Reef Crystals Salt Mix Problems - Page 12

vessxpress1 · 02/28/2010, 10:10 AM

This was posted by BigJay back in June. I read the first 3 pages of this thread and couldn't get through anymore. It seems as though nobody else is reading everything and rather, just posting their comments.

I'm not here to defend ReefCrystals. But I can tell you guys it is used exclusively at Drs. Foster & Smith coral prop facility and I can guarantee they have a lot more money in livestock than any of us. The water in their coral prop facility is so clear it's like not even looking through water. And the coral looked fine to me.

I stopped using it a while back because I tested trace amounts of nitrate in a new batch. How often is new salt tested for nitrates anyway? I wasn't happy about it. So I switched to Red Sea Coral Pro as well. It's alright but I can't say it doesn't need to be supplemented.

Drs. F&S coral facility has massive skimmers and de-nitrification canisters on their system. Even if the salt contained some nitrate, it would be gone in a flash on their system. I don't have what they have.

As for the brown film, I think the question has been adequately answered 8 months ago, yet we're still talking about it. If all I had was a bucket of RC on hand, I would use it. It worked for a long time for me. I could have just gotten a bad batch. I try not to make blanket statements on quality when I have no way of verifying everything RC puts out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigJay

The brown stuff likely contains a good amount of magnesium in addition to the calcium carbonate. From the article, written by a renowned chemist (Randy):

Most salt mixes leave behind a solid residue when dissolved, although the extent to which this occurs varies from brand to brand. I use Instant Ocean and rarely clean out the 44-gallon trashcan that I mix it in, so a significant residue builds up over time (Figure 1). In preparation for this article I removed some of this solid material, and found that it could be almost completely dissolved in hydrochloric acid with lots of bubbling. This demonstrates that these solids were probably calcium carbonate (CaCO3), perhaps also containing magnesium. Pure magnesium carbonate is undersaturated in seawater (which is detailed in later sections of this article) 1 and should dissolve in marine systems, so it isn't likely to be the precipitated material, although there may be significant magnesium in the calcium carbonate.

ChrisKirkland · 03/01/2010, 01:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vessxpress1

This was posted by BigJay back in June. I read the first 3 pages of this thread and couldn't get through anymore. It seems as though nobody else is reading everything and rather, just posting their comments.

I'm not here to defend ReefCrystals. But I can tell you guys it is used exclusively at Drs. Foster & Smith coral prop facility and I can guarantee they have a lot more money in livestock than any of us. The water in their coral prop facility is so clear it's like not even looking through water. And the coral looked fine to me.

I stopped using it a while back because I tested trace amounts of nitrate in a new batch. How often is new salt tested for nitrates anyway? I wasn't happy about it. So I switched to Red Sea Coral Pro as well. It's alright but I can't say it doesn't need to be supplemented.

Drs. F&S coral facility has massive skimmers and de-nitrification canisters on their system. Even if the salt contained some nitrate, it would be gone in a flash on their system. I don't have what they have.

As for the brown film, I think the question has been adequately answered 8 months ago, yet we're still talking about it. If all I had was a bucket of RC on hand, I would use it. It worked for a long time for me. I could have just gotten a bad batch. I try not to make blanket statements on quality when I have no way of verifying everything RC puts out.

Hate to break it to you but it sounds like you are defending them which is your choice. I have used it in the field and have had a state aquaculture facility test the results and analyze what the brown scum is and it is excess nutrient. which is cause by one source, contaminated salt from RC. These test were performed in a closed environment where very little variables can affect the results.

RBU1 · 03/01/2010, 04:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisKirkland

Hate to break it to you but it sounds like you are defending them which is your choice. I have used it in the field and have had a state aquaculture facility test the results and analyze what the brown scum is and it is excess nutrient. which is cause by one source, contaminated salt from RC. These test were performed in a closed environment where very little variables can affect the results.

How could excess nutrient be considered contaminated???

For what its worth....I noticed it fairly bad on my first bucket. On the 3 - 200 gallon boxes I got from Fosters and smith I have not noticed the yucky brown color yet and I have made about 5 - 50 gallon batches...

ChrisKirkland · 03/01/2010, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RBU1

How could excess nutrient be considered contaminated???

For what its worth....I noticed it fairly bad on my first bucket. On the 3 - 200 gallon boxes I got from Fosters and smith I have not noticed the yucky brown color yet and I have made about 5 - 50 gallon batches...

