AquaVitro Salinity Reef Salt

[Proteus]

This is what they told me when I talked to them

Hello Nick,

An alkalinity of 9/10 dKH and a magnesium of 1400 mg/L are within specification. A calcium of 590 is not. I checked the certified lab results and they show a calcium of 436. Have you double-checked the calcium concentration with another method or maybe you could have someone else test it for you?

I suggest not using a heater and don't mix it too long to avoid excess cloudiness. If you are using a large powerhead this will also cause precipitation. Mixing too long or mixing too hard (as with a large powerhead) will introduce excess CO2 which causes precipitation of carbonates. Elevated temperatures will reduce the solubility of calcium carbonate also creating precipitation.

Product Support
10234

So I asked should I remove the powerhead and heater from my set up......

[Proteus]

And this. Don't know why you shouldn't mix for more than 24hrs. My cubes been mixing since march.

The cloudiness in salinity is due to the high concentration of quality materials we use. Cloudiness is more prominent in buckets that have higher calcium and alkalinity levels. How do you mix your salt and to what salinity? Here we mix it in a 50 gallon drum at room temperature for no more than 24 hours.

[mrhasan]

I don't use heater. I dissolve mine in a bit warm water (possibly around 85). The solution itself is exothermic and produces excess heat. I just use a maxijet 400 to dissolve 2-3gallon of saltmix for 24hours.

[Zoaelite]

Originally Posted by Titus99

This is what they told me when I talked to them




So I asked should I remove the powerhead and heater from my set up......

The statement made by Aquavitro, in addition to these values scares me enough to swap back to RC.

Under normal circumstances a salt mix should never be concentrated enough to allow for calcium bicarbonate precipitation (@NSW 1.026 values). The only way to do this would be vastly increasing ambient CO2 levels or altering internal water chemistry AWAY from NSW values. The levels of excess calcium being detected could very well be the source of super saturation and conversely the precipitate/ cloudiness.

As you stated why would I add a salt to my tank that doesn't work well when heated, mixed thoroughly or exposed to CO2? These are all key components in my reef aquarium...

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Zoaelite

As you stated why would I add a salt to my tank that doesn't work well when heated, mixed thoroughly or exposed to CO2? These are all key components in my reef aquarium...

That's what I got out of their comments as well. Awesome salt, just don't add water to it

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

That's what I got out of their comments as well. Awesome salt, just don't add water to it

Haha. Like you said earlier, it better for salting ice

I used to add water to salt with IC but found out that it simply doesn't work in case of this salt. So I slowly add salt to the water over a period of like 30 mins (1/2 cup every 15mins or till I don't see any residue). Seachem just tries to through in too much chemistry with this salt so found my own way :P

[Proteus]

Originally Posted by mrhasan

I don't use heater. I dissolve mine in a bit warm water (possibly around 85). The solution itself is exothermic and produces excess heat. I just use a maxijet 400 to dissolve 2-3gallon of saltmix for 24hours.

I use a heater and power head since I like my new water as close as possible to my DT. I usually mix the day before and the water from ro unit is way to cold to add to system. It doesn't make sense to mix cold with a wooden spoon. Plus agitating the water makes sure I have a good amount of dissolved o2 in it.

I have switched back to h2ocean. And do my mid week dosing

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by Titus99

I use a heater and power head since I like my new water as close as possible to my DT. I usually mix the day before and the water from ro unit is way to cold to add to system. It doesn't make sense to mix cold with a wooden spoon. Plus agitating the water makes sure I have a good amount of dissolved o2 in it.

I have switched back to h2ocean. And do my mid week dosing

I think they said not to use heater because initially, the heater would be too hot compared to the water temperature and that would cause calcium precipitation around the heater. I don't think it would be a problem if the water is already at room temperature. And I do use powerhead; cannot think of any logic behind their claim of not using one. Infact, in their website, they did suggest mixing it for atleast 24hours for proper equilibrium of co2 and o2.

No clue about their claims. Like I said, they just bring in too many chemistry and I was never good at that :P

[michika]

I use AquaVitro on my "grow out" tank (fish only), and I have the same issues; high calcium, lots of cloudiness, and tons and tons of suspended particles in the water. Since its only being used on my grow out tank, I don't particular care about the values, but I probably won't stick with it after I'm done these buckets.

I admit, I rolled my eyes at the line about no heat while thinking to myself, "what exactly do they think we're all using their salt for? Eating?"

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by Zoaelite

The statement made by Aquavitro, in addition to these values scares me enough to swap back to RC.

Under normal circumstances a salt mix should never be concentrated enough to allow for calcium bicarbonate precipitation (@NSW 1.026 values). The only way to do this would be vastly increasing ambient CO2 levels or altering internal water chemistry AWAY from NSW values. The levels of excess calcium being detected could very well be the source of super saturation and conversely the precipitate/ cloudiness.

As you stated why would I add a salt to my tank that doesn't work well when heated, mixed thoroughly or exposed to CO2? These are all key components in my reef aquarium...

Yap this salt is possibly the most controversial salt out there in market. People mainly leave this salt because of the precipitation but people who stayed with this salt always admired it.

I am sticking with this is because I don't need to buy any test kit other than nitrate and phosphate. Atleast for this batch