Instant Ocean Reef Crystals crashed my Tank!

[Jaysan]

Originally Posted by Tiansho

Well i did think about it, but im pretty sure i did the same steps. Took the same precautions and the only different step was the salt.

You could have did the same steps, but the salts parameters may be different from the salinity one.

I'm not that familiar with testing new salt water but things like pH, Alk, Mg, or other trace elements could have affected things.

I wonder if I can bring up that page that I read before about someone that always tests the new water for pH and alk and always makes sure they match it or else tanks could crash....

Either or, hopefully you didnt lose too much things
Its always sad when a tank crashs...

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by Jaysan

You could have did the same steps, but the salts parameters may be different from the salinity one.

I'm not that familiar with testing new salt water but things like pH, Alk, Mg, or other trace elements could have affected things.

I wonder if I can bring up that page that I read before about someone that always tests the new water for pH and alk and always makes sure they match it or else tanks could crash....

Either or, hopefully you didnt lose too much things
Its always sad when a tank crashs...

well no not really , testing new water is def good but ph in freshly mixed water regardless of what it reads is only temporary and controlled by available C02 the tank or bucket pulls in. alk on the other hand can be high or low

fwiw salt can be bad ive seen salts come back for all kinds of reasons , ones no better than the brand before but everyone should test their salts new mix....even though many of us dont. were talking about products that are mass produced.


this wouldn't be instant oceans first bad batch but like stated it wouldn't be a one person instance so with that said i also highly doubt the salt change its self made your tank crash , although i wouldnt hesitate to test for what you can ( salt parameters , equipment leaks etc)

sorry to hear about your luck and good luck with it if theres anything i or concept can do let us know

[Jaysan]

Originally Posted by reefwars

well no not really , testing new water is def good but ph in freshly mixed water regardless of what it reads is only temporary and controlled by available C02 the tank or bucket pulls in. alk on the other hand can be high or low

fwiw salt can be bad ive seen salts come back for all kinds of reasons , ones no better than the brand before but everyone should test their salts new mix....even though many of us dont. were talking about products that are mass produced.


this wouldnt be instant oceans first bad batch but like stated it wouldnt be a one person instance so with that said i also highly doubt the salt change its self made your tank crash , although i wouldnt hesitate to test it for what you can ( salt parameters , equipment leaks etc)

sorry to hear about your luck and good luck with it if theres anything i or concept can do let us know

i stand corrected

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by Jaysan

i stand corrected

its ok , theres a lot of confusing info that goes around about alk and ph on the net , the two are tied hand in hand with carbon dioxide


one should always test their new salt though or at least the first batch that gets made from a bucket

[Tiansho]

The water took two days to clear when mixing.

[Tiansho]

I guess its a hard lesson learned. Well right now i have started my tank again. Its cycling. All my coral its in another tank and doing really well. Thank you for your replies.

[Slyguy00]

Originally Posted by Tiansho

After a regular water change using the Reef Crystals salt, all my fish died. I was lucky enough to notice and took most corals (LPS) out. Please be aware of this salt, so it does not happen to you. I went back to the store and changed the salt water, but it was too late for my fish.

I call bull****. I think the correct term your looking for is newbie mistake. Thousands of people use this salt without issue

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Slyguy00

I call bull****. I think the correct term your looking for is newbie mistake. Thousands of people use this salt without issue

Thousands also use instant ocean, but i remember when it wiped out many tanks due to a bad mix and high alk. Because it was good last month doesn't mean it's good forever.
Although I do agree it wouldn't be one bucket, and we'd hear a lot more about it. Maybe we will in the next while

[heliman206]

I have been using io reef crystals for years but I'm having issues as well. I buy my salt the only place in town which is petsmart. The last 2 160g pails and 50g bag that I have bought there have all read .25-.5 ammonia. Checked test kit on the fresh rodi water with 0 reading. Also checked test kit on tank which reads 0. I will no longer use io reef crystals. I have also had several fellow reefers in town check theirs and they all have the same readings.

[denny_C]

Originally Posted by heliman206

I have been using io reef crystals for years but I'm having issues as well. I buy my salt the only place in town which is petsmart. The last 2 160g pails and 50g bag that I have bought there have all read .25-.5 ammonia. Checked test kit on the fresh rodi water with 0 reading. Also checked test kit on tank which reads 0. I will no longer use io reef crystals. I have also had several fellow reefers in town check theirs and they all have the same readings.

amonia in salt is quite common as an impurity


from RHF:

There are a variety of sources of ammonia in reef aquaria. Minor sources include: 1) tap water (especially if it contains chloramine and is not treated with a deionizing resin) and 2) impurities in salt mixes and other additives. It has previously been shown that the total NH4-N ranged from 0.55 to 11.9 micromole/kg (0.008 to 0.17 ppm total NH4-N) in an analysis of eight brands of artificial seawater mixes. At the higher end of the scale, those levels will be detected with an ammonia test kit and can present potential toxicity concerns if fish are kept at those levels (see below). These levels of ammonia may be introduced from impurities in calcium chloride and magnesium chloride, where ammonia is a well known impurity resulting from some of the commercial manufacturing processes used (such as the Solvay process, which involves ammonia).

Calcium and magnesium additives can also be a significant source of ammonia, especially for aquarists who are trying to use inexpensive sources of bulk calcium or magnesium chloride. I discussed testing calcium chloride for ammonia in a previous article.