Fritz's RPM reef salt low dKH

[flyfisher2]

Fritz ruined a YouTuber's 500g tank, they sent a rep around to intimidste him also.

care to elaborate?

 

[SamsReef]

Fritz salt became popular a few years back as a good alternative to Red Sea and tropic marine. It used to mix clean and fast.

a lot of people tried it and a lot of people regretted it and a lot of people moved on!!!

Back to paying more for Red Sea and tropic marine but tank has always been stable and healthier.

sam

 

[flyfisher2]

Fritz salt became popular a few years back as a god alternative to Red Sea and tropic marine. It used to mix clean and fast.

a lot of people tried it and a lot of people regretted it and a lot of people moved on!!!

Back to paying more for Red Sea and tropic marine but tank has always been stable and healthier.

sam

Fair enough... seems like there are enough red flags to steer away. I'll use what I have and continue with what works.

 

[happyhourhero]

These threads are always interesting. In its heyday, the replies would always be “the test kits are wrong”, “the hobbyist doesn’t know how to test”, “you mixed it wrong”, etc. Never even the possibility that a bad batch could have gotten through.
There was a thread on Facebook where I agreed that I had moved onto another salt because I was not getting consistent results with Fritz and one of the reps ended up messaging me with a screenshot of a post I made in the same group about a mg test from a few months prior as if that negated my experience with Fritz.

 

[flyfisher2]

Wow,
To be fair I’m pretty sure that our comments on this forum can impact sales dramatically and basically make or break some of the up and coming companies.
We need to be as fair as possible and be aware of who is being truthful and who is just trying to knockout their competition.

 

[1Clown]

care to elaborate?

 

[Uncle99]

2 years, 17 boxes, Fritz Blue, has mixed clean and clear and to these levels every time. I do turn the box several times after purchase and I never heat the water. Very happy customer.
Alk 9.2dkh
CA 440ppm
MG 1380ppm

 

[jhOU]

3 years of fritz blue box, no issues. I also tumble the salt around in the bag, and do not heat the water until thoroughly mixed and ready to be used. Sure it’s possible to have bad batches, but improper mixing/precipitation is more likely in most cases of people having issues.

 

[ZoWhat]

Idk man.... Rico more concerned about disrespect than getting to the bottom line facts and answers

What was never talked about was a specific step-by-step outline of EXACTLY how Rico does water changes.

What was missed was communication among all parties. The Mfgr-Rep should have been open and honest that his presence inside Rico's home was to look at equipment, RODI station, mixing station, exact step-by-step procedures..... along with water tests.

With Rico's 57min video rant... I only made it thru 30mins because it was going on and on about disrespect. And not talking about specific husbandry skills

I'd be more inclined to listen more in-depth if Rico spelled out his exact mixing procedures.... and if all roads led to it being a bad batch of salt after specifically green-checkmarking off steps by steps. Evrryone has their own twist to doing WCs. Some twists are improper shortcuts unfortunately.

I can't come to a conclusion without knowing all the facts and the exact steps thst were taken.

We are all creatures of habit and if Rico was mixing water change water using one improper step due to improper training or knowledge, then it goes beyond a bad batch of salt.

My biggest concern is Rico said that everytime he did a WC like X, Y and Z, that A, B and C would happen and things got worse.

What is X, Y and Z? What are A, B and C?

New salt mix added to a system is hard on the system. All kinds of chemical bonds and Ions are forced to make new bonds. New salt is not the end-all be-all perfect environment to our systems. Aged new salt water has a softer change.

Wouldn't someone after a couple of times seeing weird/bad WC mix.... mix up a batch of WC water in a separate container/ drum and fully test it prior to releasing it permanently into a system worth thousands of dollars as in Ricos case?

I would hope a public aquarium worth millions of dollars would fully test WC water prior to releasing it to millions of dollars worth of livestock. They obviously can't afford to turn the lights on one day and see dozens of livestock belly-up floating on the surface.

I still have way too many questions without coming to my own conclusions.

Was it a bad batch of salt in Rico's case??? Probably but we don't know the WHOLE story either....

Sometimes the brownies taste like crap and its not bc the brownie dry mix was bad.
.

