Proof that Oceanic Salt is BAD!!!!

Grim, my bucket here in the house has 417917 stamped on the lid. Im not sure what # is on the bucket in the garage. Im pretty sure these are batch numbers. Youre right though, no numbers on the bucket itself.
 
Saltz Creep said:
I contacted Oceanic a few days ago by email. No response.

Here's my little theory about the possible problem with Oceanic.
It's different from other salts (except maybe RedSea) in that it's not synthetic. It's made from "natural" ingredients. Does that mean it's obtained from a seawater source? (hopefully not Texas) If so, then depending on processing and filtration it may contain some organic compounds, let's say proteins (maybe spores too).
A freshly mixed batch that tests 0 nitrate and 0 phosphate can still contain NO3 and PO4 if they are locked up in complex proteins. Only after the proteins break down will they then be released and can be detected by test kits. Any thoughts?

Also, there is a possibility it may be just a silica problem which most of us don't test for.
Click to expand...

At certain point I had the same line of thinking... It got to come from the source and potentially something the manufacturer itself is not testing.
If using natural sea salt that may call for the inconsistencies in organic content and maintaining consistent quality may become a real challenge and very expensive for the manufacturer trying to control the uniformity from the source.
 
juststartingout said:
I looked at my Oceanic bucket last night and nowhere on the bucket did I see "No Phosphates or Nitrates" like I have seen advertised by other salt supliers. Tropic Marine uses pharmaceutical grade stuff in their salt, and gaurentee's no nitrates/phosphates. Maybe I will try that, or Reef Crystals for my next bucket. I have no issues with O at this time, but an once of prevention is worth a pound of cure, they say.:rolleyes:
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On the Oceanic Web site they say:

"Great care has been taken selecting ALL NATURAL ingredients found in our Sea Salt Mix ensuring the absence of nitrates, phosphates and ammonia."

http://www.oceanicsystems.com/seasalt/
 
They told me that they haven't heard anything about it. However they want me to send a sample in and my LFS is going to replace it. I'm going to stop by there today and see if maybe they can get Tropic Marin in as I'm worried another bucket will have the same issues. Either that, or I won't open it and sell it to someone in my area who wants to use it.
 
JNG567 said:
I get the same brown colored algae when I do a water change with oceanic, needless to say I have stopped using oceanic I wish I could get a refund.
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Same thing here, just did a 15% change last night on a batch of 2 week old mixed Oceanic. At the end of the next days photo period I had some brown film algea growing on the glass. Prior I would go 3 or so days between having to clean my glass. BTW, the salt mix was aerated first before adding to the tank, water was changed that evening.

Oh ya, and after adding that batch, it made my skimmer flood like a mother, what that means I dont know. Same I use for topoff is also used for the salt mix. FYI

I wont be using my other bag of 50 gallon mix, back to Reef Crystals for me.
 
Contact Oceanic. They were really helpful with me. They might give you your money back or tell you to go to your LFS and get a credit. They gave me a number for the LFS to call if I had problems.
 
Its only a 50 gallon mix, and personally not worth the trouble. Sounds like from what others have stated, Oceanic doesnt even acknowledge a problem anyways.
 
Well, consider this before you start bashing someone. How many support people do you think they have? This isn't a mom and pop company.

How many people don't complain and just switch products? Maybe 10 people complained. Now if they have 20+ people supporting their products which I'm betting is probably way off on the low end, what is the chance of someone hearing it twice.

I used to do tech support a long time ago. Only time I submitted anything is when I heard the same issue a minimum of 5 times. Usually it is just the customer not knowing what they are doing.

This is why I encourage all to email or call. Otherwise, they won't know it.
 
jay24k said:
Well, consider this before you start bashing someone. How many support people do you think they have? This isn't a mom and pop company.

How many people don't complain and just switch products? Maybe 10 people complained. Now if they have 20+ people supporting their products which I'm betting is probably way off on the low end, what is the chance of someone hearing it twice.

I used to do tech support a long time ago. Only time I submitted anything is when I heard the same issue a minimum of 5 times. Usually it is just the customer not knowing what they are doing.

This is why I encourage all to email or call. Otherwise, they won't know it.
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Fair enough... I think every manufacturer deserves the feedback to be able to improve their products. If we do not provide it then who? Competition will drop and prices will rise.
 
