Need help mixing Two Little Fishies AccuraSea1

[reefiniteasy]

So I’m switching salt. For personal reasons I am no longer using Aquaforest Reef Salt. I decided to switch to Two Little Fishies AccuraSea1. I bought the small 50 gallon box. I just mixed up my first batch to test. Each packet should make 4.5g @ 77F = 1.026.

I brought water in from the garage at 75 degrees. I started up my mixing pump and heater and got the water to 77 degrees. I added one pack of salt and shut the heater, after an hour of mixing the temp is 79.5 and the salt water is 1.024sg. I tested the water and it checks out at 8dKH, CA 425ppm and Mg, 1260ppm.

I’m going to mix another batch. What should I do? Only use 4 gallons of water or use the same 4.5 gallons and add the salt when the water is 75 degrees so it heats itself to the 77 degrees.

I just can’t figure out why I didn’t get 1.026sg at the suggested 4.5 gallons at 77 degrees.

 

[CoralB]

I wouldn’t waste the water but like all salt if the batch at the manufacturer isn’t mixed properly you have to mix it . In this case your stuck with individual packets and assuming that’s the issue you’d now have to dose to compensate or open another packet to add . Personally I would dose this batch and check the next packet when you do your next batch and if it’s not meeting the specs given I would place a call into either where you bought it and or the manufacturer and see how they can rectify this .

Salt ain’t cheap !

 

[reefiniteasy]

I wouldn’t waste the water but like all salt if the batch at the manufacturer isn’t mixed properly you have to mix it . In this case your stuck with individual packets and assuming that’s the issue you’d now have to dose to compensate or open another packet to add . Personally I would dose this batch and check the next packet when you do your next batch and if it’s not meeting the specs given I would place a call into either where you bought it and or the manufacturer and see how they can rectify this .

Salt ain’t cheap !

The salt’s specs are right where they should be the only thing off is the specific gravity. My Hanna salinity pen, refractometer and my Tropic Marin hydrometer all say 1.024. The only thing I can think of is the temp went above 77 to 79.5 so the salinity dropped. I’m going to try again and not use a heater. I’ll drop the salt in at 75 degrees.

 

[Montiman]

I am just going to throw this out there. This is so close to the desired parameters that I would use it without a second thought. Unless you are hanging a whole lot of water at once this extremely small variance is of no concern.

 

[reefiniteasy]

I am just going to throw this out there. This is so close to the desired parameters that I would use it without a second thought. Unless you are hanging a whole lot of water at once this extremely small variance is of no concern.

Oh I’m not worried about it at all. Just curious why it didn’t hit the sg it should have. Honestly just practicing mixing it up. It mixes very different than AF. AF salt doesn’t get the water hot when the salt makes contact but this salt does. Also, this mixes so clear, like I can second guess whether I added salt to begin with.

 

[CoralB]

The salt’s specs are right where they should be the only thing off is the specific gravity. My Hanna salinity pen, refractometer and my Tropic Marin hydrometer all say 1.024. The only thing I can think of is the temp went above 77 to 79.5 so the salinity dropped. I’m going to try again and not use a heater. I’ll drop the salt in at 75 degrees.

So your saying 2.5 degrees higher cause a drop from 1.026 to 1.024 . That much ?? . Sure it’s not the salinity pen not being accurate. Just a thought ?

 

[Woodyman]

Ever had this happen to you @TheWB ?

 

[reefiniteasy]

So your saying 2.5 degrees higher cause a drop from 1.026 to 1.024 . That much ?? . Sure it’s not the salinity pen not being accurate. Just a thought ?

All three devices said the same. I have a Hanna pen, VeeGee refractometer and the Tropic Marin High Precision Hydrometer (which is the most accurate of the three). I’ve got backups for my backups. LOL

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

So the only concern is there not as much salt in the package as the claim?

Maybe just not as much as normal got into that packet.

 

[reefiniteasy]

So the only concern is there not as much salt in the package as the claim?

Maybe just not as much as normal got into that packet.

That’s what I thought. I’m going to make another batch at 75 degrees without a heater so the pump and salt heat it to 77. Could a couple degrees cause this issue?

 

[TheWB]

Ever had this happen to you @TheWB ?

I’ve been using this salt, in the 4.5 gal pouches, since Jan of 2019 without issue. It always mixes clear and while I only test it very sporadically and never heat it while mixing, my salinity, as measured by the Tropic Marin Hydrometer, is always 1.026 or close enough that it doesn’t matter. You can always get a bad batch, or as Randy suggested, maybe a bag that was slightly underfilled, but my experience with this salt has been nothing but positive.