 

[ariellemermaid]

1 year into reefing and only ever used Fritz mainly because it’s the cheapest salt I’ve been able to find. I’m using red box which is supposed to have a DKH of like 10 and I did a 90% WC last week because I had to move a QT tank. Anyway, Alk was like 6.7 after the WC (I didn’t test the new water for alk beforehand). My real complaint though is this:

So much residue! This Brute was my brand new one, and I used the salt within a week of mixing. Usually the residue is brown and I have to clean everything after each batch, but this time it’s more of a brown-white.

This is my other new Brute (I was stocking up for a new/used tank that didn’t work out). Notice the residue on the bottom as well as residue almost oily looking on the top (has new mixed water in it in case you can’t tell).

Now I’ve read every salt has some residue but folks also talk about rarely cleaning their mixing containers. How could I not clean this after every use?! I’m really looking for suggestions here. Should I ignore it and not clean, am I doing something wrong in heating the water before mixing (like the box says to do), or would I fare better by trying a different brand?

 

[fdevans]

@ariellemermaid What did you end up doing? I'm seeing the same thing with my Fritz Red Box salt that is discussed in this thread. (Low Alk, excessive gunk in mixing station, inconsistent numbers)

 

[ariellemermaid]

@ariellemermaid What did you end up doing? I'm seeing the same thing with my Fritz Red Box salt that is discussed in this thread. (Low Alk, excessive gunk in mixing station, inconsistent numbers)

You know, it’s really weird. Some batches have a copious amount of fine residue as above, other times I end up with some chunky sediment, and other times almost nothing.

It may just be superstition, but I feel like I’ve had the best results doing the following:
-Heat the DI water (optional but I tend to do big water changes on small tanks, plus it mixes faster)
-Mix up the salt
-Use the saltwater the same day (minimum 2 hour mix per the box)
-Remove/turn off the heater from any remaining salt water and stop mixing

I feel like removing the heat and stopping mixing seems to give me the best sediment results. In terms of Alk, I’ve noticed a significant difference using the salt the same day. I’ve recently gone up to 11-12 on my tank and doing a 30% WC it takes a little dip maybe to 10, but not nearly as much as saltwater that’s a day+ old (I’m using red box). This is consistent with BRS results showing Alk does decrease over time with most salt mixes, it just seems like Fritz tanks really fast.

I still give my reservoir a wipe down with vinegar between every batch or it just gets worse with the next batch. I’m fairly committed to making Fritz work for me because it seems to be the most economical salt on the market and I just don’t believe there’s a significant difference in reef outcomes between salts despite anecdotes out there. Using super expensive salt, to me, is akin to people who buy copious amounts of vitamins/nutritional supplements; there’s a psychological benefit, but I doubt much more. But, I did see a BRS video opining on the idea that not all NaCl mining sources are equal. If one uses edible grade and another has a more “dirty” mining source, that could account for sediment and some folks who swear they got a bad batch that hurt their tank. So far though, my corals have done great with Fritz even though I have one tank that’s thriving and one tank that kills most corals I put in. I could easily blame the bad tank on salt if I didn’t have the other tank to prove it’s not the case.

Down the road I’m putting in a new 200g with a fish room and AWC (hopefully on Monday!). In that situation the NSW will probably be lower Alk than the tank, but with a consistent AWC every day I’m sure I can just dial in dosing to make up for it. I’m planning to run 8-9 in that tank but I’m planning to keep using red box given the drop off (and plus if the NSW is higher Alk than the tank that means less dosing cost!).

Below is my batch from last weekend. A little oil on top, but almost completely clean; the only dried sediment is just salt. This was strictly following the list above. But it still seems to vary batch to batch even from the same box. Or maybe just how lazy I am between mixing and using it/removing heat. Not sure.

 

[ariellemermaid]

I still have way too many questions without coming to my own conclusions.

Was it a bad batch of salt in Rico's case??? Probably but we don't know the WHOLE story either....

Sometimes the brownies taste like crap and its not bc the brownie dry mix was bad.

