Even more IO salt talk
 

I just measured my IO, and although I found nothing dangerous, the levels were different from last time I checked. Alk is a touch high at 14 dKH and calcium is 400 ppm.

Let's see if we can get some measurements from everyone on their freshly mixed IO.

For reference, the last time I tested it was 9 dKH and ~360 ppm Ca

Come on, I see views, but no comments. Stop being shy, people!! :razz:

Like I said in the other post mine was 32dkh after mixing for 3 days. Sure would be intresting to see a percentage. Which is only posible if everyone plays along :cool:

Thanks for participating, Jamie. I'm certian that all the reef keepers use salt, many of them using IO. Off the sidelines everyone!! :biggrin:

At the bottom of the bucket I got Alk = 8.4dkh and Ca=400ppm. Alkalinity was tested with a FasTest Alkalinity Test kit and Calcium was tested with a Salifert Calcium kit.

Christy :)

sorry brad,
i just did my water change the other day, and i didnt measure cuz its from an old bucket of IO.

Salinity was 35ppt SeaTest specific gravity meter, PH 7.6 Milwaukee PH pen, Alk 11.8dKH Salifert. Calcium is 380. I think Im switching to Kent for the time being :rolleyes: too much inconsistancy. Clean your act up IO!!! :evil:

Ill test mine tomorrow.

Has anyone else tested Kent to see if they have inconsistent results ??


Wendell

I will test my Kent.

I had a bad bucket I believe, but it is long gone. A while back I was posting about incredibly LOW alk in new mixing. But it was cloudy, and left a precipitate. In fact I think Christy saw that while she was here.

Subsequent buckets have had no problems however.

I tested freshly mixed water using salt from a bag (50 Gal mix) of IO. I mixed the water for 2 hours and the salinity is 1.026. I used a Salifert test kit and a Pinpoint PH meter for testing.

I got these test results:

KH 12.5
ALK 4.46
PH 8.14

Sam, your KH and alk are the same measurement, different units.

Sorry Brad but I don't have any IO at this time.

Hi Brad. Like Celcius and Fahrenheight? Well, I decided to put both since some might prefer one over the other just like temperature.

Hey Emily, do you have any tests on your Kent salt??? :biggrin: Or anyone...

I will be in need of new salt soon brad. I will post some test as i go.

Sam, just wanted to make sure you weren't doing 2 tests for the same thing :biggrin:
Kris, that would be great. It will be intersting to see the variation between buckets. I have another bucket here that I'll test today.

My Kent, newly mixed and a few hours old, came in at 10.5 :biggrin:

it s kinda ironic...
i used to use KENT, never had an issue with it, but switched to IO simply b/c of all the good things you hear about it.

*on the bandwagon, off the bandwagon*

:lol: :rolleyes: :mrgreen:

1.026
80° F
12.5 dkh

Mine rings in perfect. :mrgreen:

Just checked my new bag of IO-

dKH=8.0
SG=1.022

Water has been circulating for a day.

ed99, you won't get true numbers at 1.022. Seawater in the wild is 1.026 and this difference (I suspect) will cause you to get lower alk values than those at 1.026

I'm almost certain you're right- alk should be a function of concentration. I made this batch a little weak because I'm filling a new tank that is a little high on SG. I've got another batch brewing, I'll check it tomorrow.

ALthough I'm sure going up to 1.026 isn't going to put your alk at 14 like mine. I suspect you'll get about 9 dKH

Well this gets more interesting and might explain a water change tragedy that I had awile back ...

Using Salifert test kits ( salinity of 35 ppm ) I got a dKH of 18.24 and calcium of just 290 :eek:


I will continue to mix for a couple days and retest it.

