Warning! Potential Problem with Kent Salt.

SeaHorse_Fanatic · #1 02-16-2006, 06:53 AM

Dang. Like so many other local reefers, we picked up a bucket of Yellow labelled Kent's at the Boxing Day sales. If it is a bad batch, Kent should really step up & replace people's buckets with good ones.

Ruth · #2 02-16-2006, 08:03 AM

Holy Cow! I was one of the unfortunate ones a few years ago that got in on the bad batch of Instant Ocean that had way too high of ALK. The reason that to this day I will not use Instant Ocean or Kent (because they were made by the same people) although that does not appear to be the case with this batch. There was such an outcry with the IO that they ended up sending out checks to people that had used this salt. I know that I got a check for around $1800 but it still did not compensate the pain and frustration of completely crashing my system. I actually got out of the hobby for over a year because of this.

Willow · #3 02-16-2006, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ruth

Holy Cow! I was one of the unfortunate ones a few years ago that got in on the bad batch of Instant Ocean that had way too high of ALK. The reason that to this day I will not use Instant Ocean or Kent (because they were made by the same people) although that does not appear to be the case with this batch. There was such an outcry with the IO that they ended up sending out checks to people that had used this salt. I know that I got a check for around $1800 but it still did not compensate the pain and frustration of completely crashing my system. I actually got out of the hobby for over a year because of this.

what brand of salt are you using now ruth?

Ruth · #4 02-16-2006, 08:21 AM

I use the new Seachem reef salt in my 190g that I am using the zeovit method on and Tropic Marin pro on all my other tanks. I have tested newly mixed batches of both salts and posted the results on other links. So far very happy with both.

Willow · #5 02-16-2006, 08:33 AM

do you mind me asking where i can ever buy the seachem reef salt? it looks pretty good.

Ruth · #6 02-16-2006, 08:44 AM

Let's see I bought 3 boxes from AI in Edmonton as I was desparate for salt - that is one store I try my best not to support. I got my buckets from BlkHawk (Joshua). I know that Island Aquatics in Duncan was talking about carrying it but not sure if they have gotten it in yet. FWIW I am also very happy with the Tropic Marin pro salt and that I have been getting from reef perfections out of Ontario because he just has his sister bring it out to Abbotsford. He charged me $50 to ship 8 buckets at Christmas and I have just ordered another 8 buckets which I will pick up at Easter.

Beverly · #7 02-16-2006, 01:57 PM

Whew!!!!!

Just mixed up 2g of RO/DI water (heated and aerated since Sunday, Feb 12) with the Kent salt from one pail from our recent Edmonton group order. All of our pails have a yellow Kent logo. Salt in pails is in a sealed bag, which I have never seen before with any salt I've used (IO and Kent) since I started reefkeeping back in the mid-90s.

Results:

dKH - 8.5 (using Aquarium Pharmaceuticals test kit)
Temp - 79 F (using Hagen stick on tank temp gauge)
SG - 1.026 (using refractometer)
pH - 8.26 (using a Pinpoint pH probe and Hanna Instrument pH controller digital readout)

Am not going to worry about the rest of the five pails, though I am certainly going to wait awhile before ordering more salt, just in case.

dirtyreefer · #8 02-16-2006, 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Willow

do you mind me asking where i can ever buy the seachem reef salt? it looks pretty good.

I saw it at King Ed's yesterday, both the pail and the 50 gal bags. Didn't look at the price though, but I did remember when I saw it that Ruth mentioned that it was pretty good. Maybe it's time to give it a try, since the outside packaging even mentions that the calcium and magnesium are sufficient