Red Sea Coral Salt question

[polarbear]

So I bought some new salt this past weekend. I was using instant ocean but thought I would try another brand. Well I mixed the salt sunday and noticed that the water was a lot more cloudy then it was with the old salt. I checked yesterday and it was still a little cloudy and left residue on the side of the trash can and pump that i have mixing the water. Is this normal? Im doing the water change today and just need to know before I start using the new mixed water.

[350gt]

I had that same issue and quit using it....... Some say it's normal... I didn't want to chance it.


That film stays on your pumps and will eventually come back.... I went out and bought another bucket and dipped all my equipment.....

[350gt]

Use reef crystals..... I have and never an issue.... Plus it's cheap.


Online you can find great deals but found that alamo has the buckets for $47+ tax.

[Zack]

Since switching over to kent pro salt, I've seen a huge increase in growth in my tank. I've had frags double in size in under a month since using it.

[alton]

You have to mix it in very slowly and use a large pump. In a 6 gallon bucket I add a cup of salt, wait till it is clear, add a second cup, and then come back later to top it off. It is a pain but I have had great results with the finished product.

[Big_Pun]

what many people forget is red sea is a natural salt that is collected by water evap and then the left over salt is collected, so it doesn't mix like the lab mix salt we are used to. Alton is right you add a lil at a time and it mixes clear.
I've used every brand of salt and the two I like best is Salinity(which I use now) and microblift reef salt.

[ErikH]

IO is suprisingly one of the best salts out there. Unfortunately the link I had with the comparison of 14 different salts was taken down as they are working on another, updated version. IO and Red Sea were the bees knees out of that list though.

[Big_Pun]

has a response from red sea

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2084966

[polarbear]

I wish I would have know it would do this. I just talked to someone about it and they advised that I might have added to much salt to the water. I have to check to see when I get home. I followed the instructions on the bucket but maybe I did it wrong. I hate when stuff like this happens. I need to do a water change ASAP and have no extra RO water. Now I have to wait 2 or 3 days until I can make some more.

[Big_Pun]

I wish I would have know it would do this. I just talked to someone about it and they advised that I might have added to much salt to the water. I have to check to see when I get home. I followed the instructions on the bucket but maybe I did it wrong. I hate when stuff like this happens. I need to do a water change ASAP and have no extra RO water. Now I have to wait 2 or 3 days until I can make some more.
what do you use to check salinity, i kinda go by the instructions but ultimate i go by my refractometer??

[polarbear]

I dont have a refractometer yet. I need to get one. I use a hydrometer. I havent checked it since I mixed the salt on Sunday. I was waiting for it to clear up. Ill check it when I get home to see what the reading is.

[350gt]

that still doesnt explain the brown sludge that was over everything i was using...

that just seems like too much to mix your salt.....

I have never had to do any special steps to mix IO or reef crystals.....

or try that kent salt someone else recommended.... I might try it one day too, its has good reviews...

[kkiel02]

Is this the Red Sea Coral Pro? This is my favorite salt to date. I dump in all my salt at once with just a little rio powerhead in the bottom for mixing in my large brute. Never had any issues like you described. I do 40g changes every two weeks on my system. The only thing I have run into was a little low on alk but now I throw in a couple spoon fulls of kalk in my top off every so often and the numbers have evened out. Well now Im rambling but just trying to give you the most info on my system as possible. Hope you figure it out though.

[polarbear]

Yes it's the red sea coral pro salt. Home many cups do you use for the 40 gallon water change?

I checked the salinity and it was over 1.032. I took out 5 gallons of water and added 5 gallons of RO water and it brought the salinity down to 1.028. I took out 3 more gallons and am making some more water to add back in there.

If I get the salinity back down to 1.025 should the cloudiness go away?

[Big_Pun]

do you all having sludge problems wash all your gear after using it. I used to not care and notice the same brown stuff in my mixing tank. now I wash everything with fresh water after each use

also polar bear are you running any carbon, filter floss or socks?? my tank goes cloudy for few hours after i do a water change

[polarbear]

Yes I run carbon, GFO and a mesh filter sock. I'll have to check tomorrow to see if the cloudiness goes away

[LuckySingh]

Salinity is the best salt that I hve ever used but kinda expensive for me now with my current system .... I use reef crystals now that is also not to bad..
So some reason I never likes red sea salt mainly because of low alk after use.. However I only briefly used it

[Thawk7464]

IMO the snow storm you get from mixing red sea are any salt is from the salt not being mixed the correct way so in the end you get cloudy water meaning all of the elements did not mix.

