Does Reef Crystal salt go bad?

[dib]

Hey everyone
I was given an open bag of instant ocean reef salt. I don't have a reef tank but figured I would use it anyway. It doesn't seem to dissolve completely. Is that normal for this kind or does it go bad. I usually just use instant ocean salt and it does not do that.

 

[robbrouse]

If it's not clumped up it should be find.. I guess if it was stored by previous owner in someplace that was damp maybe... If there is not much there maybe just toss it... I use Kent Marine so I've never used it before.

 

[Reefing Madness]

If moisture got in it, its still ok to use, just a pain in the butt to get it dissolved. Reef Crystals is made by the same company as Instant Ocean. Moisture just got to your bag or box. You'll have to hit it hard with a powerhead to get it to completely dissolve.

 

[mike007]

+ 1 and what was stated Mr. Reef Madness.

 

[dib]

So apparently my own bag got damp too.(hate bags, usually get a bucket, don't have this problem) and it too didn't want to completely dissolve. Was it a bad thing to just not use the bottom of the water I gave up on it totally dissolving or did I lose some nutrients.

 

[Reefing Madness]

Na, no worries, you'll lose some in the salt that didnt' get dissolved, but nothing you can do.

 

[808jaymakoa]

I've personally had some bad results with reef crystals in general. One bucket has 500 calcium and the next 360. Numbers always varied. But that's just my personnal experiences

 

[redfishbluefish]

The salt does "go bad." If it is hard to dissolve and/or the poly bag has yellowed....I would not use the salt. I had the exact same problems with it dissolving and the bags yellowed, and the result was, by the time I figured it out, I had lost a couple colonies. In addition, Reef Crystals contain "vitamins," which in general are not overly stable when they become wet.

DUMP IT....or use it as an ice melt product in the winter.

 

[mcarroll]

Ever heard the expression "Keep your powder dry"?

Very important in reefing too....don't see many folks pay heed to this. Regardless of how you buy your salt, you should keep it in an airtight container once opened. Ditto if you plan to store your salt vs using it up. An old salt bucket is one nice options for this.

FWIW the best way to mix salt is by always using an entire package for each mix. Eliminates all measurement, settling and humidity-related issues in one swoop. Unfortunately, it's not a very practical strategy for most people.

Anyway, if your salt gets wet, the water will allow some of the ions to recombine in much less useful forms. True of any salt brand, and no powerhead will help.

Calcium and carbonate ions are probably the most interesting and maybe the most likely ones to recrystalize. Not keeping one's salt dry and salt-measurement irregularities (maybe settling too) account for most of the complains about batch-to-batch salt inconsistencies IME.

-Matt

 

[dib]

Even tho I keep mine in a closet in the house and know nothing happened to it I will be tossing it. Don't want to chance it. Thanks

 

[Reefing Madness]

Ive always used mine. Had mine in the sealed bucket, never run into any problems.

 

[shred5]

Salt does go bad.. I have had lots go bad.. Some of the chemicals used in salt do have a shelf life like most other things. Some react with air and carbon dioxide. Calcium carbonate can percipitate out. Keeping them in a dry place can help keep them longer. while the actual salt does not go bad and you can get a normal salinity reading... One thing is alkalinity will drop with older salts.

 

[Gazog2]

In all my years of running Salt water tanks, never once have I had an issue with salt "going bad", it can get kinda clumpy and can take a little while to dissolve but never had any issues other than that. Although I personally have never had any turn yellow I would not use any salt that turned had.

But clumping or hard from moisture isn't any problem as far as I am concerned. I buy mine in the 160 gallon box which has 4 bags in it, I switch to old salt buckets as needed and keep it in my "Fish Room" so every time I open it a little moisture gets in it, and unless I have several tanks running it take a bit to use an entire bucket. After a while it tends to get a little hard and Chunky towards the bottom.

 

[asmashling]

none of us know what exactly is in the salt mixes - i just know a few which i trust. But you can disolve it a bit better when put in 500ml of sparkling water per 100L of Water. Salt will dissolve real quick.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

You should test alkalinity of the salt water if you are using salt that has been exposed to a lot of moisture and partially solidified. You may see some white pricipitates in the water after dissolving the salt in water. The white pricipitate is most likely calcium carbonate that won't dissolve easily in water. Resulting saltwater may have a much lower alkalinity level as a result.

 

[dib]

I used what I had, well cuz I need to. Tested the water the next day and everything is testing just fine. But I will go back to getting buckets.

 

[PaulKreider]

Iv used it after it went yellow, Nothing notably bad happened, like stated it took a while to dissolve, but I didn't test it or anything so im not sure about it throwing alk or calcium levels off. Somehow my unopened bag went "bad" not quite sure how that happened.

 

[shred5]

I did a little research on reefcrystals specifically and found some posts by Randy Holmes Farley and he states that reef crystal along with a few other salts also have vitamins added and some have organics and they can also go bad...

 

[mcarroll]

Would be curious to hear specifics.

If salt is kept dry, which it needs to be, I don't know why vitamins would break down unusually fast. Once dissolved, my understanding is that the vitamins aren't stable for more than a day or few. (Consistent with the intended usage.)

OTOH, if you buy and store salt in large quantity vs as-needed, maybe this would be a concern. Again I'd be curious to hear specifics.

-Matt

 

[shred5]

Would be curious to hear specifics.

If salt is kept dry, which it needs to be, I don't know why vitamins would break down unusually fast. Once dissolved, my understanding is that the vitamins aren't stable for more than a day or few. (Consistent with the intended usage.)

OTOH, if you buy and store salt in large quantity vs as-needed, maybe this would be a concern. Again I'd be curious to hear specifics.

-Matt

No body said unusually fast.. Everything breaks down especially when exposed to air.. Drugs loose potency after a while. Pretty much everything has a expiration date. Even metal oxidizes or rust. It not really that they go bad it is that they loose their potency. Some of the chemicals in salt actually change form.

I have several old bags of tunze saly that I bought because it was going to get hard to get in the U.S. The alkalinity on them is way down now. I see perpetration on the bottom after mixing. i have had bad corallife salt too...