Thinking about changing brands

i get my water from the lfs, they have two brands of saltwater that we can choose from i believe the one that i get, is the instant ocean salt mix, and their other is catalina saltwater Catalina Water Company, real ocean saltwater for home and commercial aquarium tanks

im thinking about changing over to that but would it stress the corals too much if i change over to that brand. I figure i would slowly replace the instant ocean saltwater during the 10 gallon weekly water changes..

or should i just keep using the same water that ive been using

 

You should be fine in changing over. If you notice issues, I doubt there will be any, then just replace the water slower, say 5 gallons a week instead of 10. BTW, is there any reason you want to switch?

 

ok, and nope no reason i want to switch other than if i just want to see if there would be a noticable difference in corals, i dont think there would be though

 

We've switched three different salt brands over the year and no side effects to report.

 

Why not mix your own salt water at home? I know the upfront cost of a RO/DI filter is high but in the long run it is really worth it. Then you would be able to choose your preferred reef salt mix and mix it to the specific gravity you want.

 

good to know

i wouldnt mind mixing my own salt but my parents wont let me have one since it hooks up to the pipes

 

Now that you've purchased several reef building corals (acro and monti) you're going to want to boost your Calcium, Magnesium, and alkalinity to NSW levels. Alternatively, you could just switch to Reef Crystals (which is Instant Ocean that they've boosted those for you already). Instant Ocean is their salt for Fish Only tanks...Reef Crystals is their salt for reef tanks.

 

so you think my best bet would be to switch to the Catalina water? and ive been wanting to start dosing to make sure my levels stay steady but i dont have anything yet, ive read that when dosing it has to drip,would i drip it into my water jugs, then pour it in my tank when i do my top offs and water changes? or does it just go directly in the tank?

 

RO units don't have to connect directly to the water pipe. I just use a simple faucet adapter. Ca, ALK, and Mg are dosed directly into the tank by the means of "two part solution." IMO the best place to buy the materials for two part is bulkreefsupply.com.

 

hmmmm ok ill have to do a little research then about ro/di units, my only other problem would be is storing the water i hear people use trash cans but no way i have room for trash cans, i barely have room for my 5 gall water jugs but ill look at BRS dosing kit