 

[reefiniteasy]

I’ve been using this salt, in the 4.5 gal pouches, since Jan of 2019 without issue. It always mixes clear and while I only test it very sporadically and never heat it while mixing, my salinity, as measured by the Tropic Marin Hydrometer, is always 1.026 or close enough that it doesn’t matter. You can always get a bad batch, or as Randy suggested, maybe a bag that was slightly underfilled, but my experience with this salt has been nothing but positive.

This is exactly what I want to hear. I’m going to mix another batch in the morning. I brought water in from the garage this evening. By the morning it’ll be at house temp which is 75 degrees. I’ll add the pump and salt without a heater. About how long do you let it mix? I always had to let AF go two hours.

 

[TheWB]

This is exactly what I want to hear. I’m going to mix another batch in the morning. I brought water in from the garage this evening. By the morning it’ll be at house temp which is 75 degrees. I’ll add the pump and salt without a heater. About how long do you let it mix? I always had to let AF go two hours.

I’ve let it mix for everything between 1 hour, overnight and a couple of times for like two weeks when I mixed it and then decided not to do a water change due to low nutrients if I was worried about bottoming out nitrates or something. It’s pretty forgiving in my experience.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

That’s what I thought. I’m going to make another batch at 75 degrees without a heater so the pump and salt heat it to 77. Could a couple degrees cause this issue?

Temperature won't cause any real salinity change, but it impacts the accuracy of a hydrometer.

 

[reefiniteasy]

Holy crap! I give up. Just mixed up another pouch and it’s clear and 1.024sg. I used 4.5-gallons and no heater. With the water starting at 75 degrees and just a pump to mix, the final temp is 77.3 degrees Fahrenheit. So I’ve come to the following conclusion, either every packet in this box is off or the markings on my bucket have been wrong all these years. I’ll have to check that next. Maybe my 4.5-gallon mark is higher than it should be.

 

[TheWB]

Holy crap! I give up. Just mixed up another pouch and it’s clear and 1.024sg. I used 4.5-gallons and no heater. With the water starting at 75 degrees and just a pump to mix, the final temp is 77.3 degrees Fahrenheit. So I’ve come to the following conclusion, either every packet in this box is off or the markings on my bucket have been wrong all these years. I’ll have to check that next. Maybe my 4.5-gallon mark is higher than it should be.

It I’ll be interesting to know if your markings are correct. The bucket I use for mixing doesn’t have any, I measured out the 4.5 gallons of water with my pump in the bucket and marked the lines for each gallon myself. Never had an issue so far.

 

[reefiniteasy]

It I’ll be interesting to know if your markings are correct. The bucket I use for mixing doesn’t have any, I measured out the 4.5 gallons of water with my pump in the bucket and marked the lines for each gallon myself. Never had an issue so far.

So I think I figured it out. I use a 10 gallon white Brute trash can to mix my water. It’s been marked for the last 4 years. I measured out 4.5-gallons using a pre-marked 5-gallon bucket and poured it in the Brute and low and behold, my markings were higher. This makes sense. According to Two Little Fishies adding 1.5 liters would lower the sg to 1.024. My markings must be higher by about that 1.5 liters. I brought in another 4.5 gallons. Garage temp is higher right now than house temp as we are in Orlando. Once the water gets down to 75 degrees, I’ll mix up another batch.

I would always mix AF to the 5 gallon mark but I experimented and found how much salt by weight it took to get that 5 gallon mark to 1.026. Using the pre-packaged salt means I have to make sure I have exactly the amount of water required since I’m not using partial packs.

 

[reefiniteasy]

And I did it. Exactly 1.026 n the dot. Was definitely my bucket measurements. In 20 minutes I’ll test the water’s alkalinity, magnesium and calcium and then I’ll use it for the first time. Cost me two pouches to find out my bucket measurements weren’t labeled correctly. Live and learn I guess. LOL

 

[TheWB]

And I did it. Exactly 1.026 n the dot. Was definitely my bucket measurements. In 20 minutes I’ll test the water’s alkalinity, magnesium and calcium and then I’ll use it for the first time. Cost me two pouches to find out my bucket measurements weren’t labeled correctly. Live and learn I guess. LOL

I’m glad it’s working out and there wasn’t anything wrong with the packages. I really appreciate that it mixes up clean and to the target parameters I prefer. The pre measured small packages work really well for me also. I usually do a 4.5 gallon water change which is 12% of my system volume. Works out perfect.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I too am glad this is all worked out.