Frustrated with salt mixes

[Biff0rz]

Your "ideal" is apparently not the ideal of others. lol

That said, if you do AWC at night, why do you worry about alk swings?

If you do an AWC every night (say, 1%), there will be no concerning alk swing no matter what the new salt water alk is at. 9 dKH changes with 1% 12 dKH water will only become 9.03 dKH.

Hah, very true. You're right, I do about 1% at night. Tm pro would just do the reverse and drop it below 9 but like you mentioned, barely. I guess I'm thinking more so if I have to do a large w/c, but then alk probably would be the least of my concerns. The brown sludge worries me, I don't want that in my tank. Do you know what it's made of usually?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Hah, very true. You're right, I do about 1% at night. Tm pro would just do the reverse and drop it below 9 but like you mentioned, barely. I guess I'm thinking more so if I have to do a large w/c, but then alk probably would be the least of my concerns. The brown sludge worries me, I don't want that in my tank. Do you know what it's made of usually?

Normal IO has no brown sludge and is what I used for 20 years. Reef Crystals does, and I suspect it may be the result of the vitamins and metal chelators they add (normal IO does not have these).

 

[Bnutz]

I've use regular IO and TM Pro. No brown sludge from either.

 

[Uncle99]

Hmm, not sure what else could cause it? I just changed rodi filters before it browned up so it's not that. I don't heat it either but my pump gets warm and heats it slowly over time.

Over time?
I just made a batch.
It’s completely dissolved and running clear in less than 30 minutes. Then I turn mixing off. I remix for 5 minutes before using. The mix is running 62 degrees F.

Here’s the output:
Temp 62
Salinity 1.026
PH 8.4
Alk 9.5
CA 440
MG 1380

The only time I got “stuff” in my barrel is when I mixed beyond 24 hours heated to 78 degrees F.

 

[Tiki Reef Joshua]

I get minor brown sludge from Fritz RPM blue box. I used to get a lot from reef crystals. I switched a while back. Fritz is right on for my params and mixed clean and fast. I still get some brown in my brute but not bad. I clean it quarterly though. It may have something to do with water circulation. Like maybe we would see less with stronger mixing. I dunno. My tank is happy so I just clean the minimal sludge every 3 months.

 

[Potatohead]

D-D H2Ocean (the original Pro) has parameters around what you are looking for. I would give that a shot next.

 

[Njdevils1220]

I have taken poops with less brown than Fritz. I personally just switched back to Red Sea blue bucket from Tropic Marin Pro reef due to the low parameters and have had 0 issues in my mixing station with sludge and its been about 3 months now. I recommend the salt by Quantum USA. They are an Australian brand and Aquarium Specialty sells them online here in the US. They have three lines of salt. I used the mixed macro with great success. Was exceptionally clean. Only reason I stopped using them was availability was tight at first.

 

[Sleeping Giant]

I can't seem to win. My goal is to mix fresh salt water with ideal params and no brown sludge. I'm not finding much luck doing so with various salts. My goal is 400+ ca, 1400mag, and 9 alk

Instant ocean-
Mixes brown(-), 10alk(-)

Fritz rpm-
Mixes more brown than IO(2x-), 8.5-9alk(+)

Tropic Marin pro
Mixes clean(+), low alk of 7(-)

Tropic Marin classic
Mixes clean (+), 9alk(+), lower ca and mag (2x-)

I really want to keep alk swings low as I do awc at night so I don't want to drop alk suddenly. I also want to have salt ready for large changes that won't swing alk. Lastly I'm not really fond of the idea of mixing tm pro and dosing baking soda to hit the right alk because that means I'm testing my stored water frequently AND it has to gas off for 24 hours.

I'd use fritz if it didn't produce so much brown sludge.... How big of a deal is that?

Have you tried IO reef Crystals?, Mixes good for me. No sludge.

 

[somekindabonita]

ESV checks all your boxes

Do you run ESV right now? I run TM pro and love it except for the availability issues right now! I was curious how people handle mixing volumes if they aren't sure exactly how much water they have?

I have a brute that hooks to the RODI with a float valve. So I get a consistent amount, I just don't know exactly how much that is - figured out with TM the perfect weight of salt by testing salinity, and don't quite understand how that would work out with the multiple parts to ESV

 

[rtparty]

Do you run ESV right now? I run TM pro and love it except for the availability issues right now! I was curious how people handle mixing volumes if they aren't sure exactly how much water they have?

I have a brute that hooks to the RODI with a float valve. So I get a consistent amount, I just don't know exactly how much that is - figured out with TM the perfect weight of salt by testing salinity, and don't quite understand how that would work out with the multiple parts to ESV

I switch between ESV and TM Pro. I have about 150g of each left. I think ESV is the "better" product simply because I like the 9dkh all better than the 7ish found in TM Pro. Parameters wise ESV checks off every box for me. It's also super clean and super consistent.

Does your Brute fill up to the exact same place every time and then you add in salt? If so, fill your Brute up and then pump your water into a measuring bucket. I have a bucket with measurements on the side. Got it from Home Depot or Ace.

