does salt go bad?

[sjm1978]

ok i do a 2g WC every saturday on my tank. well today i had only 1 1/5 cups left of salt and i used it all and its not raising the salt level up to where i need it 1.025. the salt i used was from a 50g mix bag of instant ocean. i just ordered a bucket of reef crystals 160g mix lastnight from fosteandrsmith but it wont be here for a for a few days. do you guys think ill be ok skipping one wc? i have only 1 clownfish and corals so not a big bio-load? my fitration is 2 bags of chemi-pure 1 bag of purigen and floss and these were just replaced 3 days ago.

 

[jetman5443]

I think you'll be fine, and i'm sure someone near maybe could lend you a cup of salt...

 

[sjm1978]

i tested my water ph 8.2 ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate <5 i hope that the 160g bucket of reef crystals doesnt go bad on me. i guess maybe the bags dont seal good once opened and thats why it goes bad?

 

[jetman5443]

ummm i've never had salt go bad. by go bad, do you mean it gets hard and clumpy, in my experience salt doesn't go bad... i've only been doing this for a year though...

 

[sjm1978]

i dont know if it goes bad either but once it gets to where the bag of salt is almost gone it takes more salt than normal to get the level up. thats why i was thinking maybe it goes bad.

 

[jetman5443]

maybe all the other trace elements are finer particulate. they sift and settle to the bottom... so maybe if you tested your magnesium and calcium the would be way high... just an idea.

 

[pupfish]

Yeah, I had the same problem w/an old bag of Instant Ocean. I'll try to dig up where I found the info, but yeah it does, if humidity gets to it and you get solidification (clumping).

I also think Jetman has a great point. The finer stuff does settle to the bottom (I've done the pH and alk tests on mixed portions). It's always best to buy only what you intend to mix at one time. The 55 gallon Rubbermaid trash bins are fairly cheap and supposed to be food grade plastic.

Meredith

 

[Smo]

sjm1978
You can have a cup or 2 of salt if you need it, free. It's IO.
Just pm me if you want it.
I live in QC too, Copper Basin to be exact.

David