Newly mixed saltwater ..cloudy?

psusocr

psusocr

Active member
Hi all,

I mixed some reef crystals saltwater around 5-6 days ago. It was up to salinty and the temp was at 77 the whole time with a powerhead constantly running. I went to do a water change yesterday but held up since th water is very cloudy and theres some "scum" around the heater and powerhead.

What happened?

Thanks!
 
Were you aerating the water with the powerhead or was the powerhead just mixing the water with no air? I've noticed that RC salt can be a little dirty and if you aerate the water while you're mixing it then most of the dirt raises to the top of the water with the bubbles (kinda like a skimmer).
 
The powerhead was just mixing the water, and now its all cloudy. No air stone or bubbles.

Also im sorry, i said i mixed reef crystals but its not . Im using red sea coral pro.
 
Did you add the salt to water that was already in the bucket? I ask because if you add the water to the salt, precipitation will occur and the water will stay cloudy. That can also happen if you try to make a concentrated salt water mixture then add fresh water to it to lower the salinity.
 
I had 50 gallons of fresh RODI water i added the salt to get my salinty to 1.025put a heater and my powerhead in the bucket, it was fine for 4 days then all of a sudden today( when i went to do the water change) its a cloudy mess so now im hesitant as what should do.??
 
psusocr said:
anyone??
Click to expand...

funny i just had the same problem a week ago, and posted the same question. It's Instant Ocean salt... their Quality Control sucks... i've found through searches lots of people with the same problem... I personally have stopped using it... It's nothing you did... Instant Ocean salt/ Reef crystals... it's just unpredictable....
sometimes it's ok... other times it's a cloudy residue mess... the calcium carbonate won't dissolve and it's just better to throw it out...
 
What color is your bucket? I just had this happen to two different buckets(Red sea coral pro) that i bought online. They were the white and red bucket. My only guess is old/bad salt. I called Red Sea and they immediately shipped out two brand new buckets of their new formula in the black bucket. Problem is gone.
 
Normally i wouldnt be too worried about a lil cloudy water but if it was all good for a few days then BAM its cloudy id be kinda weary as well! i use the salinity by seachem and it has some scum on the surface but no problems outta it, i usually just stir it in, ive been told by too many people that instant ocean has a ton of chemicals in it so i personally stay away, there again i know people who have thriving reef tanks who order a whole skid of the 200 gal boxes of instant ocean. id scrap the cloudy batch and change salts after i used up what i had if it were me!
 
Funny you said that because i have two buckets of the new red sea coral pro, but i currently mixed the old (red and white bucket) of red sea coral pro and this happened. I guess ill be calling them and unfortunatly mixing a new batch!
 
I've had the cloudy water issue (and white scum) with some old IO that I have been using for a long time now. I mix it well, pull 25g out of my sump, and... s l o w l y ... feed the new water into the sump thru a filter sock. I do about 5gph and I get no cloudiness in the tank and water is just fine. BTW, I test all new water and have to add BRS soda ash to the new water to bring up the dKH.
 
I be tthat is what it is. They are great to deal with. I had mine in 2 days!!! The new formula is even better than the old one. Go to their website and give them a call. You do have to provide a receipt though.

psusocr said:
Funny you said that because i have two buckets of the new red sea coral pro, but i currently mixed the old (red and white bucket) of red sea coral pro and this happened. I guess ill be calling them and unfortunatly mixing a new batch!
Click to expand...
 
REEFERJACK said:
It's Instant Ocean salt... their Quality Control sucks... Instant Ocean salt/ Reef crystals... it's just unpredictable....
sometimes it's ok... other times it's a cloudy residue mess... the calcium carbonate won't dissolve and it's just better to throw it out...
Click to expand...

This is simply not true.
I have been using Instant Ocean for over 20 years and NEVER had a single issue. None.
I did stop using Reef Crystals due to the vitamins and other unwanted additives leaving a brown scum in my WC vessel.
You can't go wrong with IO.
 
I called red sea. they said test the water, the mag, calcium and alk may have dropped out due to CO2 and lack of air. He said the salt is fine to add, and the cloudiness should go away if i put an air stone in there for awhile. We shall see what the test results say and if the water clears up
 
I usually don`t enter the salt arguments- but in the time I have been in the business- every salt brand has had people complain about the same issues. I believe that IO and RC have the most issues only because of the fact they are the most widely used. I believe 90% of the problems with any salt is user error- which can be caused by things the user actually doesn`t have absolute control over.
 
If the red sea had gotten moisture in the bag it will clump and precipitate .There bags were thin and easy to rip on some of the older pails and they would have clumping problems and those did not mix well or clear.I suspect the pail may have gotten some moisture in it or settling occured.It is good practice to measure the big three on every drum of fresh mix and adjust accordingly.If it tests good on alk,mg and cal then it is ok to use.I have and it clears like red sea says.I personally do not like the new formula for my tank because it is following the trend for high alk at a sg of 1.026
 
Thanks guys,

Dan what salt are you using now?

I will follow up with test results as soon as i get it to clear up.
 
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