You could also weigh it. Weigh the empty Brute and then fill it up. Minus the weight of the Brute from the total. This will tell you exactly how much water you have in there.

Or, maybe the simplest way, how many grams of TM Pro are you adding to get to 1.026?

Micro adjustments are harder with ESV for sure until you figure out your water volume.

 

[somekindabonita]

I switch between ESV and TM Pro. I have about 150g of each left. I think ESV is the "better" product simply because I like the 9dkh all better than the 7ish found in TM Pro. Parameters wise ESV checks off every box for me. It's also super clean and super consistent.

Does your Brute fill up to the exact same place every time and then you add in salt? If so, fill your Brute up and then pump your water into a measuring bucket. I have a bucket with measurements on the side. Got it from Home Depot or Ace.

You could also weigh it. Weigh the empty Brute and then fill it up. Minus the weight of the Brute from the total. This will tell you exactly how much water you have in there.

Or, maybe the simplest way, how many grams of TM Pro are you adding to get to 1.026?

Micro adjustments are harder with ESV for sure until you figure out your water volume.

I think the back calculating idea will get me pretty close that I went ahead and ordered some ESV to try! Thanks for the suggestion. The brute fills to exactly the same level each time with the float valve, so I think I'm set once I figure out the correct volume for ESV.

Side question - why do you like the 9 alk more? I had previously used red sea coral pro with a really high alk and didn't notice much difference in coral growth when switching to TM pro (4 point drop)

 

[rtparty]

I think the back calculating idea will get me pretty close that I went ahead and ordered some ESV to try! Thanks for the suggestion. The brute fills to exactly the same level each time with the float valve, so I think I'm set once I figure out the correct volume for ESV.

Side question - why do you like the 9 alk more? I had previously used red sea coral pro with a really high alk and didn't notice much difference in coral growth when switching to TM pro (4 point drop)

I run my tank around 8 to 8.5dkh. Mixing ESV around 9dkh gives me a little bit of buffer. Even if the salt is off slightly, it won't matter much. With TM Pro if you mix it slightly low or the batch you get is lower, it could be 6 to 6.5dkh and that's too low IMO

 

[lpsouth1978]

Have you tried IO reef Crystals?, Mixes good for me. No sludge.

I think you are the first person in history to say that!

IO Reef Crystals may be the WORST for brown sludge, IME. I have used it for YEARS, but am switching to HW MarineMix Reefer for my new build. I have to clean my mixing barrel after every water change with IO Reef Crystals because the brown crud is covering EVERYTHING in it.

 

[Sleeping Giant]

I think you are the first person in history to say that!

IO Reef Crystals may be the WORST for brown sludge, IME. I have used it for YEARS, but am switching to HW MarineMix Reefer for my new build. I have to clean my mixing barrel after every water change with IO Reef Crystals because the brown crud is covering EVERYTHING in it.

My water is clear after mixing, might be something else that's causing this sludge you all speak of.

 

[lpsouth1978]

My water is clear after mixing, might be something else that's causing this sludge you all speak of.

The issue is not with the water being clear or not. My water has always been clear, though it takes longer than other salts. It is the brown crud that covers the mixing bin, powerhead, heater, and everything else in the mixing bin. There are HUGE numbers of complaints of brown crud from IO Reef Crystals. Even BRS encountered it with their salt testing.

 

[Cory]

I mix my salt with cold ro water and use io and red sea blue bucket. No brown crud ever. Maybe canadian salt is better?

 

[lpsouth1978]

I have used the Blue bucket before and have never had issues with it, just don't like the price. Maybe it is the cold mixing that is changing things with IO Reef Crystals. I heat my water while it is mixing, so maybe the addition of the heat causes some reaction?

 

[Sleeping Giant]

The issue is not with the water being clear or not. My water has always been clear, though it takes longer than other salts. It is the brown crud that covers the mixing bin, powerhead, heater, and everything else in the mixing bin. There are HUGE numbers of complaints of brown crud from IO Reef Crystals. Even BRS encountered it with their salt testing.

I don't use mixing bins, but maybe it's sediment from the water and the salt, I highly doubt it's just the salt. And yes I've watched the BRSTV episode about it.
I used TMP before using reef Crystals, and see no difference, but I clean my pails after use, everytime.

 

[Sleeping Giant]

I have used the Blue bucket before and have never had issues with it, just don't like the price. Maybe it is the cold mixing that is changing things with IO Reef Crystals. I heat my water while it is mixing, so maybe the addition of the heat causes some reaction?

I heat mine while mixing or the salinity won't be right.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

My water is clear after mixing, might be something else that's causing this sludge you all speak of.

It is very well known that Reef Crystals often has brown sludge and normal Instant Ocean does not. Does it always, or just sometimes? Not sure. Are you sure you are using Reef Crystals? How long have you been mixing in that container?

I see you are in Canada. The manufacturer has different factories in different parts of the world (at least last time I was told about it, which was a while ago) and perhaps the Canadian source is different and/or uses a slightly different recipe.