how much Ca and MAg to add to instant ocean

[fishnuttoo]

           
Anyone still use this old school stuff?

switched from Reef crystals to Instant Ocean. Got a great deal. saw a drop in ca and mag (normally these

stay high).  i don't mind supplementing myself with randy's part 1.   need to know how much ca and mag to

add when i make the water up.  i usually make 14 gallons at a time, and run Calcium at 450, MAg 1350-1450

thanks in advance. 

[TechGuy]

I use Kent, do a weekly 20G water change, and only rarely dose Ca. I hated IO!

So, really  don't know lol. I doubt anyone will, each set up varies. So Trial and error.

[jd]

It is going to vary for bucket to bucket or even mixup to mixup. If you keep the bucket mixed (the salt bucket, not your WC bucket) it should stay pretty close to the same. Mix your bucket, mix up your water, test, write those numbers down and go from there. Hope that helps.

[Reefd Up]

Each bucket will vary, and possibly even each batch of water change water.  Mix up your water-change water, figure out where you want your levels to be (even the levels desired by people vary), and use the following calculator. 

http://reef.diesyst.com/flashcalc/flashcalc.html

[fishnuttoo]

just trying to double check my #'s, salt does vary brand to brand, batch to batch.  with RC only added a liitle alk....Didn't know if anyone still used IO, just trying to get a rough idea...

[jd]

Each bucket will vary, and possibly even each batch of water change water.  Mix up your water-change water, figure out where you want your levels to be (even the levels desired by people vary), and use the following calculator. 

http://reef.diesyst.com/flashcalc/flashcalc.html

It is going to vary for bucket to bucket or even mixup to mixup. If you keep the bucket mixed (the salt bucket, not your WC bucket) it should stay pretty close to the same. Mix your bucket, mix up your water, test, write those numbers down and go from there. Hope that helps.

I feel I should say something about great minds here. 

[jeremyt]

get a bucket of oceanic, i got the idea from bigfalcon36 (thanks btw), mix half io and half oceanic and you get a perfect mix. here is the thread link. http://www.ohioreef.com/index.php?topic=5794.0

[fishnuttoo]

thanx

[Reefd Up]

I do something similar...I mix half IO and half SeaChem.  Pretty much a perfect balance (and it lowers the cost.) 

[slandis3]

I do something similar...I mix half IO and half SeaChem.  Pretty much a perfect balance (and it lowers the cost.) 

Are you using regular Io or reef crystals?

[Reefd Up]

Regular IO for the half & half mixture.  Really great results doing that...and inexpensive!  I did it just b/c I needed an extra bucket & had half a bucket of IO and half a bucket of SeaChem.  I think I'm going to keep doing it.

[jeremyt]

what does the magnesium come out to? I.O. is low in mag and i thought poeple said seachem is too. thats why i like oceanic, high mag and cal but a little low alk thats where the  I.O. comes in (high alk). 

[Reefd Up]

It's always varied by bucket for me.  The bucket of IO I had was like 1500 in Mag, while the SeaChem was only 1100.  So, mixing them fixed the problem.  But, I always measure every bucket and take it on a case-by-case basis.