Soft Water

[RayAllen]

My wife had to have a system on the house for her skin and hair, HAD TO HAVE, lol. So we got one a little after the house construction was complete. It is not a water softner, I have a water refining system that happens to also soften the water. This is my exact system

http://www.aquativa.com/aquativa_spe..._chlorigon.htm
http://www.aquativa.com/aquativa_pri...h_bioguard.htm

It almost makes my water to clean, but Ive used this water with success on a couple of aquariums now without any ill effects. My previous biocube did amazing using this water with few water changes. Besides its on the entire house so im stuck like chuck.

[RayAllen]

Wow!!...Okay. What do you know about regular Tropic Marin??

Ive never seen this salt in stores, but im curious.

http://www.tropicmarin-usa.com/Tmusa/index.html

[MissT]

From what I understand, and have heard, TM has been a bit unstable lately as far as Ca, Mg and PO4 go... now that said, TM has been a lot of people's favorites for quite a while and there are a lot of people that swear by it. I used TM regular premixed from RCA for my smaller tanks, but after starting up the 115 I've started mixing my own using Red Sea Coral Pro, and I am really liking it.
I know there are several people around here (TexReefer included) who are using Reef Crystals with a lot of success, and with so many people using so many different salts yet still having great luck and success, it's really difficult to pick a salt brand.
Here's why I chose RS Pro:
-cheaper than TM
-easy to get
I do have to mix my batch at least 24 hours before my WC, which is a pain for some people, but doesn't bother me...
I don't know if this helps or further confuses the subject but most of this is based on unprofessional research of my own and other people's experiences.

[RayAllen]

Sweet thanks for the feed back on that MissT. I was thinking of going ReefCrystal myself where as before I was using Instant Ocean which is made by the same company as Reefcrystal just not as good for reefs ive come to find out. I need a higher quality salt to help replace some things taken out by my water system.

[MissT]

I know someone running a reef tank successfully on IO, but that was with a kalk stirrer, Ca Reactor with Mag pellets, the equipment list goes on and on... he swore that IO was the best baseline for the amount of supplementation he wanted to do

Another great example of what works for someone in their tank might be terrible for me in mine... What a wonderfully wicked hobby we've gotten ourselves into!

[addboy]

Oh...I was just curious as to the buffer capacity of Tropic Marin...I used to use Reef Crystals....great salt for reefs....not to consistent for me though....just visible differences every water change. The Tropic Marin seems to be very consistent and the coral are very happy (Lots more polyp extension.....LOTS!!)..I still buff and calcify..but this salt is really awesome in my book....especially for small tanks.

[Entropy]

I have a softener on the house, but my RO unit pulls water from before the softener. I am not sure how much a diffference it makes, but the basic difference (as I understand it) is that a softener exchanges calcium and magnesium for sodium. Calcium and magnesium will both clog your RO membrane faster so it is better to soften the water first, BUT sodium is harder for the RO membrane to stop (more gets by) so your final TDS number (or feed to the DI if you have one) is bigger with soft water. So it looks like you get to choose between your RO membrane clogging sooner or your DI being exhausted sooner. Since the DI is reusable in some cases, and cheaper in all cases it is probably best to use the soft water. I don't have DI so for me I run it before the softener to get a lower TDS number.

[RayAllen]

I have a softener on the house, but my RO unit pulls water from before the softener. I am not sure how much a diffference it makes, but the basic difference (as I understand it) is that a softener exchanges calcium and magnesium for sodium. Calcium and magnesium will both clog your RO membrane faster so it is better to soften the water first, BUT sodium is harder for the RO membrane to stop (more gets by) so your final TDS number (or feed to the DI if you have one) is bigger with soft water. So it looks like you get to choose between your RO membrane clogging sooner or your DI being exhausted sooner. Since the DI is reusable in some cases, and cheaper in all cases it is probably best to use the soft water. I don't have DI so for me I run it before the softener to get a lower TDS number.

Great explanation, thanks