B-Ionic Seawater System is a very interesting 4-part marine aquarium salt that mixes clear in 10-15 minutes. The system consists of 2 dry parts of Sodium Chloride and Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate and two liquid parts with all the anions and cations already pre-dissolved. ESV sent us a 25 gallon sample to try out and with Bob Stark’s reputation for making bulletproof products, we were very eager to put this new seawater concept through it’s paces. The B-Ionic Seawater System comes in 25, 50 and 200 gallon sizes, all of which ship with a handy set of measuring scoops and spoons. The instructions for mixing are very well written and include a recipe table for mixing water volumes as low as one gallon, with the ingredients denominated in volume or in mass. The B-Ionic S.S. carries only a small premium over economy salt mixes such as Instant Ocean or Kent but it is competitively priced when compared to some of the premium salt mixes. So far we’ve only seen the salt for sale at Marine Depot and Premium Aquatics but in time this new product should make it’s way to your LFS ESV dealer. Follow the break for a step-by-step rundown of my experience with mixing a 5 gallon batch of B-Ionic Seawater
Here is a 5.5 gallon all glass aquarium in which I mix the microbatch of B-Ionic Seawater. This tank is holding 5 gallons reverse osmosis water and there is a Tunze Nano Stream 6025 in here to stir the water.
This is what the water looks like right after adding the Sodium Chloride
Three minutes later and there is still some dissolution going on
Five minutes since the NaCl was added and the water is back to being clear
Here is the tank right after adding the Magnesium Sulphate Heptahydrate
Three minutes later and the water clarity has returned once again
Near the top left of the image you can see that I am adding part A of the B-Ionic Seawater System
I gave it a minute to fully mix and here I have just added part B
Another minute later, and after 10 minutes total the water has returned to a crystal clear state. You can barely tell that the water is salted let alone that the entire process took 10 minutes. Compare it to the first image above and you’ll see what I mean. Notice that there is no precipitation anywhere and after using the same pump a couple of times to mix the B-Ionic Seawater, it still looks brand new like I had been using it only in fresh water. I let it circulate like this for an hour for the water to warm up and then I used it to do a 95% water change on my little nano reef. This product is a winner and for now I will only be using the B-Ionic Seawater on the Nano Reef.
