Reef salt vs Marine Salt

[waynecav]

What is the difference between the 2 salts? I have been using Reef Salt in my nano and it has always tested 0 nitrates when mixed with my RO water. I've just started a fowlr tank and I'm using Marine salt for that tank. I have just tested my new salt mix and it reads 20ppm Nitrates? Is this normal?

[Tech Support GL]

The difference between the two salts is that the Reef Salt offers a higher calcium, magnesium, and iodide concentration than the Marine Salt. Neither salt should test for nitrate. All of the salt is checked when produced, in house, and sent to a lab for testing. This is highly unusual the nitrate levels have not tested at 20 ppm or remotely close to that. The nitrate levels consistently test neglible. Make sure the RO water is filtering tap water properly and/or the test kit is working properly.

[waynecav]

RO has tested 0 on a TDS meter, also checked with 2 different nitrate tests, both showing 0. Made a mix with some of my left over reef salt, nitrate 0, phos 0.008 (usual results), made mix with marint salt, nitrate 20ppm and phos 0.045

[Tech Support GL]

Given your testing results you are more than welcome to send use a few cups of the salt and we will test it here. We are more than willing to take a look at the samples.

[waynecav]

Turned out it was the container I was using, i was mixing the salt in a larger container that was used for preping my freshwater.
Container was scrubbed with RO, left to dry, scrubbed again and then rinsed out, now testing 0 nitrates and 0.003 po4

[Tech Support GL]

Thank you very much for posting the follow up to that.

[waynecav]

Can you tell me what the composition of the Marine Salt should be when mixed to 30ppt at 26 degrees?

I have tested the following each time I have mixed it in 25 litres of RO:
PH 8.3
Phosphate 0.008
Nitrate 0
Alkalinty 9.9
Salinity 30ppt
Temp 26
Magnesium 1100

I have to keep addint extra Mg to keep my tank at 1350

[Tech Support GL]

The Marine Salt does not have a guaranteed magnesium level as the Reef Salt does due to the fact that most Marine only tanks do not have to worry about magnesium to the degree a reef keeper would. Magnesium is important in salt water in general and typically the Marine Salt ranges from 1150-1300 ppm in magnesium. We work a bit harder to get the levels of Reef Salt up in calcium, magnesium, iodide, alkalinity, etc.