#instant ocean

[marinehobby]

Salt for Marine Aquarium

Salt for Marine Aquarium

Salt for a marine aquarium is one of the most discussed topics in the aquarium industry. Today we are going to check out some of the salt mixes available in India. Salt is an important part of maintaining your reef tank. Salt contains vital compounds which are required for growth and health of marine life forms. There are a number of different types of salt available in the market for reef tanks,…

View On WordPress

[jjsnanoreef]

Water Change with Instant Ocean

So I mixed 2.5 gallons of Instant Ocean last night and tested that parameters.  Those can be found in a previous post.  I'm trying to see how long it will take to bring the levels down to the acceptable range of ~1400 Mg and ~450 Ca.

I found this cool website online that will tell you how long it will take to bring your levels down in a tank. Here's the link... http://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/EffectOfWaterChanges.php

I will do water tests either tonight or tomorrow and post the resultant drop of Magnesium and Calcium.

Keeping my fingers crossed!

[jjsnanoreef]

Instant Ocean Parameters

I was having issues with my old salt mix "reef crystals" and tried to get some cheaper salt. I purchased a 50 gal. bag of Instant Ocean (IO) at Petco for $18.99 and before adding the new salt water to my tank i tested the parameters to see how it fared against the reef crystals.  

First off let me start by saying why I changed.  The batch of Reef Crystals (RC) I got was very high in magnesium and calcium both very important for corals to thrive but if too high it can have negative effects.  The RC tested at levels of 2175ppm of Magnesium @ 78 degrees F and a Salt Gravity (SG) of 1.026.  The Calcium tested at 560 ppm @ 78 degrees F and a SG of 1.026.  Normal parameters should be between 1250-1400ppm  of MG and 400-440ppm of Ca.

I tested the Instant Ocean salt that I purchased today and the Magnesium was level was at 1350ppm which is where I want to get my tank to (+1 Instant Ocean).  Next, I tested the Calcium and it came to 480ppm which is high but way better than 560ppm like the RC.

My plan is to do 10% water changes each week to slowly reduce the Mg and Ca levels in the tank.

This all started when I purchased some new coral frags and they closed up and they were obviously irritated by something.  The conclusion was the elevated levels of Magnesium and Calcium in the tank were causing the problem.