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No more Seachem Reef Salt

I started using Fritz a few months ago and I've switched back. I noticed a huge drop in Alk in my tank when I used it so I did some testing a research. I tested the stuff I had here along with the stuff at Diablo Corals that they mix and sell. The first time I noticed an issue was the day after a water change when the corals looked unhappy so I started testing. My frag tank had dropped from 8.5 to 6.6 alk overnight. I had some of the mixed Fritz left over so I tested it as well. The Dkh was 5.0. It had been mixed four days prior. So then I headed up to Diablo Cotrals to check a batch mixed up the day before. It supposedly mixes at 8.0-9.0. One day later it was in the low sevens. I did a bunch of research and this is an issue that a lot of folks have noticed. Jess at Diablo called Fritz and they acknowledged the huge drop-off and indicated something about mixing technique has to be just right to get it to flash and hold better. I checked the same Diable batch 2 days later and it was in the fives.

Now I'm not a salt expert, but I believe there should be more stability than this so I've quit using it. For me, who often doesn't use it right away, it's too much of a crapshoot.
 
Bruce I agree with your findings. I've checked dkh after mixing and it does drop at least for me. Starts out in the 7.5-8 range and the over the weeks it drops into the 6s and then into the 5s. I don't care much because I change 1 gallon a day AWC, but I can see how it would be a big problem if you store water and make larger changes. I love how clean it mixes and that's important to me.

If someone is mixing and using within a few days, it is a great salt mix.


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If it was only that I could deal with it. My concern though is if it's that unstable with dkh what else is happening with it? My undersanding is that after a slat flashes it should be fairly stable other than some precipitate. Again, not an expert. I also have this annoying thought in the back of my mind that I want the Alk available to the corals -- if it drops outside the tank that fast then it's probably still dropping after a water change and not just because it's being absorbed. That means stability is an issue - and I have to wonder where it's going....
 
I can't really tell since my ca Rx and kalk Rx pretty much keeps everything stable. But I can totally see others that might have issues with it. Maybe Neptune's can explain it since they also use it to in their tanks.


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I've been getting great results so I'll stick to this or if I do switch it's red sea coral pro.


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+2 on Fritz, because it has high Mg (Mg is the expensive/voluminous chemical to have to add). Starting dKH is lower, around 8.4, so you can easily adjust up to where you want it (or target 8.4). I mix the salt into RO water in an uncovered container with circulation, then heat it to tank temp just before adding it. I recommend circulating freshly mixed salt water 24 hours before adding to your tank because it seems to take that long for the parameters to stabilize. Fritz parameters seem to be constant for up to a week (I haven't kept salt mix longer than that). I wonder if people seeing salt parameter change during storage are mixing too much salt into the water at once, or adding water to salt, or overshooting salinity then adding water back, or mixing at high temps/without good ventilation/in a dirty container/container with precipitation sites like new aragonite/closed container?


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I think the dirty container with sites for stuff to cling onto so to speak is the culprit. Clean container maybe is ok.
Aquavitro does have some precipitation on my 105 gal mixing container over time, but not a crazy amount or anything. I scrape it out every year or so I'd say (that comes out to like...A LOT OF BUCKETS though, maybe 8,000 gal worh). Kinda tough to get every last bit outta there when I clean, maybe if I did I'd get less gunk. Not too worried about it. Works well for me. Mixes up to parameters I'd be happy with for pretty much any tank w corals or fish only. I don't ever store it more than a few days without mixing in some new water, maybe that would change things.
 
Mixed up a batch of Fritz RPM salt in a newly cleaned tub to 1.024 about 10-12 days ago and tested today with Hanna Checker Alk is 7.6. When I freshly mixed up the batch I tested Alk at 8.6 Batch mixed up clean and clear in a few hours then mixing pumps were turned off and there is no noticeable precipitation.
My experience is good so far and 7.6 is acceptable for my tanks that run close to that and are supplemented to stay between 7.5-8.5
I have also sent Reef Salt and RPM salt out for ICP testing and will post results soon. Happy Reefing all.



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