Bad batch of Reef Crystals yes/no?

[N-A-S-O]

Every two weeks I make thirty gallons of RO then add salt and mix for twenty four hours and the water has been coming out dirty brown color and will not dissipate. When I perform a water change it clouds the tank for at least 24+ hours. This happens to be the last three bucks of ten that I purchased last Aug.

Now I recently down sized from a 110g BB to a 70g with ssb and I have been fighting the worst algae ever and my phosphate and nitrate both read 0.(salifert) Could it be the salt? BTW the last tank I had no issues with algae ever.

[kgross]

Have you checked the newly mixed salt for nitrate or phosphate?

Also what is the TDS of your RO water?

[sedor]

Sounds pretty horrible...
Try a small $10 bag of something completely different and see what happens. I've heard of salt producing off parameters, but turning nasty and brown, sounds more like a water issue to me. How long has it been since you changed out your RO filters and DI resin? Tell us more about your water...

[iamwrasseman]

i only use RC and have hears so many horror stories about this probuct , i have never had an issue and i house delicate wrasses in most of my tanks . i understand that corals need more precise peramiters but i have alot of corals too . never have my paramiters been out of wack due to anything except my skimmer going berzerk when a fish dies and that quickly gets gobbled up by my cleanup crew . am i lucky or are people pointing fingers ? i am certainly not accusing N-A-S-O of fingerpointing either you might look at some other things like the water that is being used to mix or something else ,theres not alot of info to go by so im guessing for sure .quality controll is probably quite good because all companies in business know how far bad words travel and the good dont . i hope you figure out your problem but i myself have yet to get a bad batch of salt . 17 tanks ,2 buckets of salt a month so i use the heck out of RC and swear by it .
good luck


Dave

[tmz]

I'd check the newly mixed water for ammonia as well as phosphate and nitrate/nitrite.

[N-A-S-O]

I am 100% certain that it is not my RO water. I buy everything in bulk and I have about 50 carbon and sediment filters plus several pounds of DI resen. I change them often and well before their fully exhausted. TDS is alway 0 and I use two diffrent meters.

iamwrasseman I have never had a issue with RC in the 10+ years that I have been reefkeeping untill recently. Like I said above the last 3 out of 10 buckets have been very dirty. The others were perfect so I'm still confused as to why the water remains so dirty.

[sedor]

Maybe contact Aquarium Systems? I'm sure they would know if a bad batch went out. I did a little more research and have found some claims that RC's caused a brown substance coating the bucket after fresh SW was mixed. Nothing to the extreme of what your describing, but it sounds similar so it very well could be the salt.

[tmz]

How does the mixed salt water test for ammonia, nitrate, alkalinity ,etc?

[luther1200]

Maybe you need to clean your mixing barrel?

[HighlandReefer]

This is a picture of Randy's IO salt mixing barrel, which he considers normal:



http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-07/rhf/images/Figure_1sm.jpg
Figure 1. The residue on the bottom of the plastic trash can that I use to mix Instant Ocean. I rarely clean it out. The solid is most likely calcium carbonate.

[N-A-S-O]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15680557#post15680557 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by HighlandReefer
This is a picture of Randy's IO salt mixing barrel, which he considers normal:



http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-07/rhf/images/Figure_1sm.jpg
Figure 1. The residue on the bottom of the plastic trash can that I use to mix Instant Ocean. I rarely clean it out. The solid is most likely calcium carbonate.

