Don't mix salt brands

[DrDave]

Interesting thing happen when I was mixing salt and RO water prior to a water change. I had dump the remaining 3 cups worth of Oceanic salt into the mix and rest was made up with Instant ocean. I found that the Instant ocean crystal will no longer go into solution around 1.018 salinity. Some crystal was floating in the surface and most on the bottom. I waited overnight to see anything would change but same thing in the morning. The temperature is correct and I have a pump in there moving the water around. So there must be some chemical in there water that reached its saturation level not allowing any more to go into solution. So guys don't mix sea salt.

 

[Tim]

I have been mixing IO and Oceanic for two years now.Never had a problem and I use this for all my client`s tank`s as well as my own. I use a 60/40 mix IO/oceanic....

 

[danelam]

Tim, why do you mix the salts? Is there something to be gained from both brands?

 

[PhoenixOne]

I would like to know why as well.:scratchch

 

[rgun2515]

I have also had problems mixing salt brands in the past. Instant ocean and coral life. Mixed just because hat was what was on sale that month. no other reason. didn't think it would matter... I was wrong. The tank never recovered after that. lost fish, and started to have algae problems.

 

[Kedd]

If mixing different salts was a big problem I think we would see a lot of tank crashes from this.
Wouldn't this apply to a reefer that decides to switch salts and does a partial water change with the new salt?
I know people that change salts all the time and the water mixes with out a problem.
Just a thought.

Kedd

 

[h20 freak]

Tim, why do you mix the salts? Is there something to be gained from both brands?

Different trace elements in different brands?

 

[Tim]

I mix the two because the last time I tested IO it was low on calcium and had lower alk with the 60/40 mix it was corrected. I havent tested the IO lately but you know how the saying go`s "if it ain`t broken don`t try and fix it". I will try and do some test on the mix and give you guy`s some info on it....

 

[rgun2515]

I have also had problems mixing salt brands in the past. Instant ocean and coral life. Mixed just because hat was what was on sale that month. no other reason. didn't think it would matter... I was wrong. The tank never recovered after that. lost fish, and started to have algae problems.

I don't know what else could have been the problem. Nothing changed but the brand of salt. The tank started to change in just a few days after a 15g water change with the new salt. Maybe it was just a bad batch. Just to be safe, I'm not mixing. To me, it's not worth savng 5$ on a 5g pail of salt. If there are other reasons to mix, i'm all ears...

 

[Kedd]

Rgun, I'm not saying new salt couldn't have had an effect, I was talking more about what DrDave said about crystals floating in the mix.


Kedd

 

[gnatp2]

This all sounds a bit strange since so many people DO mix salts and have great tanks.

There's a lot of bad advise out there that new reefers read and accept. I wouldn't believe it was good or bad to mix salts unless one of our resident chemistry pro's says so.

 

[e.muehlbauer]

I wouldn't be surprised if one of the mixes was simply old and had gone bad. I usually use IO, but once I wanted to try Reef Crystals....so I bought a 25 gal bag from Petland....big mistake...never buy salts from a store that doesn't deal in SW stuff. Immediately after a water change things screwed up....alkalinity was all off, other things screwed up...forget which as it was many years ago. I called the manufacturer, and a rep told me that the salt was old...sent me a 50 gal bag to replace it. Good quality, but I stuck with IO afterwards.......

 

[rgun2515]

This all sounds a bit strange since so many people DO mix salts and have great tanks.

There's a lot of bad advise out there that new reefers read and accept. I wouldn't believe it was good or bad to mix salts unless one of our resident chemistry pro's says so.

I agree 100%.

chemistry pro's, please chime in...

 

[noodleman]

in general, yes you can mix salts they are no where near the saturation point....must be an isolated event that the salt didn't dissolve

 

[KathyC]

I have to agree with Noodle on this..none of the salts you asked about mixing have so much of one ingredient that mixing it with another brand should cause what you described. Especially the IO...I'd recently switched to IO and can't wait till I'm almost out so I can change brands to something with a better balance of ingredients again.
IIRC it is suggested that when you want to change brands of salt that you begin the changeover slowly by mixing increasingly larger quantities of your new salt with your old for a few water changes until you're totally using the new salt. Though that doesn't necessarily make a lot of sense since we frequently adjust the same components in our tanks by dosing...

Are you purchasing your salt in the 160 or 200g buckets or in plastic bags? Could have been old salt as Eric suggested, or perhaps your current salt wasn't properly sealed and had absorbed some moisture?
I understand that when salt has absorbed moisture (it gets clumpy or hard), it has already begun to precipitate. Once it does that you can't expect it to break down & melt in the usual way.

 

[rookie07]

I once had salt that woudlnt mix....after 24 hours with a heater, and a PH...the salt just wouldnt mix....I think It was bad salt...I bought new salt and all was good.......perhaps my salt had gotten moisture in it? I dont know...just another odd story

 

[Alex]

salt brands are like anything else they can get old,clumps etc... however i don't think that should be a problem. As a routine when i get a bag/bucket of salt I mix it every which way i can so that i can "remix" the salt. It is possible that certain ingredients can settle to the bottom causing inconsistencies so if you stir it up a bit you can bring it back to its original mixture. like in a box of cereal when all the broken ones settle at the bottom of the bag.