Miss measurement on vitamins, dirty storage area, improper packing, etc.

michealprater · 03/01/2010, 10:22 AM

Which nutrient? If extensive testing was done, specifics should be known. I dont like the scum regardless of what it is, so I prefer to use other salts, but if this statement is made, it should be backed up with specific statistics.

RRaider · 03/01/2010, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisKirkland

Hate to break it to you but it sounds like you are defending them which is your choice. I have used it in the field and have had a state aquaculture facility test the results and analyze what the brown scum is and it is excess nutrient. which is cause by one source, contaminated salt from RC. These test were performed in a closed environment where very little variables can affect the results.

Sorry and nothing personal, but I'll believe this when you produce something more than just words on a screen.

ChrisKirkland · 03/01/2010, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RRaider

Sorry and nothing personal, but I'll believe this when you produce something more than just words on a screen.

I'm not asking you to "believe" use what you want this is my experience with the salt and others are chiming in with there's. It seems kind of odd that so many people have problems with the salt and very few have success stories. With that being said your welcome the believe what you want

ChrisKirkland · 03/01/2010, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michealprater

Which nutrient? If extensive testing was done, specifics should be known. I dont like the scum regardless of what it is, so I prefer to use other salts, but if this statement is made, it should be backed up with specific statistics.

Specifically vitamins (including amino acids), when the tests were performed at the aquaculture facility it was found that most of the bubbly scum was just excess amino acids with other vitamins being "skimmed" by aeration in the water.

ryanlala · 03/01/2010, 03:21 PM

Oh, so thats what i was doing wrong! I didnt get the memo that said i needed skimmer on my mixing bucket, i thought i was suppose to have the skimmer on the tank! LOL! All i know is that i will never put RC in my tank again.

RBU1 · 03/01/2010, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryanlala

Oh, so thats what i was doing wrong! I didnt get the memo that said i needed skimmer on my mixing bucket, i thought i was suppose to have the skimmer on the tank! LOL! All i know is that i will never put RC in my tank again.

Before you make statements like that you really should spend a little more time in the hobby. There is nothing wrong with Reef Crystals. There are so many choices when it comes to salt. When it comes down to the test results posted by aquarium water testing there really is no big difference between all the salts.

ryanlala · 03/01/2010, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RBU1

Before you make statements like that you really should spend a little more time in the hobby. There is nothing wrong with Reef Crystals. There are so many choices when it comes to salt. When it comes down to the test results posted by aquarium water testing there really is no big difference between all the salts.

um... I have 10 years in this hobby. Everyone is entitled to their opinion! I have had nothing but problems with RC, the 3 different batches of salt i bought over the last year were inconstant and not close to the numbers advertised on the box/bucket! It would be polite to have all the information at hand before making a comment like the one above!

RBU1 · 03/01/2010, 07:06 PM

Based on your childish comment I never would have guessed that.

ryanlala · 03/01/2010, 07:11 PM

It was a joke buddy! I'm not goning to argue with you. Have a good day!

The Velvet Sea · 03/01/2010, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisKirkland

It seems kind of odd that so many people have problems with the salt and very few have success stories.

Considering that it is the most widely used salt on the reef central polls, by a very wide margin, saying that "very few have success stories" is an inaccurate statement in my opinion. There are plenty of success stories. I'd say many more successes than failures. You just hear more about the failures because lots of people speak up when they have a problem and tend to keep quiet when things are ok.

RBU1 · 03/01/2010, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Velvet Sea

Considering that it is the most widely used salt on the reef central polls, by a very wide margin, saying that "very few have success stories" is an inaccurate statement in my opinion. There are plenty of success stories. I'd say many more successes than failures. You just hear more about the failures because lots of people speak up when they have a problem and tend to keep quiet when things are ok.

agree

eric@tampa · 03/01/2010, 08:42 PM

Would still like to see the test results posted for all to see,not that I don't belive you... I just like to read and yes I will contuine to use rc.

ChrisKirkland · 03/02/2010, 12:00 AM

AS I said before you all are entitled to your opinions and I respect that. This is MY opinion and MY experience. So I also ask that YOU respect that. Lets keep this forum appropriate.

RBU1 · 03/02/2010, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisKirkland

AS I said before you all are entitled to your opinions and I respect that. This is MY opinion and MY experience. So I also ask that YOU respect that. Lets keep this forum appropriate.

