Reef Crystal Salt

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Tbduval

New member
Hi,
Hope someone can help me out!!! I mixed up a new batch of water for a water change and I am levels that are very high. ALK was at 16dkh and calcium was 500. I tried mag but ran out of solution is was at 1200. I have check the salinity and it is 1.026, which was confirmed by pinpoint solution. Do these levels sound high? Also checked ALK with 2 different test kits and they are right around the same. Thanks for the help!
 
It sure is. It seems strange. I feel I must being doing something wrong. Do you think it is to high to do a WC with?
 
Maybe the salinity is higher than you think, or there is some other sort of testing issue. I'd probably still use it for small water changes. I never even measure the water I use. :)
 
I have ALK at 16dkh and calcium at 500 with Reef Crystal Salt. I thought my refractometer was way off (calibrated with RO), because I only read that Reef Crystal had problem with low cal.

I do small WC daily (2%), and the corals seem to be fine for months.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13954838#post13954838 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Randy Holmes-Farley
Maybe the salinity is higher than you think, or there is some other sort of testing issue. I'd probably still use it for small water changes. I never even measure the water I use. :)
Click to expand...

Randy, Years ago when I was using a cheap plastic hydrometer I had this happen. The cheap swing arm was reading incorrectley so I was adding more salt. This was also adding to the high readings. Once I bought a good Refractometer, Everything fell right into place.

IMO....get a good Refractometer, like a Sybon FG-100 for $49.95

Be careful of the ones on ebay. There are ones on there that are being sold as a salinity meter, BUT are really made for things like sugar, anti-freeze...etc.
 
Tb, Since all of the numbers are higher, I gotta believe your salinity is higher than you think for some reason.

If you really want to get to the bottom of this, Mix exactly 1/2 cup of RC in 1 gallon of ro/di. Then measure calcium and alkalinity. Make sure the water is clear before you test. You should get around 400-410 calcium and around 10-11 dkh as it takes a little more than 1/2 of RC per gallon to get to 1.0264

At least you'll be able to eliminate some things. :)
 
I use RC at an sg of 1.025 and I tested it just for this thread as i have never tested my new water for any thing but salinity before adding it. Here's what i got:

cal 420
dkh 10.9 or 3.8 meq
ph 8.2

Theese are salifert testkits except for calcium which is Seachem Reef status
 
You know, I just posted in another forum about forgetting to test my new water before doing a water change last night and my Calcium is sky high today. My alkalinity didn't go crazy high though. Wonder if there are some bad batches going around?

I thought my API Calcium kit was bad... now I'm not so sure.
 
Unfortunately, that batch was a 25 gallon box that I bought while waiting on the bucket to get delivered. I do know that I used a temperature corrected refractometer which I calibrated w/ 35 mS solution to double check.
 
Yeah I'm still leaning towards bad test kit. Just found it interesting. Probably just a coincidence.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13964356#post13964356 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Billybeau1
Tb, Since all of the numbers are higher, I gotta believe your salinity is higher than you think for some reason.
Click to expand...

BillyB, I agree with you and Randy. Something is just not right. With my ALK so high, what do you the salinity would be? I will run that test today and see how is works out. I will let you know! Thanks!
 
Billy,
Did what you recommended and still high ALK and Cal. With the half cup the levels were as follows. 1.021, 12.8dhk, & 480 Cal. I am going to test the Mag to see what that is at. Do you think the salt has settled or something along those lines? Thanks!
 
Settling is a possibility, as some folks have observed.

In general, I think that bad test kits and/or procedures are way, way more common than entire bad batches of salt mixes. :)
 
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