I'm not bashing them, I'm stating what happened when I used it. If my result come across as bashing them, then maybe thier product is in question. If I would of stated I just did a mix, changed my water and nothing bad happened, would I of been bashing those that had problems. I dont think so.

Ill call or email Oceanic Ttmorrow and let them know my experience I had with thier product the other night.
 
jdieck said:
Fair enough... I think every manufacturer deserves the feedback to be able to improve their products. If we do not provide it then who? Competition will drop and prices will rise.
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Jose,
My calcium levels are up really high (600 while alk is 2.5). I'm using Oceanic.
I haven't dosed with anything. I do have a brown film too, but in all fairness, it is a new tank just finishing it's initial cycle, so I hear a bloom is expected.
Do you think I should return my unopened 200g pail of oceanic and get something else? If so, which salt?

Thanks!!
 
patsan said:
Jose,
My calcium levels are up really high (600 while alk is 2.5). I'm using Oceanic.
I haven't dosed with anything. I do have a brown film too, but in all fairness, it is a new tank just finishing it's initial cycle, so I hear a bloom is expected.
Do you think I should return my unopened 200g pail of oceanic and get something else? If so, which salt?

Thanks!!
Click to expand...

To correct the alkalinity you can add Baking Soda if your PH is on the 8.3 to 8.4 range or Baked Baking Soda if your PH is in the 8.1 to 8.2 range
You can use the calculator to determine the amount to use:

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html

Regarding which salt is really a question of personal preference and how your system reacts. If your system is fairly new I think it might be premature to decide it is the salt.
You may want to continue trying it as it may reflect in some savings in supplements if it works.

Alternatively you may want to mix 50% Oceanic with another salt (say IO or Kent) that has higher Alkalinity and lower Calcium and Magnesium to take advantage of the strenghts of each brand.
 
jdieck said:
To correct the alkalinity you can add Baking Soda if your PH is on the 8.3 to 8.4 range or Baked Baking Soda if your PH is in the 8.1 to 8.2 range
You can use the calculator to determine the amount to use:
http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html
Regarding which salt is really a question of personal preference and how your system reacts. If your system is fairly new I think it might be premature to decide it is the salt.
You may want to continue trying it as it may reflect in some savings in supplements if it works.
Alternatively you may want to mix 50% Oceanic with another salt (say IO or Kent) that has higher Alkalinity and lower Calcium and Magnesium to take advantage of the strenghts of each brand.
Click to expand...

Thanks....my pH has been 7.9-8.0 consistantly. Al;k has tested at 2.5 for the 6 days of testing, and the Calcium has gone from 460 up to 600.
 
jdieck said:
Alternatively you may want to mix 50% Oceanic with another salt (say IO or Kent) that has higher Alkalinity and lower Calcium and Magnesium to take advantage of the strenghts of each brand.
Click to expand...

I have actually been seriously considering doing just that. Just kinda scared of a reaction between the 2 salts.

I'd also thought if going back to IO and just using the Oceanic to boost my calcium when it gets low.
 
Well guys, like I said I havent experienced any problems but it does sound like others have. I suggest that the people that have been having an algea bloom in their mixing tanks should post batch numbers. There seems to be enough of us here to find out if its just one batch or a problem coming up across the whole production.

Dont report on Ca/alk relations as all Oceanic seems to be high in Ca low in alk. Just the algea problem, and maybe just people that use RODI.

Just a suggestion........... something that us consumers can do for ourselves.
 
I'm not accusing anyone of bashing but some are coming across so don't take what I say as a personal bashing. I personally LOVE high calc. If I could have 600 all the time that would be great. 10% with that high would keep my levels nice and steady. However, I don't want to have to deal with the nutrients.
 
jay24k said:
I'm not accusing anyone of bashing but some are coming across so don't take what I say as a personal bashing. I personally LOVE high calc. If I could have 600 all the time that would be great. 10% with that high would keep my levels nice and steady. However, I don't want to have to deal with the nutrients.
Click to expand...

Jay,
I am brand new with aquariums, so I don't really know what is good and what isn't. When I read what optimal readings should be, the Calc is way high. So please don't think I am bashing anything. I just want things right with the tank, and got nervous that the calc is up so high when we haven't dosed at all.
So a calc reading of 600 won't do any harm to my tank?
 
No, it won't hurt anything, but what that indicates is that the alkalinity is low. Specifically the magnesium level. You need to probably dose some magnesium (and get a test kit) to compensate.
 
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