tank as it won't be able to do much harm in there.

Pszemol wrote:
"miskairal" wrote in message
...

I am using Coralife's salt and was getting Calcium readings of 600,
Phosphates of 0 and KH of 5 using RO water mixed to a SG of 1.023.

[...]

Red Sea salt
* PHOSPHATES 0.5 *

Aquasonic's Ocean Nature
* PHOSPHATES 0.25 *

How is a person supposed to know what to use for goodness sake?


If I were you, I would stay away from salt mixes which contain any
phosphates... From three you have tested, I would pick Coralife.

I know as well as you do, that algae has to have a source of nutrients
to thrive, and also that a new tank can have algae initially. I
assume you have checked your source of water for any "hitch hiker"
sources of nutrition in the line of phosphates and nitrates, right?

Are you leaving your tanks lights on over 10 hours in time? IMNSHO
lighting on over 10 in most cases promotes alage growth.....I take it
your beulbs are relatively new since your tank is relatively newly
setup. What type of bulbs are you running .....sometimes just a change
of bulbs can make a difference.....I am not good with the numbers etc
on bulbs, but one time I had problems myself and even though the bulbs
I had in use were recomended for marine tank, I went to a different
kelvin rateing mainly to chanage asesthetics not as a hopefull way to
cure my algae, and it made a difference.....

If yu have actinics separate from the other bulbs, place the actinic
bulb closest to the glass and its been proven to help keep algae under
control......as the nm rateng of actinics will not promote algae
growth, and sort of block any outside light to some degree from
infiltrating the tank.

Your tank is not situated in a window or when it gets any good
naturalk sunlight is it?

I know you posted what lights you had, but that post has long been
deleted and I have a poor memory for some reason or other since
retirieng. I over flowed not one, but two tanks today while doing
topoffs......started doing one topoff, got sidetracked and left it
overflow only to do the same exact thing to another tank about 2 hours
later......Then I could not remember if I had dosed my B-Ionic or
not, and instead of chekcing calcium levels, I went and dosed
em....then did a cal check........wow talk about high calcium & Alk
levels.....I won't have to dose for a week. They are at the point some
of them are precipitating.......I knew I should have rolled over and
went back to sleep this morning.


On Thu, 16 Feb 2006 05:40:29 +1000, miskairal
wrote:
That's about what I had decided Pszemol as my tank is still so new and
I'm having enough trouble keeping algae at bay. I'll use this other
stuff in my quarantine tank as it won't be able to do much harm in there.

Pszemol wrote:
"miskairal" wrote in message
...

I am using Coralife's salt and was getting Calcium readings of 600,
Phosphates of 0 and KH of 5 using RO water mixed to a SG of 1.023.

[...]

Red Sea salt
* PHOSPHATES 0.5 *

Aquasonic's Ocean Nature
* PHOSPHATES 0.25 *

How is a person supposed to know what to use for goodness sake?


If I were you, I would stay away from salt mixes which contain any
phosphates... From three you have tested, I would pick Coralife.

--
\\\|///
( @ @ )
-----------oOOo(_)oOOo---------------


oooO
---------( )----Oooo----------------
\ ( ( )
\_) ) /
(_/
The original frugal ponder ! Koi-ahoi mates....

"~Roy~" wrote in message ...
I know as well as you do, that algae has to have a source of nutrients
to thrive, and also that a new tank can have algae initially. I
assume you have checked your source of water for any "hitch hiker"
sources of nutrition in the line of phosphates and nitrates, right?

Miskairal has no reason for searching phosphate sources in his
water if he used the same water for two salt mixes and one is not
detecting phosphates but other does. Conclusion is quite simple:
salt mix contains phosphates...

Unless the water used in both tests is different, of course.

If yu have actinics separate from the other bulbs, place the actinic
bulb closest to the glass and its been proven to help keep algae under
control......as the nm rateng of actinics will not promote algae
growth, and sort of block any outside light to some degree from
infiltrating the tank.

????
Could you please expand little more on the above ?

First: algae uses red and blue rays of light for photosyntesis.
Actinics look like a perfect source of high energy for algae.

Second: how do you imagine shining on the glass with a light
source could block the other light sources from entering the tank ?

My understanding of physics in not good enough to relate to your story ;-)

Ok, I attended a Reef club meeting one day in ATlanta. Their topic was
algae growth and how to eliminate or reduce it. They stated actinics
wave lengths do not support the growth of algae (green type) and by
placing the actinic bulb closest tot he front will reduce its growth,
and in regards to light shining in the tank from outside, the
wavelengths produced by actinics is enough to counter or dilute its
direct affect...that is unless its direct sunlight. I sure am not a
physics guru by any means, but to me and the others it all sounded
logical. Even the local LFS here all place their actinics closest to
the front glass,.....It has something to do with the wavelength and
color produced by actinics in regards to supporting green growth.,
Actinics do not do very well if used in a light over a fuge.....nor in
freshwater planted tanks, even the 50/50 do not do all that great as
compared to a 6500 or 10k light when it comes to green stuff.

Wavelength / is critical from what I understand to proper or improper
growth, and as bulbs age they can create problems, and a old bulb even
though it may appear bright and good to the naked eye can readily
promote algae.

On Wed, 15 Feb 2006 16:32:12 -0600, "Pszemol"
wrote:
"~Roy~" wrote in message ...
I know as well as you do, that algae has to have a source of nutrients
to thrive, and also that a new tank can have algae initially. I
assume you have checked your source of water for any "hitch hiker"
sources of nutrition in the line of phosphates and nitrates, right?

Miskairal has no reason for searching phosphate sources in his
water if he used the same water for two salt mixes and one is not
detecting phosphates but other does. Conclusion is quite simple:
salt mix contains phosphates...

Unless the water used in both tests is different, of course.

If yu have actinics separate from the other bulbs, place the actinic
bulb closest to the glass and its been proven to help keep algae under
control......as the nm rateng of actinics will not promote algae
growth, and sort of block any outside light to some degree from
infiltrating the tank.

????
Could you please expand little more on the above ?

First: algae uses red and blue rays of light for photosyntesis.
Actinics look like a perfect source of high energy for algae.

Second: how do you imagine shining on the glass with a light
source could block the other light sources from entering the tank ?

My understanding of physics in not good enough to relate to your story ;-)

--
\\\|///
( @ @ )
-----------oOOo(_)oOOo---------------


oooO
---------( )----Oooo----------------
\ ( ( )
\_) ) /
(_/
The original frugal ponder ! Koi-ahoi mates....

Pszemol wrote:

Unless the water used in both tests is different, of course.

He said he's using RO generated from creek water. The creek water at least will
be different from day to day and maybe from hour to hour. If somebody fertilized
upstream on that day, the RO filter will have to work real hard to get all the
phosphates out.

Anytime you make a claim about phosphates or nitrates, you HAVE to test the
source water before mixing in the salt. If you don't, your tests are inconclusive.

George Patterson
Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to
your slightly older self.

"George Patterson" wrote in message news:6JPIf.37126$Eq.22423@trnddc02...
He said he's using RO generated from creek water. The creek water at least will
be different from day to day and maybe from hour to hour. If somebody fertilized
upstream on that day, the RO filter will have to work real hard to get all the
phosphates out.

That is true.

Anytime you make a claim about phosphates or nitrates, you HAVE to test the
source water before mixing in the salt. If you don't, your tests are inconclusive.

Or, just use the same bucket of water and split it between two salt mixes.