Your cost per gallon each month would be 0.50 cents. and I have yet to have anything negative to say about reef crystals. Are Ghost Shrimp and Tetras Good Tank Mates? You can then use these numbers to figure out how much its going to cost you each month to purchase salt for your tank. In New Aquariums: 134 g per 1 US-gallon (3.785 L) of purified water yields a specific gravity of ~1.025 g/cm3, with a pH of ~8.30 and alkalinity of ~7.5 dKH. . When used correctly, Instant Ocean Sea Salt and Reef Crystals will set the pH of a tank between 8.0 to 8.3, and kH levels between 7-10 dKH. Saltwater is only as good as the equipment you use to maintain it. Mix as directed above. 99. Reef Crystals Reef Salt Box (Makes 200 Gallons) - Instant Ocean. (Everything You Need To Know), A Complete Care Guide for German Blue RamsFeeding, Housing, Breeding, and More, Freshwater Crabs - 15 Great Selections (With Pictures), Freshwater Angelfish - A Complete Care Guide, Tropical Fish Species - 30 Popular Types (With Pictures! If your goal is to maximize coral growth, then Coral Pro combined with ourreef care recipeswill enhance growth up to four times their natural rate. Feb 19, 2010. There are many other trace elements I can discuss, but for most aquarists, these are the big 3 we concern ourselves with and test for in our reef tanks. With brand names like Instant Ocean and Red Sea dominating online and Fritzs presence at local fish stores, AquaForest is unknown to most hobbyist. Red Sea Coral Pro 490 7 1300. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. Lets talk about the main parameters that make up a reef salt mix. Its a known fact in our hobby that most retailers lose money selling salt, especially online retailers as the shipping cost is very high in comparison to other dry goods. Hobbyists may prefer Reef Crystals if theyre keeping stony corals, such as Brain Corals or Chalices since they will benefit from the additional calcium. A: Instant Ocean is engineered to closely match natural seawater, and Reef Crystals is enriched to facilitate the growth of corals and other invertebrates in a reef aquarium. Red Sea Coral Pro Saltis about as close as you can get from natural sea water from how they formulate their mix. Yes I was referring to standard Instant Ocean Salt vs Instant Ocean Reef Crystals. A few corals and about 6 fish. This saves some time on your end and reduces any chance of irritating the water during the mixing process. I like that Reef Crystals contain a lot of the excess nutrients needed for coral growth which limits the need to dose anything or at least a lot. Instant Ocean Reef Crystals Reef Salt is the budget friendly reef salt for many of us with reef tanks. Keep in mind that you should test the levels of magnesium and calcium in your display tank and in the water that you have mixed with reef crystals. Instant Ocean Sea Salt is the most used sea salt in the world. Tropic Marin is a brand you may not see regularly at the local fish store or chain stores, but they have been a major name brand all across the world, particularly in Europe. Simply put a measured volume of water in the mixing bucket or vat, add the contents of one or more packs depending on the water volume, and you have a precise natural seawater blend. The Sea Salt simply packs a much smaller list of chemical properties that are suited to provide your fish only with what they need to thrive. This is because it is well documented that Fritz has had quality control issues in the past. But its not set in stone for every type of salt. I have also seen a few mixes that have failed ICP tests with several parameters being too low. As you can see, the main difference between these two products is that Reef Crystals contain additional calcium and magnesium and Instant Ocean Sea Salt does not. The salt of choice for World Wide Corals. FREE SHIPPING on qualifying aquarium supplies orders $49 and up. Salinity 35 ppt | Ca 400-450 ppm|Mg 1300-1400 ppm|Alkalinity10 11.5dkh. This salt contains high levels of potassium and trace amounts of calcium in addition to the important micronutrients that help keep the pH balance in check, all without any additives or other substances. Red Sea 400 8 1300. The pro mix has higher alkalinity while the regular Red Sea mix has lower alkalinity. Nicole has a Bachelors degree in Coastal Geography from the University of Victoria, and is originally from Vancouver Canada. Every time I walk into the fish store to buy my critters more salt, I've always wondered what the difference between IO Sea Salt and IO Reef Crystals. But sea water is not just "salty"; it contains a precise mix of trace elements, all of which should be present in an artificial replacement. They offer a basic sea salt variety and reef crystal variety formulated for reef aquariums. Those can easily be compensated for with very, very cheap chemical additions or you can spend a bit extra and get a salt that already has those levels elevated. Formulated specially for use in reef aquariums, Reef Crystals contains essential ocean reef elements in concentrations greater than those found in natural sea water. This high alkalinity mixture tests between 9.5-13 DKh depending on the water temperature. That way your parameters dont swing when you change your water. You may be wondering, if the Reef Crystals are in no way harmful to fish only environments, and they are better for more complex reef based environments, why does Instant Ocean even make the Sea Salt product? Optimum effectiveness. There