Cheers

O.K. Brad,
I just finshed testing a sample gallon, using salt from my bucket of I/O that I purchased last Xmas. I already did my waterchange last week so I was curious to see the results :cool:
The results are as follows:

SG=1.023

Temp=77F

PH=8.43

KH=14.4

Cal=325ppm

I tested each reading twice, just for peace of mind :mrgreen:
Now, in this thread you said that your value was sitting alittle high at 14dKH as is mine, wouldn't you say it's alot high if natural sea water is at around 8dKH? My value seems to drop to about 7-9dKH after a few days.
My dKH right now in the reef is reading an all time low of 2.6dKH, and the weird thing is, I just did my 20% waterchange last week and dripped my top off with Kalk a few days ago :confused:

cheers, Rich

My pail of salt is a few months old and it checks out okay. How old is your bucket Rasta? What happend after the water change?

http://www.canreef.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5573

The 30 gallons would have represented a bit less than 10% the total water volume ... When I poured the replacement water in it was right over where my shrimp liked to hang out in the rockwork on right side of my tank :frown:

It was a brand new bucket at the time of that water change :eek:

Cheers

Rich, your SG is a bit low, which could explain the low Ca(although that is pretty low). The pH is higher than I normally find new water. Although 14 is a lot higher than 8 dKH, it isn't a lot in the big picture. My tank has run at 14 long term without issue.
If this is just a test gallon, can you add a bit more salt to get it up to 1.026? Then we can look at the numbers on par with the other results.

Rasta, that would make sense. July 27th you posted but I think I bought my bucket a few months before that. I think this is a wierd batch of IO that came through the plant. I've had no problems with IO and i've used it from day one of my first SW tank. I'm halfway on my sixth bucket and now I'm gonna be nervous with my 7th but I really do like IO.

Brad, I have been keeping my SG at 1.023 for 6 years now with no ill effects. I dumped the 1gl of new water into the sump after I finished testing. So I will mix up a new 1gl bucket in a day or two and do the test again at the higher SG.

cheers, Rich

Rich, I'm sure your tank is fine at 1.023, it's just you can't compare the levels properly to other levels at 1.026. Remember also, that when you dilute your salt, you dilute all the other things in it also. This will mean lower alk, Ca, I2, Mg, etc.... But you do save some money I guess :razz:

Just tested another batch of water made from my new bag of IO:

SG=1.026
pH=8.0
alk=10.4

Alk seems to have jumped quite a bit for the small change in SG, though I've done the test twice to be sure.


Ed

Im having problems with my new setup, and It points to a salt problem

Temp 79
SG 1.24
Ph7.9
KH 16
Alk8.6
Calcium 390 ppm
Sounds like a salt issue to me. Any Ideas.

MINIATUS

You meant 1.024 right?

What sounds like a salt problem? You haven't given units. What test kit(s) did you use? How new is this setup?

Sorry let me digress here a bit

90 gal tank, 25 gal sump 4.5 inchs of south down in tank. Tank was set up about 10 days ago, and using the Squid method of cycling the tank.

Anyway all reading done withSALIFERT test kits show out of whack readings. I purchased a new bag of salt this morning mixed it to the same SG and temp as my setup. All reading from this are right on. Calcium is 420ppm, DH is 12 PH is 8.2, big difference in prevoius salt reading.

Does this help.

MINIATUS

Not sure that the salt has the same problem as the "bad batch". That salt tested very high dKH, around 97 I believe. In your first batch you gave a # of 16 for dKH. I had this also with my salt, but 24 hours later it had gone down to 11 dKH.
Are you using RO water? 420 ppm Ca seems high for IO at 1.024.
I guess to digress a bit further, we should find out what problem your setup is having.

The reading has not dropped from the original reading a week ago. RO/DI water. Any more Ideas would be helpful, as I dont want to add the rock at the end of the month and drive everthing out of Whack. Tempted to redo setup and let the rock cycle it instead of the Squid method.

MINIATUS

I would certainly use the rock to cycle the tank. I'm sure if you did a good size water change with your good salt, you'll be fine.

Contacted the Makers of Instant Ocean and explained the problem. They gave no argument and because I had used all my salt up they ask for the receipts and will replace salt as soon as they recieve them. Funny they ask when i purchased it, told them when and not a word said.

MINIATUS