New Purple Instant Ocean High Calcium + Magnesium...What's Changed?

[george9]

Hi all,
Interesting issue came up today as I was doing my weekly water change. I use normal purple Instant Ocean to change my water which usually mixes anywhere between 1250-1300PPM magnesium and 350-400 calcium. I've used this salt for the entire time I've had my tank (since Nov 2021) and admittedly have gotten lazy with checking the freshly mixed parameters because they were always so stable. My tank's mag had been slowly climbing since I opened a new bag about 2 months ago (I purchased the bag in summer 2022, had it sitting a while) and calcium is slightly elevated as well.

Today, I finally test the fresh batch of water before I do the water change and magnesium is above 1500ppm, and the salifert calcium test resulted in 490 ppm.

I opened a brand new 50lb bag of IO to double check with a freshly mixed batch - SAME thing. Calcium again pushing 500 and mg is above 1500PPM. My tank is now 470-500ppm In Ca thanks to this salt which is not the worst, but leaves little room for error. I usually run ca 400-450 and mg 1350-1400 in my tank and typically have to supplement Ca and Mg to IO water change water since they run low

I THEN took both samples (my water change water and the sample with the fresh new salt) to the LFS to test in their Aqua spin. Here are the results:

Water change water (opened bag of IO from summer-2022):
Ca - 440
Mg - 1693 -WHAT!

brand new bag of IO bought from Petco 2 weeks ago:
Ca - 465
Mg - 1560

Salinity is between 1.025 -1.026 using Hanna checkers and 2 calibrated refractometers, so not an issue with high salinity.
These are both CONSIDERABLY higher than any other bag of IO I used, and these are two separate bags bought months apart. Anyone else struggling with this too?

I cannot use salt with 1700ppm of magnesium and I don't want to buy bag after bag only to find the same issue. I contacted IO and they told me there has been no change in formulation so ia not sure where to go from here.

 

[george9]

Well seems like I may be alone here in this issue lol.

I ended up buying another 15 lb bag AND a 160g bucket and the 15lb bag ALSO tested too high but the bucket was perfect.

Not sure what is going on with QC over there at Instant Ocean but I’d say AVOID the $12.99 15lb bags of instant ocean and go for the bucket or 200g box instead.

 

[Gtinnel]

I have always heard with reef crystals (I assume the regular I/O is probably the same way) you have to mix up the salt before using it. If not there can be parts of the dry mix that will have higher or lower parameters.
I normally buy the buckets and I will roll them around on the floor to mix it up before using it.

 

[Raph]

I have always heard with reef crystals (I assume the regular I/O is probably the same way) you have to mix up the salt before using it. If not there can be parts of the dry mix that will have higher or lower parameters.
I normally buy the buckets and I will roll them around on the floor to mix it up before using it.

That's good to know!

 

[george9]

I have always heard with reef crystals (I assume the regular I/O is probably the same way) you have to mix up the salt before using it. If not there can be parts of the dry mix that will have higher or lower parameters.
I normally buy the buckets and I will roll them around on the floor to mix it up before using it.

Ah I did not think of this! I am too lazy to mix up another batch now but would be interesting to see what would happen if I tossed the bag around a bit and then mixed it.

 

[Gtinnel]

Ah I did not think of this! I am too lazy to mix up another batch now but would be interesting to see what would happen if I tossed the bag around a bit and then mixed it.

I’ve never actually tested it to see but I know blending the dry mix better can’t hurt. I honestly never check the alk/cal/mag on my newly mixed saltwater.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi all,
Interesting issue came up today as I was doing my weekly water change. I use normal purple Instant Ocean to change my water which usually mixes anywhere between 1250-1300PPM magnesium and 350-400 calcium. I've used this salt for the entire time I've had my tank (since Nov 2021) and admittedly have gotten lazy with checking the freshly mixed parameters because they were always so stable. My tank's mag had been slowly climbing since I opened a new bag about 2 months ago (I purchased the bag in summer 2022, had it sitting a while) and calcium is slightly elevated as well.

Today, I finally test the fresh batch of water before I do the water change and magnesium is above 1500ppm, and the salifert calcium test resulted in 490 ppm.