I’m now re-reading this thread and I have to agree wholeheartedly with this. Except to disagree with the word “probably.” Each box of salt from any manufacturer probably represents at minimum thousands if not 10’s or 100’s of thousands of retail boxes from the same batch. The idea that one loud Reefer with one box on YouTube had a “bad batch” and the remaining thousands + of customers who got boxes from the same batch aren’t reporting the same thing is highly implausible. Tanks don’t do well or fail for all kinds of reasons some of which we will never explain. But one anecdote isn’t proof of anything. Given the timeframes here there’s a good chance @Uncle99 and @jhOU or I used boxes from the same batch and had no problems.

Reefkeeping is so complex with so many variables, I just think there’s a tendency to seek out something to blame and cling to that idea; especially given how much effort and money we put into this hobby day after day.

 

[RMS18]

Well this was a fun thread to come across after getting my first blue box in today... Making the switch from TM Pro, just can't justify the price anymore $110 for 200 gal. I keep my alk at 8.3-8.5 so outside TM Pro and Fritz all other salts mix higher on all at 1.025 and I do not want to get into lowering alk on the mix. I won't be opening the box for another week or so, still have some TM Pro left.

 

[fdevans]

Thanks for the update! I think my issue has been letting it sit too long. I'm mixing a whole new batch right now and going to test after the 2 hour mix window is over and see what ALK i get. I tested last night on a "aged" batch and it was down near high 7s or low 8s. Box says it should be 10-11 so I'll post late tonight or tomorrow morning if I learn anything more.

Thanks again for reviving an old, but helpful thread for a newbie.

 

[ariellemermaid]

Thanks for the update! I think my issue has been letting it sit too long. I'm mixing a whole new batch right now and going to test after the 2 hour mix window is over and see what ALK i get. I tested last night on a "aged" batch and it was down near high 7s or low 8s. Box says it should be 10-11 so I'll post late tonight or tomorrow morning if I learn anything more.

Thanks again for reviving an old, but helpful thread for a newbie.

Yeah my experience is that minimal time heating helps and the folks on here reporting no residue don’t heat at all. So in terms of sediment it seems not heating or minimal heating is the key.

In terms of Alk it’s clear most salt mixes lose some Alk over time, some more than others. So what salt to use all depends on the goals, style, and how it’s used by the Reefer.

 

[Uncle99]

I don’t heat my Fritz at all as I make only a 10% change weekly and use the whole batch. 10% only changed temp 1 degree for a short time.

For me, after 23 boxes, The blue mixes to 9.5dkh, CA440ppm and MG at 1400ppm, PH 8.4.

The red mixes to 12dkh and CA and MG and PH, same as blue.

In Canada, post Covid, TPM reaches $180 a bucket versus Red Sea at $100 and Fritz at $75.

I don’t use low Alk products and in the end, salt was just salt. The difference was always just what I had to add to get my numbers.

Ive seen some really outstanding tanks on Instant Ocean.
It’s not the salt, it’s the reef keeper that makes the difference.

I mix 20g in a brute for 2 hours….it’s done…crystal clear.

 

[ariellemermaid]

I don’t heat my Fritz at all as I make only a 10% change weekly and use the whole batch. 10% only changed temp 1 degree for a short time.

I think that’s another of the keys. Using it quickly; it seems to form more residue the longer it sits around.

In my new build I’ll be making 40g at a time which should last for 2 weeks of AWC. I guess we’ll just have to see how it does, but I’m going to stick with brutes on wheels for easy cleaning. And because I already bought them.

 

[Fishingandreefing]

I think that’s another of the keys. Using it quickly; it seems to form more residue the longer it sits around.

In my new build I’ll be making 40g at a time which should last for 2 weeks of AWC. I guess we’ll just have to see how it does, but I’m going to stick with brutes on wheels for easy cleaning. And because I already bought them.

Any updates on using the fritz salt?

 

[ariellemermaid]

Any updates on using the fritz salt?

I mixed today’s batch cold and used it all the same day. No detectable residue. Alk stayed stable with last week’s WC doing it this way so I don’t expect any surprises.

In a few weeks I’ll be mixing up 200g plus keeping 40g on hand for AWC’s. That’ll be the real test; when mixed cold, how much residue will there be at the end of 2 weeks worth of AWC water and what is the starting and final Alk? Only time will tell.