Why not to use io salt

[hondas3000]

I have some cheap coral and tank I can test the the salt out for you. If they all die too then for sure its the salt. As I am using instant salt myself too.

[gregzz4]

Originally Posted by hondas3000

I have some cheap coral and tank I can test the the salt out for you. If they all die too then for sure its the salt. As I am using instant salt myself too.

There is still no guarantee with you using his salt.
Too many variables to consider.

I agree with all other posts that state the salt needs to be tested under scrutiny/lab standards.
Only then can the problem be found.

I said before and will say it again.
I'm still going to use my IO for now.

[albert_dao]

Wellp, here are the events:

Crack new bucket. Mixed salt. Waited four hours. Did water change. Stuff got dead. Water tested normal for all testable parameters

Fish are happy. Corals look like they've had an abrasive pad applied to them liberally. It's really odd, not your regular RTN event. A lot of them kept polyps, but lost all surrounding tissue. All mollusk and echinoderms were pretty much dead withing a couple hours.

Maybe a better title for this thread would have been "I did a normal water change and wiped out my tank. I am speculating that the salt was the culprit - Or evil voodoo magic. 50/50"

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by albert_dao

I am speculating that the salt was the culprit - Or evil voodoo magic. 50/50"

And that's my concern. Why are we not blaming voodoo magic? I know I've lost more to that than I ever have with anything else. Of course, the possibility that the voodoo magic was in the salt needs to be considered. I really hate voodoo..sigh

However, on the testing front, unless alk is through the roof, there's not much we can test this side of a lab. Which IO would need to do, because none of us know what any particular value should be in the first place.

And, can a lab test for VM?? I dunno.

[daplatapus]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

And, can a lab test for VM?? I dunno.

Pretty sure it takes some bat guano and eye of newt. Not sure where you might get eye of newt this time of year...

[gregzz4]

We have a forum member who works at a Lab just down the road from me.
Only thing is they are pricey. I think it's a minimum charge issue. I was quoted $250 for a bromine test, but that's what we paid for all our water quality tests at work.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

We have a forum member who works at a Lab just down the road from me.
Only thing is they are pricey. I think it's a minimum charge issue. I was quoted $250 for a bromine test, but that's what we paid for all our water quality tests at work.

Problem is you'd need to run the voodoo salt AND a control batch to compare values to. So double the cost right there. And what to test for? Bromine? Adamantium? Voodoo?
A full spectrum test for everything that could be in salt, and for everything that shouldn't be in salt is going to run a big bill.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by daplatapus

Not sure where you might get eye of newt this time of year...

I still have some in the freezer from the last VM test. I have bats around the house, but chasing around behind them is a bit tiring. Agile little beasts...

[The Guy]

Originally Posted by albert_dao

Wellp, here are the events:

Crack new bucket. Mixed salt. Waited four hours. Did water change. Stuff got dead. Water tested normal for all testable parameters

Fish are happy. Corals look like they've had an abrasive pad applied to them liberally. It's really odd, not your regular RTN event. A lot of them kept polyps, but lost all surrounding tissue. All mollusk and echinoderms were pretty much dead withing a couple hours.

Maybe a better title for this thread would have been "I did a normal water change and wiped out my tank. I am speculating that the salt was the culprit - Or evil voodoo magic. 50/50"

But nobody following this thread will ever know for sure without a test of the salt will they?
I will continue to use IO salt as nothing was conclusive proving bad salt was the "issue" here. I'll be doing a WC within a couple of days and we will see what happens if anything.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by The Guy

But nobody following this thread will ever know for sure without a test of the salt will they?

And I will ask again, what is he supposed to test? Unless he contacts IO and they're willing to test and can find something in the test panel that is off, we still won't know, and a lot of trouble has been gone through to learn nothing.