Changing salt brands

S

steelcaveman

Premium Member
I have been using Tropic Marin Pro Reef salt for a few years now and have been very disappointed with the last two buckets.
I knew something was up as my magnesium and PH would be significantly lower after a water change.
I finally took the time to test a fresh mix / 10 hours of mixing.
Salinity 1.024
Salifert test kits.
Mag - under 1,000
Ca - over 550
PH - 7.7 - also used Milwaukee PH probe.
Alk - 10
I would expect better results for the money.
Plus having to dose to make up for the deficiencies is not acceptable IMO.
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Today I picked up a bucket of the new Brightwell salt - got a great deal.
I am currently mixing my first batch.
The stuff smells pretty funky - but I was pre-warned regarding the smell.
The salinity tested perfectly on the first try. This has not happened to me in over year.
I'll test the rest in a few hours and post.
I'm hoping for some good news and good results.
 
Re-tested the salinity - it went up a bit so I added some RODI.
Salinity 1.024
PH 8.35
ALK 9.9
PO-4 = 0
[CA 360 TESTED THIS THREE TIMES.]
[MAG 1170]
NO2 = 0
NO3 = 0

It is troubling that the CA & MAG are low. This means that the Sra will also be low.
The PH & Alk readings are great and overall the readings are better than Tropic Marin.
But it is disheartening the the claims from salt makers are usually false.
"Formulated from natural seawater chemistry "

Not clear how nature seawater has CA 360 & Mag of 1170.
It does state that it should be mixed at a salinity of 1.025 - which is only slighty higher than what I keep my tank at.
I tried to test the Sra, but the CA was too low to complete the test.
 
This morning I retested the CA & MAG - no improvement.

I find it hard to give this salt a thumbs up due to the following:
1) CA is below the levels in natural seawater - by 10%.
2) Mag is below the levels in natural seawater - by 15%
3) The water smells like rotten eggs.

On a good note - the salt does have great PH and ALK with no nitrate, nitrite or phosphate.
Basically, its above average salt - not great, as they skimped on major elements and who knows what else.
 
I think most consider NSW salinty to be 35ppt (1.026). If you're mixing to 1.024 (31.9 ppt), then you'll be about 9% under NSW.

I bet measurement error could easily account for 10-15% as well, if not quite a bit more. Seems like you're in the ballpark, at least.

Low PH mixes do annoy me too. That's much harder to adjust than Ca/Mg.

I've never worried much about salt mix Ca content because it has to be supplimented so much that the contribution from a water change is negligible. 350-450 is a decent starting point, IMO.

Smells like rotten eggs? Yikes!
 
@mukymuk wrote:
I think most consider NSW salinty to be 35ppt (1.026). If you're mixing to 1.024 (31.9 ppt) said:
I totally agree. PH is very hard to increase, especially when ALK is fine.
The problem with the Tropic Marin is the gap between the CA and MAG - contributing to an ionic imbalance in PH.
The smell has gone away - I have a feeling it is ingredient they are using to buffer.
I am pretty excited that the PH is between 8.3 & 8.4 with a good Alk reading.
I don't recall any other salt I've tested getting results this good on the PH & ALK.
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The true test is coming soon.
The water change.
Click to expand...
 
The past few months I've used RC and IO, both of which mix to a low pH for me. I have a continous water change setup, and the result is a constantly depressed pH--about 7.9-8.0. I tried Coral Pro for a month, and the system stayed at 8.2. Inexpensive and effective. I'm intersted in ESV's new salt though.
 
The water change went very well.
No cloudy water. No funky smell.
PH did increase a few hours after the water change - yeah!
My advise on this salt is to make sure that it mixes for at least a couple hours before doing a water change.
Also need to dose CA & MAG.
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The only reason I changed salt mix was due to two bad buckets in a row of Tropic Marin.
I previously had great results with their salt.
 
You may want to look at the dates on the salt you use to narrow down when they were made as to when you ran into the issues.
 
Follow-up on salt.
Been using the salt for a while now.
I have also changed tanks.
The ALK & PH readings with this salt are exceptional.
I am keeping my salinity at 1.0235 due to the types of corals and fish being kept don't do well at 1.025.
The shortages of CA & Mag are really low at this reading.
CA - 320
MAG - 900
I am dosing the fresh bucket of saltwater with Brightwell Elemental - which seems to work better than trying to dose the tank after the water change.
 
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