As far as I can tell the question asked is forum appropriate. You said the salt was tested. All that is being asked of you is to share the results.....

eyebedam · 03/02/2010, 08:14 AM

Well I had mixed results out of 2 of the 200 gal mixed boxes, so I decided to change. I tried Coralife & been happy since. Alot of folks swear by IO & RC & Im glad it works great for them, Im sure its a fine product but its just not for me.

Stripe01 · 03/02/2010, 08:32 AM

The last bucket of RC that I bought, the alk was at 8 and cal at 360.

michealprater · 03/02/2010, 08:39 AM

Officially unsubscribing to this thread. It has now failed to be informative.

eric@tampa · 03/02/2010, 09:55 AM

Chris, as RBU1 said all that I asked was to see the test results that YOU are talking about.I don't think that was out of line and I do respect others opinions so don't be so offensive.Just wanted to see some cold hard facts,guess I will need to send a batch to a Lab to have tested and then I will post the results or would that offend you Sir?

tank o tang · 03/02/2010, 10:11 AM

IMO, We spend to much time trying to figure out how to get stuff out of the tank (by using skimmer, carbon, gfo, uv, etc.). Why would I use a salt that adds all this unwanted stuff to my tank: metal detoxifyers, so called vitamins (that turn my brute brown), and nitrates. To me this is a salt intended for tap water (only my OPINION).

When I hear people defend a product using words like probably, maybe, could be, or perhaps to describe a product and defend it till the end, I take it as a theory with no proof, therefore making it an opinion like anyone elses. I would like to see some kind of tests or statement from RC explaining exactly what all this extra garbage is in RC. When its in a bottle we call it snake oil.

Ever since I've switched away from reef crystals 2 months ago my tank and mixing barrels are doing much better.

ChrisKirkland · 03/02/2010, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tank o tang

IMO, We spend to much time trying to figure out how to get stuff out of the tank (by using skimmer, carbon, gfo, uv, etc.). Why would I use a salt that adds all this unwanted stuff to my tank: metal detoxifyers, so called vitamins (that turn my brute brown), and nitrates. To me this is a salt intended for tap water (only my OPINION).

When I hear people defend a product using words like probably, maybe, could be, or perhaps to describe a product and defend it till the end, I take it as a theory with no proof, therefore making it an opinion like anyone elses. I would like to see some kind of tests or statement from RC explaining exactly what all this extra garbage is in RC. When its in a bottle we call it snake oil.

Ever since I've switched away from reef crystals 2 months ago my tank and mixing barrels are doing much better.

Agreed, I see your point.

eric@tampa: As far as testing you own salt please do and make sure you post it I would love to see what you get. Please look at the batch number on your salt and tell us what it is. If you have the means test some other batches too...

michealprater: I don't care if you unsubscribe you haven't helped much, go test the salt, test several batches from different suppliers, and you will see that not all the results will be the same.

ChrisKirkland · 03/02/2010, 09:38 PM

As far as my results go they were posted at the beginning of the forum. I don't have a chemical name for the organic substance because I was not going to pay for them to send it off to a more sophisticated lab. But if you are looking for parameters then look at the beginning of the forum those are from my last batch I have bought no more, only borrowed from a friend enough to make 5 gallons at 1.0265 (35ppt)

03/01/2010, 10:22 AM	#280
michealprater Angelfish Nerd Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Grantfork, IL Posts: 5,465 Blog Entries: 1	Which nutrient? If extensive testing was done, specifics should be known. I dont like the scum regardless of what it is, so I prefer to use other salts, but if this statement is made, it should be backed up with specific statistics. __________________ __________________________ Micheal Current Tank Info: 40 Gallon Breeder Reef

03/01/2010, 03:21 PM	#284
ryanlala Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Lake Jackson, TX Posts: 142	Oh, so thats what i was doing wrong! I didnt get the memo that said i needed skimmer on my mixing bucket, i thought i was suppose to have the skimmer on the tank! LOL! All i know is that i will never put RC in my tank again. __________________ Ryan anything cool costs alot of money.... Current Tank Info: 120g Marineland, 40g breeder sump, Vertex Alpha 170 skimmer, Mag 12 Pump, 2 MP 40s, 2 250watt DE MH in Lumen Max 3 Reflectors, 4 54watt t5s overdriven by icecap 660, and No Heat Problems!

