DIY Salt Mix

[mpoed1]

I'm sure I saw a pallet of Morton salt at a lfs once. How hard would it be to make your own? Sodium chloride is 5 Cents a pound Calcium chloride is A buck a pound throw in some strontium and magnesium and it seems like your pretty close to instant ocean any thought or resources would be great.

 

[Big_fish]

I believe there are alot more trace minerals contained in a decent salt mix. Shedd aquarium in Chicago used to mix their own salt and they use very large quantities. It wasn't economical in the long run and they now use a readily available salt mix. For the price, I wouldn't even attempt that project. Have fun though, and keep the board posted with what you find!

Scott

 

[O P Ing]

hi.
I agree with Bigfish. Sure you can do a amateur job for half of the price, but to do a job as well as the salt company (which, BTW, do a pretty bad job), you need to make a huge batch and at higher cost.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi
I have been thinking about this stuff for a while http://www.aquaticeco.com/aquatic1v...flag=0&iteminfo4=0&itmid=7887&passitemid=7887
It is all the trace elements. All you add is the un-idiodized sodium chloride.When I did the math think it came out at half the cost of buying IO locally.

Has anyone tried this stuff?

 

[O P Ing]

hi.
Sounds like you need to get a better deal on your IO salt. Disregard shipping fee, either way costs about the same if you have a IO salt for good price. The money you saved will be, as the link says, the shipping fee. If you can pick up IO salt locally, there it does not matter much. You pay for it by having to measure the salt yourself, and make sure it does not contain nasties.

 

[Anonymous]

I get my IO in 200 gal buckets for around $59. This works out to about 29.5 cents per gallon. The ProLine Super Salt Concentrate, $45 for 400 gal, would be about 22.5 cents per gallon (assuming $35 for shipping and $10 for the salt that I would get for free from my former employer.)

So the cost saving would be closer to 24% but the question is if would result in better water than IO?

 

[O P Ing]

hi.
IO salt around here is less than $10 for a 50 gal bag, and I did not even shop around to get the best deal... no shipping, but need to pay 8% tax.

 

[Anonymous]

Dang! $10 a bag?!?!
7E where do you live?
I feel the need to leave the great white north!

 

[azreefer]

$10 a bag in AZ also @ Ocean Floor.

 

[TekRecycle.com]

You said 50 gal but how many lbs is that...

Also, do you know the best (and cheapest) place to buy live rock and ocean critters (corals, etc - not fish) ? I'm just starting out with a 29 gal tank and would love some AZ advice.

 

[shr00m]

IO here is about 20 a bag... i can get boxes of red sea (150 gallons) for 49.00 and thats usally what i get....

 

[fishguru]

$45 for a Bucket of IO here at LFS. Guru

 

[jimbo327]

Hmmm,

Perhaps, I could market and sell my own special batch of DIY salt for $10 per pound. I'm going to call it "Miracle Salt." 8O

Of course, the ingredients are strickly proprietary and classified information. :roll:

All kidding aside, don't even think about using Morton salt in your tank because the salt is not purified. It will contain much higher levels of minerals. A lot of the cost of these Aquarium salt stem from purifying the salt and blending it with the correct amounts of NSW trace elements. And I would suggest staying away from that LFS with a pallet of Morton salt. I sure hope they weren't selling premixed saltwater to the hobbyist...