Instant oceans reef Crystal's

[ScottJ]

Same with the Reef Crystals I just opened. About 1/4 cup per gallon. Add a bit more to get to 1.025. Been that way for the 5 years I've used it.

Are you sure you are using the correct measuring cup?

OOOPS... 1/2 cup :p to get to 1.025...

 

[Sophie"s mom]

I've been using this salt mix since I started this tank roughly a year ago. The past 3 batches though have all been completely off. They say to use a 1/2 cup of salt per gallon and i have been using 1 cup per 4 gallons to get to 1.26 and 35 pp by adding in a 1/4 of a cup at a time an letting it desolve. I just ordered the aqua forest reef salt to give that a try but wanted to see what everyone is using and their reasoning.

I only use IO Reef Crystals and I have never had this problem. I had a problem once with it taking DAYS for the new water to get clear after adding the salt, but I chalked that up to it possibly being old salt. I have never encountered what you are talking about. How are you testing? Also, if you plan to switch salts, it is supposed to be done gradually.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I am also confused. Something is wrong here in the arithmetic. Do you mean specific gravity of 1.026?

Yes, 35 ppt seawater has a specific gravity of about 1.0264.

 

[mckennamichael407]

To everyone who has read this thread. Yes i was testing with a instant oceans hydrometer and a imagitarium and bulk reef supply refractometer. The refractometer was calibrated using ro/di water from a bulk reef supply 6 stage filter and continuum reagents refractometer calibration solution. I have attempted to reach out to instant oceans 3 times now but have not gotten any type of response yet and will update once i do get a response. As i said i have been using this salt for a while now without any issues but it was just this one particular bag that also had a lot of debris in it that I never found inside any of the other bags.

I saw some comments about switch and it being gradual and i appreciate everyones input but would like to let everyone know that i do understand this and plan on slowly adding the new aquaforest mix in with the instant oceans and hopefully having it switched over in the next month as I do 2 water changes every week in smaller batches because that is what I have found to work to get the best result's with this particular tank.

I also ordered a entire new mixing kit while it was on sale through bulk reef rupply (comes with the bucket, refractometer, sicce pump and measuring cup) plus a new redsea testing kit as i dont have enough to do another full batch with this particular bag (because i ended up wasting a lot of it once i found this issue trying different things and dumping batches i was not comfortable using) but have another bag of the instant oceans on hand to continue my weekly maintenance as well as gradualy transition to the new mix.

Everyone saying this isnt possible but instant oceans bags and buckets are filled by machine in a factory and something as little as a single cleaning getting missed on a particular machine or a gasket or any type of bolt or sensor not being maintenenced ontime can cause a a miscalculation (it happens all the time with these things in other fields so i dont see as to why this wouldnt apply for salt mixes as i have worked in factory facilty maintenance and accidentally caused thousanda of dollars in wasted product due to my negilence for wanting to put off a simply cleaning one day so i could leave on time for once and ended up resigning from my supervisor position because it was taking away to much of my personal time with my wife).

I do want to thank everyone for their input and i will try my best to read through everything later today and make individual replies if possible but have been busy the past few days and have not had the time. This post is also not me trying to bash this company as i have never had any issues up until this but i have been wanting to switch to a product that is easier to get a hold of as i no longer frequent the one store I used to get it from and dont like to purchase huge buckets that will take me a year to go through and no place to properly store.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Everyone saying this isnt possible but instant oceans bags and buckets are filled by machine in a factory and something as little as a single cleaning getting missed on a particular machine or a gasket or any type of bolt or sensor not being maintenenced ontime can

We're saying it's not possible because salt can't be more concentrated than salt. Salt is already 100% concentrated -- if anything is added to it (like contaminants or debris or other trace elements), it's less concentrated by definition.

What you're describing is like saying: “I poured 1/4 cup of water into a glass, but somehow I got 1/2 cup.” That’s not concentration -- that’s a measurement error. Water is water. Salt is salt. You can’t fit twice the salinity into half the volume.

If 1/4 cup is reading like 1/2 cup in terms of salinity, then one or both of your measuring tools are wrong. Full stop.

No one is saying your batch couldn't have had bad ratios of major or minor ions -- that absolutely happens. But those changes won't physically make 1/4 cup of powder behave like 1/2 cup in salinity. That kind of difference can’t come from chemistry. It can only come from measurement.

Not trying to beat you up here, but I think it is important for you to understand this.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I agree. There’s no mismanufacturing that can make it 2x potent. It would be a little more potent if magnesium and calcium were left out, since those additives have substantial moisture in them, but even pure NaCl would only make it a little more potent.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I agree. There’s no mismanufacturing that can make it 2x potent. It would be a little more potent if magnesium and calcium were left out, since those additives have substantial moisture in them, but even pure NaCl would only make it a little more potent.

Or if it was 100% mag and all of the NaCl was missing, it would be a bit more dense, but not 2x :)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Or if it was 100% mag and all of the NaCl was missing, it would be a bit more dense, but not 2x :)

It would have to be anhydrous for that, which is not even a normal ingredient. The normal magnesium ingredients, magnesium chloride hexahydrate and magnesium sulfate heptahydrate are half water by weight.

 

[BeanAnimal]

It would have to be anhydrous for that, which is not even a normal ingredient. The normal magnesium ingredients, magnesium chloride hexahydrate and magnesium sulfate heptahydrate are half water by weight.

It is will established that I do engineering math, Randy, not chemistry math. You want to get a good chuckle... give a high school chem test, and I will not make it past the first question where i have to balance a reaction.... even a simple one!

The word stoichiometry causes me to twitch a tic...

 

[twentyleagues]

It is will established that I do engineering math, Randy, not chemistry math. You want to get a good chuckle... give a high school chem test, and I will not make it past the first question where i have to balance a reaction.... even a simple one!

The word stoichiometry causes me to twitch a tic...

Oh yeah I count on my fingers and toes. If its over 19 I dont know the number.

 

[OrionN]

I just portion my 50 gal IO Reef Crystal salt mix bad. I got just 12 bags of 560 gm little bags. Each will mix with 4 gal of water to salinity of just about 35 ppt.
I agree with Bean. You cannot mix 17.5 gm of salt with a litter of water and get a salinity of 35 ppt solution. You will get 17.2 ppt solution. If that salt absorbed water and weight more then the solution will be less concentrate, not more. Certainly not twice as concentrate.
It got to be measurement error. There is no other possibility.
BTW
This is 560 gm. About a mid size glass. I would guess about 8 oz or so of Reef Crystal for 4 gallons. I zero the scale with the plastic cup on it so that is just the salt weight.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I can't pour, measure or weight my salt. I usually grab the boxes that have gone solid, for free or a steep discount. I beat it with a wooden mallet to get it into usable chunks, throw them in the mixing container and let them dissolve. :grimacing-face:

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It is will established that I do engineering math, Randy, not chemistry math. You want to get a good chuckle... give a high school chem test, and I will not make it past the first question where i have to balance a reaction.... even a simple one!

The word stoichiometry causes me to twitch a tic...

Lol