I've been using TMP for 2 years with absolutely no problems.
I know TM has opened a new plant in a different country, they changed the buckets (packaging) slightly, etc.
But I have to wonder if they've also changed the ingredients, the formula, or maybe both.
Here's why. I do water changes every 10-12 days, I seldom if ever miss a water change. I did the first water change with the new TMP on Oct 16th, 2021. Both Mg, Alk, and Ca have been noticeably decreasing in my system. I've had to increase the Ca and Alk dose weekly to keep up with the lower levels. I've never had to dose Mg. Mg has always been between 1380 and 1350. But it has been slowly decreasing over the last few weeks and is now down to 1100. It's low enough that this week I started to look into dosing Mg.
As part of the research into what Mg supplement I wanted to use etc. I discovered that Mg use is very small and especially in a system as small as mine I should be able to keep up with it with water changes. That's been the case until the last few weeks.
So before I launch down the path setting up a pump and dosing Mg I thought I'd look into when exactly the Mg drop started and see if I could spot another reason besides my tank using it. Fortunately, I keep good logs using both the Apex testing log and the Aquatilog app.
It was very easy to spot exactly when the decline in both Ca and Mg started. Looking back at the latest result logs both the Ca and the Mg were lower one week after I did the first water change using the new TMP mix. They both have been decreasing ever since.
Today just happened to be a water change day. I also just happen to have a small amount of the "old" TMP mix, enough to make about 3 gallons of water with. Last night I mixed both the old and the new. This afternoon I tested both for Ca, Mg and Alk.
Interestingly this is what I've found:
New source TMP: Ca 412 (using Salifert and Hanna they were within 4PPM of each other), Alk 6.6 using Hanna, Mg 1200 using Salifert.
Old source TMP: Ca 440, Alk 7.1 (usual result) Mg 1320
Given those results and the timing of the decrease in the parameters in my system, I would say it's highly likely caused by a change in the TMP mix. I also have noticed there is a residue on my mixing container with the new mix that was never there with the old mix. Before anyone says, "the mix settled in the bucket"; there's a near-zero chance that's the problem. Why? First doing a little searching on the forums I'm seeing many other posts about a change in TMP mix parameters, nearly all of those posts are near the same levels as what I am seeing. Second, and probably more importantly; I keep an empty TMP bucket. When I open a new TMP bucket I open the bucket/bag and pour all of it into the clean empty bucket. I do this in thirds and mix each third. Then I pour that back into the new bucket. If there was any settling that would likely remix the TMP mix.
Maybe myself and the dozen or so other users I've read just got a bad batch, who knows. For now, I'll just add Ca, Mg and Alk to the new mix. In the meantime, though I'm on the hunt for a new salt mix. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.
I know TM has opened a new plant in a different country, they changed the buckets (packaging) slightly, etc.
But I have to wonder if they've also changed the ingredients, the formula, or maybe both.
Here's why. I do water changes every 10-12 days, I seldom if ever miss a water change. I did the first water change with the new TMP on Oct 16th, 2021. Both Mg, Alk, and Ca have been noticeably decreasing in my system. I've had to increase the Ca and Alk dose weekly to keep up with the lower levels. I've never had to dose Mg. Mg has always been between 1380 and 1350. But it has been slowly decreasing over the last few weeks and is now down to 1100. It's low enough that this week I started to look into dosing Mg.
As part of the research into what Mg supplement I wanted to use etc. I discovered that Mg use is very small and especially in a system as small as mine I should be able to keep up with it with water changes. That's been the case until the last few weeks.
So before I launch down the path setting up a pump and dosing Mg I thought I'd look into when exactly the Mg drop started and see if I could spot another reason besides my tank using it. Fortunately, I keep good logs using both the Apex testing log and the Aquatilog app.
It was very easy to spot exactly when the decline in both Ca and Mg started. Looking back at the latest result logs both the Ca and the Mg were lower one week after I did the first water change using the new TMP mix. They both have been decreasing ever since.
Today just happened to be a water change day. I also just happen to have a small amount of the "old" TMP mix, enough to make about 3 gallons of water with. Last night I mixed both the old and the new. This afternoon I tested both for Ca, Mg and Alk.
Interestingly this is what I've found:
New source TMP: Ca 412 (using Salifert and Hanna they were within 4PPM of each other), Alk 6.6 using Hanna, Mg 1200 using Salifert.
Old source TMP: Ca 440, Alk 7.1 (usual result) Mg 1320
Given those results and the timing of the decrease in the parameters in my system, I would say it's highly likely caused by a change in the TMP mix. I also have noticed there is a residue on my mixing container with the new mix that was never there with the old mix. Before anyone says, "the mix settled in the bucket"; there's a near-zero chance that's the problem. Why? First doing a little searching on the forums I'm seeing many other posts about a change in TMP mix parameters, nearly all of those posts are near the same levels as what I am seeing. Second, and probably more importantly; I keep an empty TMP bucket. When I open a new TMP bucket I open the bucket/bag and pour all of it into the clean empty bucket. I do this in thirds and mix each third. Then I pour that back into the new bucket. If there was any settling that would likely remix the TMP mix.
Maybe myself and the dozen or so other users I've read just got a bad batch, who knows. For now, I'll just add Ca, Mg and Alk to the new mix. In the meantime, though I'm on the hunt for a new salt mix. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.