I opened a brand new 50lb bag of IO to double check with a freshly mixed batch - SAME thing. Calcium again pushing 500 and mg is above 1500PPM. My tank is now 470-500ppm In Ca thanks to this salt which is not the worst, but leaves little room for error. I usually run ca 400-450 and mg 1350-1400 in my tank and typically have to supplement Ca and Mg to IO water change water since they run low

I THEN took both samples (my water change water and the sample with the fresh new salt) to the LFS to test in their Aqua spin. Here are the results:

Water change water (opened bag of IO from summer-2022):
Ca - 440
Mg - 1693 -WHAT!

brand new bag of IO bought from Petco 2 weeks ago:
Ca - 465
Mg - 1560

Salinity is between 1.025 -1.026 using Hanna checkers and 2 calibrated refractometers, so not an issue with high salinity.
These are both CONSIDERABLY higher than any other bag of IO I used, and these are two separate bags bought months apart. Anyone else struggling with this too?

I cannot use salt with 1700ppm of magnesium and I don't want to buy bag after bag only to find the same issue. I contacted IO and they told me there has been no change in formulation so ia not sure where to go from here.

While I dont trust aqua-spin, I have no doubt that its high. This salt is manufactured to have a level of Mag at 1320 and CA at 400 but if salt level is high, those readings too may be high.
What is your specific gravity at? Also when is last time you calibrated your salinity tester?
It also makes me wonder if the wrong type went into your bags and is reef crystals ??
I would address this with their technical team at 1-800-822-1100, 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

 

[ThaBeast]

I have always heard with reef crystals (I assume the regular I/O is probably the same way) you have to mix up the salt before using it. If not there can be parts of the dry mix that will have higher or lower parameters.
I normally buy the buckets and I will roll them around on the floor to mix it up before using it.

BRS did a video on this, none of the salts tested showed any significant stratification.

 

[Gtinnel]

BRS did a video on this, none of the salts tested showed any significant stratification.

Maybe it’s just an old wives tale then. I’ve heard it for a long time and never bothered to actually test it.

 

[ThaBeast]

Maybe it’s just an old wives tale then. I’ve heard it for a long time and never bothered to actually test it.

It actually made sense to me, I used to roll buckets every time I made water. I wont be rolling buckets for my new build

 

[george9]

While I dont trust aqua-spin, I have no doubt that its high. This salt is manufactured to have a level of Mag at 1320 and CA at 400 but if salt level is high, those readings too may be high.
What is your specific gravity at? Also when is last time you calibrated your salinity tester?
It also makes me wonder if the wrong type went into your bags and is reef crystals ??
I would address this with their technical team at 1-800-822-1100, 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

I’m thinking that is what happened as well. Those Ca and Mg readings would be high even for reef crystals I think lol
I don’t trust aqua spin much either (it was 1.5dkh off on my Alk) but since my salifert tests weren’t even registering with how high Mag was, that would corroborate the 1600-1700 aqua spin Mag result. Doesn’t really matter the exact result, the point is it’s wayyy high.

I did think it was salinity at first. Both samples were 1.025 according to my Hanna, and two refractometers that I re-calibrated before sampling. The LFS also tested the water at 1.025 with their probe, so I am pretty certain salinity is likely not the culprit. Especially since the salt I used from the bucket just now mixed exactly as expected with the same amount of salt.

I will call next week!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Maybe it’s just an old wives tale then. I’ve heard it for a long time and never bothered to actually test it.

A tech rep from IO long ago tested it himself by putting a bucket on a washing machine for a while and it did happen.

Of course it's going to vary depending on the motion history of the bucket.

 

[Airwolf]

I recently have had a similar jump using the same salt.

 

[spsick]

Funny, I just got 2 new buckets from Amazon and after a good mixing (took some out, rolled and shook bucket) I’m getting:

10.5 dkh
400 Ca
1100mg.

All new Salifert test kits cross referenced with new batch of Red Sea blue bucket that came in all normal params.

 

[Reef Dude]

Hi all,
Interesting issue came up today as I was doing my weekly water change. I use normal purple Instant Ocean to change my water which usually mixes anywhere between 1250-1300PPM magnesium and 350-400 calcium. I've used this salt for the entire time I've had my tank (since Nov 2021) and admittedly have gotten lazy with checking the freshly mixed parameters because they were always so stable. My tank's mag had been slowly climbing since I opened a new bag about 2 months ago (I purchased the bag in summer 2022, had it sitting a while) and calcium is slightly elevated as well.