03/01/2010, 07:11 PM	#288
ryanlala Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Lake Jackson, TX Posts: 142	It was a joke buddy! I'm not goning to argue with you. Have a good day! __________________ Ryan anything cool costs alot of money.... Current Tank Info: 120g Marineland, 40g breeder sump, Vertex Alpha 170 skimmer, Mag 12 Pump, 2 MP 40s, 2 250watt DE MH in Lumen Max 3 Reflectors, 4 54watt t5s overdriven by icecap 660, and No Heat Problems!

03/02/2010, 12:00 AM	#292
ChrisKirkland Reef and Coral Fanatic Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Lexington, Ky. Posts: 1,739	AS I said before you all are entitled to your opinions and I respect that. This is MY opinion and MY experience. So I also ask that YOU respect that. Lets keep this forum appropriate. __________________ Chris Kirkland Reef Nerd. Current Tank Info: Getting back into the hobby.

03/02/2010, 08:14 AM	#294
eyebedam Is Sailing the Seas Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Mt. Juliet TN Posts: 2,039	Well I had mixed results out of 2 of the 200 gal mixed boxes, so I decided to change. I tried Coralife & been happy since. Alot of folks swear by IO & RC & Im glad it works great for them, Im sure its a fine product but its just not for me. __________________ "There are many things you can refuse to do with a man. You can refuse to work for him, dine with him, or talk to him. But if he wants to fight, you have to oblige him." --Pat Buchanon “I’ve always believed that America’s government was a unique political system — one designed by geniuses so that it could be run by idiots. I was wrong. No system can be smart enough to survive this level of incompetence and recklessness by the people charged to run it." Thomas Friedman, NY Times Current Tank Info: 180 Gal plumbed in the basement with 200 gal sump. Decided to go aggressive from this point on.

03/01/2010, 07:06 PM	#287
RBU1 Moving on Up Join Date: May 2004 Location: Southern NJ Posts: 5,167	Based on your childish comment I never would have guessed that.

03/01/2010, 08:42 PM	#291
eric@tampa Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Tampa,Fla Posts: 322	Would still like to see the test results posted for all to see,not that I don't belive you... I just like to read and yes I will contuine to use rc.

03/02/2010, 08:32 AM	#295
Stripe01 Moved On Join Date: May 2009 Location: Napa Posts: 411	The last bucket of RC that I bought, the alk was at 8 and cal at 360.

03/02/2010, 08:39 AM	#296
michealprater Angelfish Nerd Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Grantfork, IL Posts: 5,465 Blog Entries: 1	Officially unsubscribing to this thread. It has now failed to be informative. __________________ __________________________ Micheal Current Tank Info: 40 Gallon Breeder Reef

03/02/2010, 09:55 AM	#297
eric@tampa Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Tampa,Fla Posts: 322	Chris, as RBU1 said all that I asked was to see the test results that YOU are talking about.I don't think that was out of line and I do respect others opinions so don't be so offensive.Just wanted to see some cold hard facts,guess I will need to send a batch to a Lab to have tested and then I will post the results or would that offend you Sir?

03/02/2010, 10:11 AM	#298
tank o tang Thread Lurker Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: CT Posts: 1,527	IMO, We spend to much time trying to figure out how to get stuff out of the tank (by using skimmer, carbon, gfo, uv, etc.). Why would I use a salt that adds all this unwanted stuff to my tank: metal detoxifyers, so called vitamins (that turn my brute brown), and nitrates. To me this is a salt intended for tap water (only my OPINION). When I hear people defend a product using words like probably, maybe, could be, or perhaps to describe a product and defend it till the end, I take it as a theory with no proof, therefore making it an opinion like anyone elses. I would like to see some kind of tests or statement from RC explaining exactly what all this extra garbage is in RC. When its in a bottle we call it snake oil. Ever since I've switched away from reef crystals 2 months ago my tank and mixing barrels are doing much better. __________________ A 5 gallon bucket of water dosen't look like much till it's on your living room floor Current Tank Info: 180gal

03/02/2010, 09:38 PM	#300
ChrisKirkland Reef and Coral Fanatic Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Lexington, Ky. Posts: 1,739	As far as my results go they were posted at the beginning of the forum. I don't have a chemical name for the organic substance because I was not going to pay for them to send it off to a more sophisticated lab. But if you are looking for parameters then look at the beginning of the forum those are from my last batch I have bought no more, only borrowed from a friend enough to make 5 gallons at 1.0265 (35ppt) __________________ Chris Kirkland Reef Nerd. Current Tank Info: Getting back into the hobby.