check your reef crystals!!
long story short I know how we get bored reading long winded threads. there are at least 3 people who have had their tank crash after a water change and many more that have corals doing bad after. this one guy had everything die after a 10g wc on a 70 g tank. he then mixed new water up and added a monti cap to the water and to his tank water the one in the fresh mix turned completely white after 5 hours. beware before a wc with rc.
Guess I’d better take a look at the batch I got. I didn’t see the batch # on the RC site. Did anyone see it?
The batch # from the Canadian website is.
5137801706
RC1-160P 04/09 REV. A
IN01706-905
I wonder is this for the buckets only or are there issues with the boxed RC?
just read one of the links in that rc thread and the one said the bucket was made out of another type of plastic so maybe its just the buckets, may be leaching a chemical in the salt? I hope the guy figures it out and lets us know.
Thanks for the heads up Tim. I buy only RC in the box, and have used 2 bags from the last box I bought. No problems.
I remember reading somewhere, that salt mix contained in a bucket can separate into its different elemental grain sizes due to handling and transportation, and should be mixed before using. I wonder if it’s possible that it OD’d on Alk or something like that. I didn’t see where anyone tested the mix for Ca, Mg ,Alk or pH.
They tested it and yes in buckets this happens the elements fall to the bottom. Not all but some
So does that mean it could happen to any salt mix in buckets?
When I do a wc, I shake the plastic bag of salt up real good. And what I like about the boxes is, you can just recycle them and no buckets laying around
I use just io, and tested a new bucket the top, and near the bottom and the alk was 5 higher at the bottom, calcium was 50 higher I now dump a new bucket into an empty one to mix it. But I try to get boxes and just add the bags to the bucket
If there is something wrong with RC salt, hard to tell from those threads, then this would probably be about the 5th time since I started working on saltwater tanks that this has happened. Really only takes once for it to happen to you before you consider switching brands.(assuming the end result was not that bad and you are able to push on or have enough cash to start over)
Just my two cents, but you have to choose quality or price. Buy cheap salt and you get…
Jon I thought rc was the best. What is better? I know quite a few brands that people may have had bad results.
You will find a massive slew of opinions on this. Personally I use Brightwell’s NeoMarine. I used Tropic Marin Pro for a while, but since I continued to get batch after batch of rock hard caked salt I switched over. I trust Brightwell’s consistent quality.
I would advise a very careful, very slow transition if you change brands of salt. It does not matter what brand your changing to or from as with just about everything in this hobby everything should be done slowly.
All of the above is just my opinion.
Ok I guess rc is the most popular and just assumed it was the best. Bright wells kind of new but I heard good things but I think I heard not so good things. It all comes down to consistency and quality control, and every year this seems to get worse with everything.
Doesnt seem wide spread. could be anything. even a contamination of just a few buckets, or one. time will tell. but when it comes to rumors or conspiracies about the basic salt of our tanks, jokers are wild. because its very hard to pinpoint the source ore cause. we users dont have the technology.
One thing I was told early on in this hobby is when you buy salt you have to mix the container well, I’m talking the dry mix here. Some of the elements will settle to the bottom of the bucket, while others head to the top.
I had a larger bucket that would hold about 1 and 1/2 buckets of salt. On the inside there were cast in “bumps” that were made to mix dry compounds. When the old bucket would have about 1/3 to 1/4 left I would pour the 2 in and roll the bucket around for a bit. Presto, well mixed salt.
I would think if you could do this with several containers of salt you would get a good blend, if that was the problem he had.
I really think its a problem with the salt. Not because they weren’t mixed properly. The guys had a reef a long time and now it’s a problem all of a sudden that just doesn’t add up. I am getting a bucket from John that we think did the same thing and test it on a frag.
[quote=“dunk, post:15, topic:5503”]
It all comes down to consistency and quality control, and every year this seems to get worse with everything.[/quote]
You are right. (but not everything)
Again, unfortunately you typically have to choose quality or price and in this market all of the large publicly traded companies are going cheap. The company that makes Reef Crystlas also makes Maxi-Jets. After the creation of three companies to make maxi-jet mods to make them work right as a power head the company finally realized they should make the mod themselves(only took 8 or so years) The quality italian company that made their pumps wouldn’t do it cheap enough so they shipped all of their manufacturing to China.
Maxi-Jet mods made by Marineland are made in China and they work as if they are made in China(that is they often don’t work)
I agree Ken that there is not enough evidence to prove there is something wrong with the salt, however they have messed up, admitted it, and recalled buckets in the past(on multiple occasions) and the entire company is moving to cheaper and cheaper practices so…
I’d like to know what the newly mixed salt water looked like prior to adding it to the tank.
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t heat and aerate my newly mixed salt water overnight, but I do make sure the salt has dissolved 100% and that the water is at least room temperature when I measure salinity.
This sounds like an overdose on calcium carbonate to me. From personal experience, a massive amount of calcium carbonate will cause a refractometer to read 1.025 and dissolve perfectly clear in a bucket. It won’t cloud the water until it has been added to the display. I bet the ALK is off the scale.