are a few cons here though. I hardly ever buy salt locally because all the LFSs sell Fritz or Reef Crystals. He started in the aquarium hobby at the age of 11 and along the way worked at local fish stores. Always use the recommendations from the manufacturer to determine how much salt to use. Tropic Marin 375 10 1230. Instant Ocean: 400: 11: 1350: Reef Crystals . Ive added another phosphate reducer pad to the filter. What is the proper way to mix Instant Ocean salt? Optimum effectiveness. Keep reading. Today it is easier than ever to install a pond right in your own back yard, but building a koi pond is neither fast nor cheap, so you want to make sure you're starting out in the right way. The thing to get used to is measuring and dosing, as your tank grows out you will get a feel for what you need and use automated dosing, kalk, or a ca reactor. Nicole is also a manager for Reef Builders social media accounts and a weekly contributor to the Reef Builders site. Its just not worth taking the losses to ship them. 2389 Air Park Road, Rhinelander, Wisconsin 54501. +1 for reef crystals. Mark is the founder of Aquarium Store Depot. Check todays price of Instant Ocean reef crystals on Amazon here. Prices may vary slightly depending on the retailer, but both salts are usually available in 10-gallon, 50-gallon, 160-gallon, and 200-gallon options. If youre shopping on a budget, go with Instant Ocean Sea Salt . In new aquariums, transfer animals to the aquarium after salt is completely mixed and aerated and specific gravity is adjusted correctly. The main difference between Instant Ocean Sea Salt and Reef Crystals is that Reef Crystals contain higher levels of magnesium and calcium. The Reef Crystals contain additional vitamins and calcium that are crucial for the life within these complex environments to grow.While the additional calcium and vitamins included in the Reef Crystals are in no way beneficial to the growth and development of your fish, they are also by no means harmful in any sense. The purpose of this post today is to just lay out the facts and finding what salt mix will work for you and your budget. This produces an all natural eco-friendly mix that is one of the best mixes in the industry. Tropic Marin Pro Reef Salt is the best salt mix you can purchase for your reef tank available on the market today period. Two Little Fishies AcroPower Amino Acids Review, ReefWave 45 Review: Red Seas Gyre Powerhead. Fritz Pro Mix Readily Available Quick Mixing Product, Chloroquine Phosphate Aquarium Dosing Calculator, How To Euthanize A Fish - 1 Humane (and 7 Others MEthods To Avoid), Freshwater Stingray Care Guide (Types, Care, and Environment), What Are Aquarium Air Stones? An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN. Two of the most popular options are Instant Oceans Reef Crystals and Sea Salt. It is the thing that makes the water in your aquarium salty and helps you replicate natural reef waters. Customer Favorites, Marine Invertebrates - Save 25%, Popular Value Packs, Marine Invertebrates, LiveAquaria Certified Captive Grown Corals, Captive-Bred Freshwater Fish and Invertebrates. If specific gravity is too low, add more Reef Crystals salt. Differences between Instant Ocean Sea Salt and Reef Crystals, Similarities between Instant Ocean Sea Salt and Reef Crystals. 3 Instant ocean reef crystals vs red sea coral pro. We do frequent water changes and have a RO system. (I recommend using a refractometer). Instant Ocean salt is available in bags, boxes, and buckets. Salinity: 35 ppt (1.025 sg)| Ca: 413 mg/l| Mg: 1290 mg/l|Alkalinity 7.5 dKH. One of the great reasons why Instant Ocean salt is so great is that you can choose between using a salt for both fish only tanks and full reef tanks. Tightly reseal bag to keep out moisture. At your local fish store, where your fish store gets salt in pallets so they dont lose money or on an online merchant like Amazon where you know you are not making the retailer lose money shipping the box or bucket of salt to you. Just take the price of the salt and divide it by the amount of salt that it makes in gallons. The Brightwell NeoMarine Salt is so well regarded, that it is the reef salt of choice for World Wide Corals, one of the major coral sellers in the United States. Instant Ocean Reef Crystals; Instant Ocean is a legacy aquarium product found at most local fish stores. Instant Ocean recommends letting the saltwater mix sit overnight while mixing to allow for carbon dioxide equilibrium. Because water conditions at different locations vary tremendously, a commercial dechlorinator is recommended to completely neutralize any concentrations of chlorine and/or chloramines. Measure specific gravity with an Instant Ocean Hydrometer. Yes, fortunately many LFS around us supply Fritz because they have built a massive marketing machine promoting their products. A have a third lfs , which in addition to Reef Crystals sells Kent. You may or may not be surprised by how different they actually are. How long do you mix it? Axolotl vs Mudpuppy: What's the Difference? If you have seen his Instagram channel, you can see how incredible his tanks look. Enriched formulation. The N?oMarine Salt creates a marine environment so chemically-similar to natural seawater it would be hard to tell any difference between water prepared with N?oMarine and filtered natural seawater from tropical reef waters. AccuraSea1 is formulated to simulate natural seawater, and its packaged as a plurality of precisely weighed packs.