Talking Points: Step 1 Environmental Parameters™

A customer's salt sets the targets for every other step, so find out what salt they're on before you recommend anything else. Step 1 – Environmental Parameters™ sets three core targets — temperature, pH and specific gravity — and matches one of five Quantum salts to the reef the customer keeps. This article gives you those targets, the salt for each reef type, where Step 1 stops, and what to say at the counter.

What Step 1 Sets: Temperature, pH and Specific Gravity

The manufacturer's Aqua Care Guide™ lays out the three major parameters in its TPS model: temperature, pH and specific gravity (S.G.).

• Temperature: ~25°C (~77°F)
• pH: 8.3–8.5
• S.G.: 1.024–1.026

The Guide names the refractometer as the common tool for S.G. It calls calibration essential — water density and temperature both shift the reading.

Everyone starts here. A customer can come in at any step, including an established tank that's new to Quantum, but you need to know their salt before going anywhere else. Every step except cycling runs for the life of the tank, so the salt keeps setting the baseline at every water change.

How to Match the Salt to the Reef Aquarium

The Guide's first instruction is to choose the type of reef aquarium the customer wants to keep, then the salt for the corals in it. Every Quantum salt is a hybrid of natural seawater and synthetic salt mix — the elements of seawater with the purity and consistency of a synthetic. The four macro probiotic salts also carry probiotics, which help liven synthetic water by promoting beneficial bacteria.

SPS Macro Probiotic Salt™ is for small polyp stony (SPS) corals like Acropora, Montipora and Pocillopora. Its levels sit close to natural seawater, and the lower alkalinity helps reduce the white or "burnt" tips SPS show in higher-alkalinity water. It mixes to 405–420 ppm calcium, 7.4–7.7 dKH alkalinity, 1230–1280 ppm magnesium and 375–390 ppm potassium at 1.025–1.026 S.G.

LPS Macro Probiotic Salt™ is for large polyp stony (LPS) and soft coral aquariums: brain, torch and plate corals. Its calcium, alkalinity, magnesium and potassium are raised, so the salt can work as part of a dosing regime and help reduce maintenance. It mixes to 420–440 ppm, 10.1–10.5 dKH, 1255–1310 ppm and 385–400 ppm at 1.024–1.025 S.G.

Mixed Macro Probiotic Salt™ is for a reef that keeps LPS, SPS and non-photosynthetic (NPS) corals together. Its parameters sit between the SPS and LPS salts: 430 ppm, 8 dKH, 1295 ppm and 390 ppm at 1.025 S.G.

FOWLR Macro Probiotic Salt™ is for fish only with live rock — aquariums with no corals. It runs high calcium, alkalinity, magnesium and potassium relative to S.G. for pH and KH stability, across 1.019–1.025 S.G.

Mineral Sea Salt™ is the one salt without probiotics. Its parameters run slightly higher than the Mixed salt: 435 ppm, 8.1 dKH, 1305 ppm and 395 ppm at 1.025 S.G.

The Guide puts it plainly:

The parameters on the tables provided will be your guide to follow through your reef keeping journey.

Those numbers carry forward. The CAM table (calcium, alkalinity, magnesium) in Step 3 – Aragonite Enhancers™ uses the same figures for LPS and soft coral, mixed and SPS aquariums. The salt a customer picks today sets the targets they hold later.

Why the Salt Comes Before Cycling

The Guide places cycling after Step 1 on purpose. The major parameters should already match the levels the aquarium will be kept at — that reduces bacterial die-off, which can restart the cycle and waste time, effort and resources.

Two limits come with it. If the aquarium hasn't cycled, no inhabitants go in yet — the Guide warns of new tank syndrome, where the bioload is too high, nutrient removal is too low, and the inhabitants die. If it has already cycled correctly, the Guide says not to cycle it again.

The full sequence after that is in Why the Five-Step System Runs in Order.

When a Step 1 Product Isn't the Answer

• Corals in a FOWLR aquarium: the Guide says the FOWLR table is for FOWLR aquariums only.
• A pH that keeps dropping: pH Up raises pH only temporarily, until the cause is controlled.
• Raising pH fast: the manufacturer's limit is never above pH 8.5, and no more than 0.2 a day.

Where Customers Come In and What to Say

Most Step 1 conversations start with a customer already running a tank on another salt, or one who keeps more than one kind of coral.

"My tank's been running for a year on another salt. Do I have to start over?"

"No. If your tank is already cycled, there's no need to cycle it again. We start with what salt you're on and what corals you keep, because that sets the targets for everything else."

"I've got some SPS and some LPS. Which salt do I use?"

"Mixed Macro Probiotic Salt. It's made for tanks that keep LPS, SPS and non-photosynthetic corals together, and its numbers sit between the SPS and LPS salts."

"Why does the LPS salt have so much more alkalinity than the SPS one?"

"They're built for different corals. The SPS salt keeps alkalinity lower because that helps reduce burnt tips on SPS. The LPS salt runs higher so it can do part of the dosing for LPS and soft corals."

For everyone else, keep it short. Read aloud, something like this:

"Tell me what corals you keep, and I'll show you the salt and the numbers it mixes to. Those numbers are your targets from here on."

Q Tip Every Quantum salt has a recommended water change procedure inside the pack. Point customers to it before they mix their first batch.

The Reef Essential® Aqua Care Guide is free to download and carries the target table for every salt. For amounts by tank size, the free Quantum Aqua Dosing App works out a custom dosing amount from the customer's details.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you calibrate a refractometer for a reef tank?

The Guide's simpler method: set the 1.000 S.G. point with room-temperature RODI water. Then submerge only the prism in the aquarium water for 60 seconds and note the reading. Repeat that three times and take the average.

What causes pH to drop in a reef tank?

The Guide names carbon dioxide build-up and alkalinity fluctuations as the most common causes. Both are likely when the aquarium is short of oxygen, from overstocking, power outages or restricted flow.

Which reef salt is best for soft corals?

The Guide makes LPS Macro Probiotic Salt™ the salt for LPS and soft coral reef aquariums. It mixes to 10.1–10.5 dKH alkalinity at 1.024–1.025 S.G.

What's the difference between a probiotic reef salt and a sea salt?

Quantum's four macro probiotic salts carry natural macrobiotics, probiotics and vitamin precursors, which the manufacturer says help improve mineral content, promote beneficial bacteria growth and enhance fish vitality. Mineral Sea Salt™ leaves the probiotics out, which makes it versatile enough for pools, spas and baths as well as reef aquariums.