Red Sea Pro Reef Salt - water tests

melev

melev

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It would be nice if others of you would test and see what yours measures, as a comparison to see if the buckets are reasonably consistent in quality control.

After opening up a new bucket of salt this weekend, Red Sea Pro Reef salt test results:

Mixed 24 hours in 55g of RO/DI water

pH 8.23
Sg 1.026
Temp 80F
Alk 9.3 dKH
Ca 470
Mg 1380

I didn't test ammonia or nitrate as those are 0 for me.

And here's the last time I tested this salt (different bucket):
pH 8.28
salinity 1.026
temp 80
Alk 8.6 dKH
Mg 1230
Ca 425
 
Timing is everything as I just mixed up 30 gals yesterday for a water change today this is a new bucket so here are the test results:

Temp 80
SG 1.026
PH 8.19
KH 7.7
CA 470
MG 1380*

*Tried two new Salifert test kits and got readings of > 1,500 on both the new water and the water in the aquarium. This cannot be correct and I repeated the test 3 times with the same result each time. The magnesium cannot be that high in the aquarium or with the newly mixed salt. I am going to try an Elos test kit next.
 
Here are the test results using the Elos test kit. I tested the newly mixed water twice and got the same result each time. The MG level was 1,400 with the newly mixed water and 1,400 with water from the aquarium. Something doesn’t seem right with the Salifert MG test kit that I got for free from MACNA. I need to look into it some more.
 
I did a water change this past weekend with the last of my bucket of red sea pro..

ph 8.15
sg 1.026
temp 80.1
alk 10.5
ca 480
 
Man, just among this small sampling, the Alkalinity is all over the place. From 7.7 to 10.5 dKH

Over on RC, we've been talking about how the salt in the buckets settle, with the finer grains shifting to the bottom of the bucket while the top contains larger grains. Some are mixing up the powder before use to make sure everything is evenly dispersed. So maybe a lower Mg level would be due to taking salt from the top of a bucket versus mixing salt near the bottom of the bucket.
 
Marc wrote:
salt in the buckets settle said:
Problem solved:
http://tinyurl.com/2sg9nj :wink:
or you could just take your salt bucket to home depot and let them do it.

J/K , Just had a funny thought
Tag
Click to expand...
 
That is why i always buy bags, so I can shake it up, on the advice of a buddy that had a bad experience with a bucket of salt. I've had no problems, and everything has stayed constant.
 
One guy joked that he just ships his salt with UPS and it is nicely shaken, but another person pointed out that the ride around on the truck is the perfect senario to 'fluidizing' the grains and causing the separation.

What one person does is use three clean buckets. He scoops out a shovel (clean, salt-only use) and pours that into bucket #1. Then bucket #2. Then bucket #3. He repeats this method until the main bucket is empty. Now each bucket is lighter and can be shaken or rolled down a hill. :lol:

Anther person separates it into two buckets, then stirs them more easily.

Since I make 55g at a time, I'm doing good to get 3 batches out of the 160g buckets of Red Sea. But for someone making smaller amounts, it might be worth checking into how their salt mixes up to see if they do need to mix up the dry salt first.
 
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