Today, I finally test the fresh batch of water before I do the water change and magnesium is above 1500ppm, and the salifert calcium test resulted in 490 ppm.

I opened a brand new 50lb bag of IO to double check with a freshly mixed batch - SAME thing. Calcium again pushing 500 and mg is above 1500PPM. My tank is now 470-500ppm In Ca thanks to this salt which is not the worst, but leaves little room for error. I usually run ca 400-450 and mg 1350-1400 in my tank and typically have to supplement Ca and Mg to IO water change water since they run low

I THEN took both samples (my water change water and the sample with the fresh new salt) to the LFS to test in their Aqua spin. Here are the results:

Water change water (opened bag of IO from summer-2022):
Ca - 440
Mg - 1693 -WHAT!

brand new bag of IO bought from Petco 2 weeks ago:
Ca - 465
Mg - 1560

Salinity is between 1.025 -1.026 using Hanna checkers and 2 calibrated refractometers, so not an issue with high salinity.
These are both CONSIDERABLY higher than any other bag of IO I used, and these are two separate bags bought months apart. Anyone else struggling with this too?

I cannot use salt with 1700ppm of magnesium and I don't want to buy bag after bag only to find the same issue. I contacted IO and they told me there has been no change in formulation so ia not sure where to go from here.

For what it is worth, I am experiencing the exact same thing. I am using the 200 gallon boxes (with the 4 50-gallon bags of salt inside). Not sure what the effects of high magnesium will be. I’m not worried about the calcium, and I can dose less calcium to my system if needed. I do small daily water changes, so the levels in my tank will creep up gradually over time.

What’s crazy is that my last couple 160 gallon buckets of IO had magnesium levels of like 900 and I had to add quite a bit of magnesium to bump it up. Now it’s the opposite issue with the 200 gallon boxes.

I’m not overly concerned about it at the moment, but that could change. I’ve tried many different salts over the last 20 years, and I keep coming back to regular IO. I hope these issues get resolved so I don’t have to change salts.

 

[george9]

Wow so we have results all over the board now lol. Something must be up with quality control for them to vary this widely. To be honest I’d rather have a box with low parameters that I have to bump up myself rather than trend my tank towards 1700ppm Mg and kill all my snails. It’s easy and cheap to raise parameters but not so easy to lower them

Good thing is PETCO was able to refund, no questions asked.

 

[Reef Dude]

I was just thinking that I used Coralife many years ago. It had magnesium around 1500, and my tank at the time had no issues with it. Now if you’re talking a level of 1600+, I’m not sure at what point magnesium is “too high” and is detrimental to the tank.

If the magnesium becomes too high for my liking, I’ll run out the boxes of IO I have left by buying a different brand and then mixing a couple of scoops of the IO into the mixing bin each time I make a new batch of saltwater with a different salt brand.

 

[KStatefan]

I will have to check mine that I mixed up last weekend. I used all of the 50 gallon bag so settling will not effect it.

Just checked

Salinity 1.0258
Calcium 390
Magnesium 1390
Alk 10.3

 

[Tamberav]

It makes sense that the particles may settle with time or movement, I doubt every particle in there is uniform. Seems like common sense to me. Not that it happens in every situation.

Mix up an entire new 50g bag and see what it reads is probably the best way to check.

My LFS here recently (dec? Jan?) stated there was a salt price of IO/RC coming from the manufacture, so not sure if something did in fact change the product itself as well (maybe?).

 

[vetteguy53081]

It makes sense that the particles may settle with time or movement, I doubt every particle in there is uniform. Seems like common sense to me. Not that it happens in every situation.

Mix up an entire new 50g bag and see what it reads is probably the best way to check.

My LFS here recently (dec? Jan?) stated there was a salt price of IO/RC coming from the manufacture, so not sure if something did in fact change the product itself as well (maybe?).

Prices are up $5 a bucket and $7 a box.
It appears same formula and weight. Theyre saying its due to supply chain cost of freight and even packaging. I can believe this especially noticing the $2 buckets at walmart are now $4 and a bucket at Home Depot is now $5