Kent Sea Salt issues

[Somguynco]

Hey all...

Wanted to pass on some issues going on with Kent Sea Salt. Stopped by a LFS where I usually buy Kent and noticed they are no longer carrying the buckets. They told me that they got some new Kent in and the buckets were different (Yellow lettering on the front and different buckets and had a plastic bag inside of the bucket holding the salt) and they tested the new salt and found it to have some big problems. I guess the new stuff has a pH of 8.0 and Alk of 0 (zero) verses 8.3 and 4.0meq/L for the old Kent.

They said that the Kent rep denied using a new manufacturer at first but that Kent has been bought out by the same company that owns AGA and some other companies. I was considering changing to Sea Chem Reef Salt, so I guess this will give me a good reason to do it.

If anyone is using the new Kent with the yellow lettering be sure to check your salt mix and buffer pH and alk. Sad news as I have been extremely happy with Kent Sea Salt so far. Also, the company that bought it out is called Central I believe, and is marked on the bucket also if you want to double check that on your supply.

[hawkfish21]

I have a heard time believing it has an Alk reading of 0. I think they need a new test.

[Somguynco]

Just what they told me today... I would expect that they would retest a 0 to be sure... At any rate there are some problems and changes with Kent.

[tomu]

Central Pet owns everything. I think that they even own petsmart.

[serob]

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=93879&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=823398&highlight=


The main thing I saw the was:

Central Garden & Pet Company is a leading innovator, marketer and producer of quality branded products for the pet and lawn and garden supplies markets. Our pet products include pet bird and small animal food, aquarium products, flea, tick, mosquito and other pest control products, edible bones, cages, carriers, pet books, and other dog, cat, reptile and small animal products. These products are sold under a number of brand names, including Kaytee, SuperPet, All-Glass Aquarium, Oceanic, Kent Marine, Energy Savers Unlimited, Zodiac, Pre-Strike, Altosid, Nylabone, TFH, Four Paws, Interpet, Breeder's Choice and Farnam. Our lawn and garden products include grass seed, wild bird food, weed and insect control products, and decorative outdoor patio products. These products are sold under a number of brand names, including Pennington, Norcal Pottery, New England Pottery, GKI/Bethlehem Lighting, Lilly Miller, Matthews Four Seasons, Cedar Works, AMDRO, Grant's, Sevin and Over'n Out. For additional information on Central Garden & Pet, including access to the Company's SEC filings, please visit the Company's website at http://www.central.com/.

[sherm71tank]

The problems with Kent salt are true. I spoke to them today and am sending them a sample for analysis.

[Coloaggie]

I just tested a fresh batch of salt. dKH is 6. I'm fairly sure it is impossible to have 0 dKH.

I'm curious to know if the guys at the LFS wanted to sell you a higher priced salt or if they just wanted to stop selling Kent and told you this story. We have been through three shipments of this salt in the new bucket design and have seen no problems with alk. Central Pet has owned Kent for about two years. Kent salt is made at the same factory that makes Instant Ocean. Kent just tells them what mix of additives to use.

[sherm71tank]

I spoke with them on the phone today. It is not an isolated incident. They assured me they have taken steps to prevent the problem in future but that doesn't fix the ones out there already. I am glad you didn't have the problems many of us have. I have used Kent salt for years without a problem until now.

[wetWolger]

I am very curious about this.....I have been really happy with kent salt over the last year. Infact my new tank is the first thank that has been kent from the start. But if what your saying is true I may end up having to switch to IO (again).

A couple things that come to mind are how old was the sample when tested? Was it getting enough air for the PH to stabalize? I don't think you can have a dKH of 0 unless your Ca is also 0 (or extreamly low). If this was the case then this could have caused the drop in Ph due to percipitation of Ca. Also I would like to verify that the salt was mixed properlly (filling water, brining up to temp, and then adding salt SLOWLY).

I am not trying to say I don't beleave you/LFS....Just want to make sure everything is in row before we all make a drastic salt switch.

p.s. thanks for the heads up....I am going to link this thread in the general discussion...see if we can't get more heads working on it.

[sherm71tank]

The salt in question had been mixed for a week in a 35 gallon rubbermaid with two pumps, one Dolphin DP-800 and a Resun WP-5 retrofitted with a Sedra 9000 NW for adding air. The alk in my batch was vey low, I don't think it was zero but very low. Like I said , I have been using the Kent salt for years and really felt it was better than IO ( higher mag, and better buffer than IO ) I would just make sure you test the salt before you use it. I'm sure they will rectify the issue if they haven't already. When I spoke to John at Kent Marine he was apologetic and stated that nothing of this nature has ever EVER happend to them before and they are working hard on it to make sure it never happens again.

[wetWolger]

i understand it was a manufacturing error....obviously no one would want to sell salt with these levels....or if they did they would not sell salt long.

My question is they obviously messed with the formula or nothing would have changed, can I trust kent to be the same product I have come to love? We may be dealing with a whole new salt even after these dKH problems are fixed.

[sherm71tank]

I hope they get it fixed and make it the same way it was. I have heard it is now being made by Coralife, in which case I will not be using it.

[Somguynco]

The LFS wasn't trying to sell me another brand of salt, they are carrying IO now in buckets. They have been long time users of Kent themselves in the store and were just letting me know why they didnt' have Kent buckets when I asked.

They did mention that Coralife was making Kent now and that they felt that was the problem with the Salt.

[aztecdreams]

I seem to remember IO had some kind of major problem a couple of years back. I think alk was sky high.