Aquavitro/Salinity low in calcium/alk?

[kes_reef]

Tested my water from Seachem's Aquavitro "Salinity" and the calcium read 350. My friend also reported low calcium readings in his tank after performing a large water change with this salt. Another said the alkalinity in the new water was 6.5-7, and mine came up with similar readings instead of the 8.5 -9 on the printed label. Never had this issue before with Aquavitro.

Anyone else find similar results?

 

[davskee]

Never had this issue all reading where on the high side for me.

 

[GreshamH]

take your batch number to the website and check it against what they report. If you find a difference, talk to them. They are very responsive.

 

[chicken]

"Salinity" salt seems a little more sensitive to precipitation if you dump to much salt in while you are mixing up the water. If you mix slowly I have found their test numbers seem to be right on but if you dump to much in it precipitates out.

 

[seminolecpa]

"Salinity" salt seems a little more sensitive to precipitation if you dump to much salt in while you are mixing up the water. If you mix slowly I have found their test numbers seem to be right on but if you dump to much in it precipitates out.

Yep. Make sure you don't add the salt until you have the right counter mix of water in your bucket and add it slow or you get major precipitation.

 

[Apisto]

How slow is "slow"? Over the course of a few minutes? I add it pretty quickly into high-flow RO/DI in the mixing container.

Yep. Make sure you don't add the salt until you have the right counter mix of water in your bucket and add it slow or you get major precipitation.

 

[chicken]

My water change mix-up tank is about 900g so my slow might be a little different than your slow. In my water change tank I have two large Hydor pumps (the 3k GPH ones IIRC) and then I have a old sweetwater pump which I suspect gets another 3k GPH. When I need to add salt to the WC tank I turn all the pumps on (normally only one of the Hydor's is on 24x7) The Sweetwater I have plumbed taking water from the bottom of the tank and it pumps it via a 2" PVC pipe to the top of the tank. I have it so the water spills out about 6" above the tank. I then pour 1 large bucket of salt in the current the pump creates over about 2 mins. I then let that run for about an hour and then test and repeat as many times as I need. I typically don't let the water change tank get lower than about 400g so I only have to add 1-2 buckets. If I go to quick I can tell that as the water gets really cloudy compared to what it normally does. If thats the case I let the water sit atleast 24 hours and then test the water and add Alk & CA as needed to get it back to where it should be.

 

[kes_reef]

Thanks guys for the responses. I've always mixed the salt the same way ever since I began using this and never had this problem (low calcium/alk), but I'll definitely keep that in mind.

 

[that Fish Guy]

"Salinity" salt seems a little more sensitive to precipitation if you dump to much salt in while you are mixing up the water. If you mix slowly I have found their test numbers seem to be right on but if you dump to much in it precipitates out.

Do other Salt Brands have this problem too?

Namely Reef Crystals since that is what I use.

I just Dump it in and then Stir and come back later and Stir and Stir again.

Is this a bad way to Mix Water?

I use up to Five 5 Gallon Home Depot Buckets at a Time.

I have it marked off at 4 Gallons so I do not have water come out of the Bucket when I Mix.

I get the amount of Salt in a Bowl and Dump it in the first bucket.

Then I repeat and go down the line until all 5 Buckets have the Salt Dumped in.

Then I go down the Line and Stir each one one by one and repeat until there is no Salt left at the bottom of the Bucket.

 

[sfsuphysics]

woo that's and old post you're digging up to ask this question

The question of precipitation is after you make up water do you see any white residue at the bottom? If not, then you're probably fine.

 

[Dapg8gt]

Do other Salt Brands have this problem too?

Namely Reef Crystals since that is what I use.

I just Dump it in and then Stir and come back later and Stir and Stir again.

Is this a bad way to Mix Water?

I use up to Five 5 Gallon Home Depot Buckets at a Time.

I have it marked off at 4 Gallons so I do not have water come out of the Bucket when I Mix.

I get the amount of Salt in a Bowl and Dump it in the first bucket.

Then I repeat and go down the line until all 5 Buckets have the Salt Dumped in.

Then I go down the Line and Stir each one one by one and repeat until there is no Salt left at the bottom of the Bucket.

I would think that's not an ideal way to mix the water. You should imo mix it the entire time your making it. I would think you are almost forcing precipitation out of it by letting it sit highly concentrated in the bottom of the bucket unmixed.

I think if your mixing 20g it might be a good idea to just get a 20ish gallon container and use a powerhead the entire time so you get the proper aeration needed and a full mix. I've always thought and followed the 24hr constant aeration/mixing is needed to fully mix the salt unless using certain brands that are designed to be used instantly Like aqua vitro (above) is meant to be used in 4 hours or else it drops cal/alk out due to precipitation.(yet the directions say 24 hours) .

I had the same issue that this thread is referring to and it was from keeping aqua vitro water stored for later use I despise this salt mix lol. I wasted a good chunk of change switching to it and later having to add cal/alk everytime I wanted to do a wc.

 

[that Fish Guy]

I would think that's not an ideal way to mix the water. You should imo mix it the entire time your making it. I would think you are almost forcing precipitation out of it by letting it sit highly concentrated in the bottom of the bucket unmixed.

I think if your mixing 20g it might be a good idea to just get a 20ish gallon container and use a powerhead the entire time so you get the proper aeration needed and a full mix. I've always thought and followed the 24hr constant aeration/mixing is needed to fully mix the salt unless using certain brands that are designed to be used instantly Like aqua vitro (above) is meant to be used in 4 hours or else it drops cal/alk out due to precipitation.(yet the directions say 24 hours) .

I had the same issue that this thread is referring to and it was from keeping aqua vitro water stored for later use I despise this salt mix lol. I wasted a good chunk of change switching to it and later having to add cal/alk everytime I wanted to do a wc.

How much Calcium / Alkalinity do you loose?

I often make Saltwater and do not use it for a week or so.

How much am I loosing?

 

[Dapg8gt]

Use a test kit and find out=).. Super easy to do its been a year or three since I went down that road with this salt so numbers would be a guess. fwiw I store mixed SW for a few weeks without any issues whatsoever, just not aquavitro ..

There is also other things that attribute to reactions like climate etc so If your area is hotter than mine it might precipitate more(just learned that the other day on here =) or I'm just some crazy guy on the Internet that is speaking jibberish.. Best to verify especially if it's as simple as testing a batch of salt.

 

[that Fish Guy]

Can anybody tell me how this Salt affects Zoanthids?

I want to try it on my Zoanthid Frag Tank.

 

[Dapg8gt]

Don't get your question? It's a safe to use salt mix so you aren't going to notice anything with the zoa's. It will be just like any other water change as long as it's used within 24hrs. If it isn't your going to have to supplement the new water with cal/alk/mag at some point due to it precipitating to dangerously low levels the longer it sits.

Unless of course they changed the formula.

 

[that Fish Guy]

Don't get your question? It's a safe to use salt mix so you aren't going to notice anything with the zoa's. It will be just like any other water change as long as it's used within 24hrs. If it isn't your going to have to supplement the new water with cal/alk/mag at some point due to it precipitating to dangerously low levels the longer it sits.

Unless of course they changed the formula.

Why do you have to use it within 24 hours?

Sometimes I wait a few days before using the saltwater I made and I have heard of people going as long as a few weeks.

In regards to zoanthids do you get better growth, polyp size, color, etc. with zoanthids?

I have heard that many peoples coral did much better after switching from instant ocean or reef crystals to this brand.

I was wondering if zoanthids in particular did better as I have a ton of them and am always buyign them too.