Time to switch out salts....

[Solo McReefer]

I use Reef Crystals

I get a brown residue in my mixing jug

Don't care. It cleans up easy. Little vinegar, shake, rinse, it's gone

I like the numbers that RC mixes to. I like that it is the goto salt of most coral farmers. I like the price. I like the availability

 

[exnisstech]

I've been mixing IO and RC for several years. I've always gotten a brown residue in the mixing brute but I don't really care since it's just a mixing station and I've never seen it in the DT. I know some people are bothered by the residue and those folks probably clean their sumps also. Nothing wrong with that I'm just not worried about how things look except in the DT.

 

[JamesZ.]

A good youtube vid about different Tropic Marin salts.

 

[B&CinB.C.]

I'm only on my second bucket of salt. I ordered a 200 gallon box of reef crystals when I ordered the tank. Have now switched to Red Sea blue bucket. When I mixed the Reef Crystals it looked like there was a fine layer of sawdust on the water. I was pumping it through a fine filter sock for water changes. When the box was gone there was about a 1/8 inch layer of brown scum on the bottom of the brute can. It did clean out easily with citric acid but I still switched to the Red Sea Blue. Unfortunately the Red Sea is almost twice the cost.

 

[Solo McReefer]

residue and those folks probably clean their sump

 

[Trizz]

Consider Nyos PURE

Excellent salt with great parameters

Not quite as premium pricing as Tropic Marin.

best salt I've ever used ...

 

[TurboTang]

Another IORC user. I get some type of film in my saltwater mixing bucket, I just clean it with vinegar once or twice a year.
However, I do a few things that probably help the situation. First, I never run a heater in it and I only run (circulating) pumps for a day or two while making a new batch. I leave the pumps running for about 24 hours after I get to my target salinity and then shut them off. Something I remember reading is that, at least with certain salt mixes, the pumps can cause the precipitation. Maybe it's right, maybe it's wrong, but it works fine for me.
The other thing I do is filter it. I keep a small return pump in the bucket and run a hose up to a filter sock that's hanging over the side of the bucket (so the water is getting pumped from the bottom of the bucket, into the sock and back into the bucket). This is one of the pumps that I use to help mix the salt, but it picks up whatever else is in there as well. I usually end up swapping the filter sock out about once a year or so.

Unrelated, but I always get the big boxes of salt. The few times I got the buckets, there was a lot more pieces of orange plastic in them than I would've expected. But that return pump grabbed them all.

I can confirm your findings about the pumps promoting the precipitation - I commonly mix salt in 2 buckets at same time and use a fairly high powered tunze in one and a weak "petco" or some brand intended for 10g size tank in other. Crystal clear in one, and yellowish/brown dusting on everything in tunze.
If I only let the tunze run for an hour no problem. If I forget and it runs all night is when the precip is obvious

 

[Joe.D]

The point is it can happen with any salt. That is why many people do and don't get the residue with the same salts.

I use Tropic Marin Pro and I get brown residue if I leave some water in the brute for a period of time. That said, I just wipe it out with a paper towel every so often.

 

[spsick]

+1 for Nyos. No residue and often on sale.

 

[thedon986]

I used Reef Crystals and hated the brown residue in my buckets. These days I like lower alk so I used Fritz for a long time and just switched to Pro Reef and love it. It mixes up so well and you can tell it's a nicer quality overall. The alk has been a little lower than I like at 6.8 so I am bumping that up to 7.5. It mixes so clean all I have to do is rinse the Brute after my water change and that is it. I have been moving to a lot of Tropic Marin products; All for Reef and Bacto Balance and like them all. They make quality stuff. I know they had a salt issue but every brand has so can't knock them forever on that.

 

[00W]

I have seen many great tanks using many different salts.
All great, all different.
I've been keeping saltwater since I was 19.
I'm 55 now.
Over that amount of time I've used many, many different salts.
I have a story for all of them.
I've had success with all of them.
Some mixed better than others, some left residue, some precipitated.
Of all the salts I've ever used IO purple bucket was the most consistent and left the least crap in the bucket.
That being said it also took forever to mix for me but I could mix it an eternity and it was bullet proof. Cheap too.
Due to working 70 hours a week, however, I did just switch to red sea blue bucket due to it mixing in about 20 minutes.
I've used coral pro for years too.
I like them both.
Don't like the residue but so far I'm happy with it.
My 2 cents.