I clean mine after every use ^^^ I would be dreaming about that nasty barrel every night untill I cleaned it

[N-A-S-O]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15678613#post15678613 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tmz
How does the mixed salt water test for ammonia, nitrate, alkalinity ,etc?
I'm going to try and do that tonight

[2006]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15676804#post15676804 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sedor
Sounds pretty horrible...
Try a small $10 bag of something completely different and see what happens.
:thumbsup:

[maynardjames]

i have residue like randy`s above using rc. i mix 1 50 gallon bag at a time. clean out container every 3 or 4 bags. residue stays in container though. never in water when i fill up buckets for water changes. dosen`t cloud up tank either. use white rc buckets for wc & water is always crystal clear. sounds like something is way wrong somewhere. please keep us updated on what you find out

[greech]

I am new to the hobby as of 02/09 and I have used RCs exclusively since I started. Obviously I didn't know exactly what to look for in a salt and was told/read over and over that salt is salt. I never had any issues with RCs until recently when I started to see the slime in my bucket. I only have a 40 breeder and change out 5-gallons each week. I clean my bucket really well after each WC but the slime still comes back.

My problems started about June and I remember seeing the slime the first time after I mixed water out of a new bag. I didn't think too much of it until I started to get the same slime coating on my powerheads (and only my powerheads). I kept going with RCs thinking it was just a bad batch but this continues until now.

I was mixing up some water last week and after I scooped a cup out of the bag I looked in and saw something. Turns out it was a nice size chunk of metal (I assume iron but I don't know). I have sifted through the rest of the bag and found more pieces but they are all very small. Here is a pic of the biggest chunk.

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww93/greech/100_2558.jpg

I am not here to bash RC's in any way. I hope this information can help someone somehow. I contacted them about this and this is the response I received:

Hello,
I would not be overly concerned. As with most minerals, salt is mined.
Occasionally foreign contaminants are within the salt. Every precaution
is taken to prevent this from occurring, but occasionally stuff gets
through. It is likely a small bit of the mining equipments drill head or
some ore that was within the salt vein. It is hard to be sure. It would
not contaminate your mix, however.
Regards,
Instant Ocean

I am not too thrilled with this answer. I thought they would want the batch number or something at least in case others reported similar situations. I am going to try a new salt this weekend for the first time. I know it is entirely possible that RC's is not the cause of my problems but with everything I have seen, I feel it is worth a try.

[saltygeek]

Are you using a refractometer? I was using a swing arm and was getting brown residue from RC as well. I bought a refract. with calibration fluid. Turns out I was mixing the salt too high and was getting precipitation. Now I dont have anymore brown residue from the same bag of RC. Just a thought....

[greech]

No I am using a swing arm but I have checked it against a refractometer at my LFS on two seperate occassions (the last being a couple weeks ago) and my hydrometer seems to be right in line with the refractometer measurements.

BTW I keep my SG at 1.025 if that matters. Thanks.

[maynardjames]

i use calibrated refrac still have residue in mix tank, no slime or dirty looking water though

[Wheel of Time]

Im just curious if after mixing it for 24hrs and it was still a dirty brown color why you would add it to your display tank if you have been using the same brand for a long time -- you had to know something was different / not right with the mix the water , somethign got in the mixing bucket etc.

[blasto_master]

Sounds pretty bad. I don't know whats going on there. I could relate to the hair algae. I have an answer for you on that one. I was in Ct. the other days, matter of fact in Realm of Pets, and I saw these crabs( white leg hermits) these guys love to eat hair algae. I would test your R.O unit for phosphates and would check the pre-filter and carbon filter with the (tds meter). Your local fish store guy at Fish Frenzy has one. He just checked my R.O. water with it the other day.

[LUVSPS]

I have used RC for 2 years now and have never had a problem. I have bought buckets in July and August as well. No brown sludge here and my corals and fish are doing great!

[N-A-S-O]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15687429#post15687429 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Wheel of Time
Im just curious if after mixing it for 24hrs and it was still a dirty brown color why you would add it to your display tank if you have been using the same brand for a long time -- you had to know something was different / not right with the mix the water , somethign got in the mixing bucket etc.

Its been stated by the company many times that the brown residue is harmless and it has been so far. It just seems to be an excessive amount in my case. I tested the make up water this morning.
Phosphate 0 (Salifert)
Nitrate 0 (Salifert)
Ammonia 0 (API)