[polarbear]

Ya I talked to Louis at elegant reefs today and he advised me that when the cal, etc precipitates out it won't mix back up again. So I'm going to get some new DI resin and make new water. Hopefully the water will be ready by this weekend.

[Big_Pun]

mix salt slow, I do about half what is needed let it clear up then add rest slow

[350gt]

do you all having sludge problems wash all your gear after using it. I used to not care and notice the same brown stuff in my mixing tank. now I wash everything with fresh water after each use

also polar bear are you running any carbon, filter floss or socks?? my tank goes cloudy for few hours after i do a water change


Chris IDK if it was the same stuff but JT knows what I am talking about..... He had a problem with that salt too.

I would have to take my container to the car wash to get it off and it would come back...... No rag and water would clean it.. I really clean my stuff now after each use. But that other stuff would form while you were mixing the salt and would cake up on the sides and the pumps and hoses, even my heater.. EVERYTHING!.. lol, I gave up on that salt and thought maybe it was a bad batch..... I went back to RC..

I bought a new brute and I never get that stuff while using RC...

[Gseclipse02]

SALT WAS JUNK ... rep was crappy IMO and i wouldn't use a product of that company's again ... lost fish lost corals and only variable was the salt ...


use reef crystals boxes better bang for the buck

[Big_Pun]

SALT WAS JUNK ... rep was crappy IMO and i wouldn't use a product of that company's again ... lost fish lost corals and only variable was the salt ...


use reef crystals boxes better bang for the buck

but you didn't have tests to see what actually killed everything. i used 3 buckets before tearing down my old 70g tank. i used reef crystals for a year and it always turned brown. I stopped having probs when I started monitoring my RO/DI unit and changing out as soon as it crept above 2-3 TDS. alot of factors could have led to your expierence. bad water can make salts act funny, also you could of got a bad batch but more people would have had probs across the U.S. again without test you can't know for sure.

[Ms_Big_Pun]

I've been using red sea in my 20 gallon with no problems. I've never had cloudiness while mixing the water and it mixes pretty quickly. I don't add a ton at a time and usually when I check my salinity (with a refractometer) it's very low...so I go from there slowly. Everything in my little tank looks great and I get nice growth in it. No problems with loss of fish or coral.

[Gseclipse02]

it was my only variable that was changed when everything started to crash the more water changes i did the worst it got .... at the time i would always keep up with my rodi ... low tds for the most part

[Big_Pun]

it was my only variable that was changed when everything started to crash the more water changes i did the worst it got .... at the time i would always keep up with my rodi ... low tds for the most part

did you catch that article in why not to hook up a RO/DI directly. it mentioned a couple people where construction near by got contaminants in pipes and that it got threw the filters and killed everything , just has to be near by.

http://www.melevsreef.com/rodi_recipe_for_disaster.html

[alton]

Well I did another water change today and even though the water was slightly cloudy in the bucket my tank sure looks great after the water change. If I am guessing correctly they are adding so much buffer that with the amount of calcium everything is having a hard time mixing clear? Remember the majority of the salt in the bucket is from the Red Sea with extra additives.

[FireWater]

I do a 20g a week change on my tank and have used the Red Sea Pro for over a year now. No issues.

You have to add it slowly as Chris and Alton said. I am using approximately 1/2 cup per gallon and that gets me close. I add 2 cups at a time and wait for the water to clear up before adding more. I mix the water a day before using it - so if I know I want to do my water change tomorrow night I will set everything up tonight to mix. One key I have found that helps me is strong pumps to mix and using aeration, I use 2 older Koralia 4s in a 32g Brute can. I use clean water and vinegar every other month to clean the pumps and mixing container because you will get a little residue that builds up.

One other thing that I do is test the new water prior to adding it to the tank to check params. I have not had the issues of low kalk yet though.