 

[slingfox]

The point is it can happen with any salt. That is why many people do and don't get the residue with the same salts.

That brown residue is significantly less common or a complete non-issue with certain of the highest purity salts, ie, ESV, Nyos, and Tropic Marin. Whether that higher purity of those salts has a material affect on the tank is up for debate (the success of many running IO suggests it is a non-issue).

Due to my OCD tendencies I personally like to have my mixing and storage vessels as pristine and clean as possible. I therefore have zero issues buying a salt that mixes and stores clean. I started the hobby with Red Sea red bucket but didn't like the brown residue it left behind so switched to TM Pro and Nyos and couldn't be happier.

 

[slingfox]

best salt I've ever used ...

Agreed. I have used both TM Pro and Nyos and prefer Nyos. The problem is Nyos Pure has been out of stock for months (or that's what it seems like). There is a 20% off Nyos product sale going on now but you can't find their salt in stock anywhere!

 

[Roatan Reef]

That change may change your water chemistry.
Some might not appreciate that.

Some of the best tanks I’ve ever seen where done on IO.

It’s not the salt, it’s the user.

Agreed, ask @vetteguy53081 and just about any marine aquarium In the world what they are using?? Ask my best most high end LFS what they are using??

Simple! IORC!!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Agreed, ask @vetteguy53081 and just about any marine aquarium In the world what they are using?? Ask my best most high end LFS what they are using??

Simple! IORC!!

You'll get varied answers based on everyone's favorites. After 43 years, Ive used/tried most every salt.
Instant Ocean for decades is the salt brand used in most every public aquarium and is one of the oldest brands out there. Its sister reef crystals has higher chemical contents for coral support and growth. Salts like these and other reef salts- Be sure to read the analysis. The higher content can in some cases be too high for your needs.
I currently use Tropic Marin but have several buckets on standby of Reef Crystals as there was a deal at the beginning of the year prior to price increases and as many did- stocked up
My favorite all time is Seachem Salinity and followed by seachem aquavitro. I hard a hard time finding it and when i did, it was approaching the $100 mark for a bucket
Other great brands are Fritz, Hawaiian tropic Marine, Kent, Coralife, Nyos and Brightwell

 

[Joe31415]

The higher content can in some cases be too high for your needs.

Agreed. Again, I use Reef Crystals. Out of the box, I think the alkalinity is something like 13 or 14. Does anyone actually run their alk that high?
But it works for me. I do a ~3% water change every day (works out to about 100%/mo). I have a dosing pump adding alk throughout the day and I still have to manually add more once a week or so, just to keep it over 8.

 

[Jimbo327]

I would say Nyos. But they are never available now, so it no good for their brand if they can't make it consistently available. I guess TM is the next go to.

 

[Jimbo327]

I would say Nyos. But they are never available now, so it no good for their brand if they can't make it consistently available. I guess TM is the next go to.

 

[vlangel]

Good for you not dealing with IO’s lower quality and standards.

If you are dosing your tank, just continue as normal. If you have leftover IORC then you can do a slow transition to TM Pro. Mix like 75 old and 25 new for a couple weeks. Then 50/50 and so forth

IO is not low quality and as far as standards it is very very consistent. That is why so many public aquariums use it. It's a good salt for a good value and I hate to hear it described so harshly. I don't want new hobbyists to get the wrong idea about it. That being said, yes, there is a residue left in my mixing bucket but it is harmless.

 

[UMALUM]

I'm 99.9 % sure that the residue left behind is from being mixed and or stored at temperatures that exceed their recommendations. While the jury's out and probably always will be on the exact ingredient or combination of ingredients that's causing this I've found that mixing it between 75 and 78 leaves absolutely no residue. I've used them for 25 years and up until just recently never had a problem. I would strongly recommend testing every bag / bucket if you don't already. My flying blind days almost got me.