Reef Crystals results....
- Thread starter EvilE
- Start date
Billybeau1
Premium Member
I use it on and off. No problems on this end. 
EvilE
New member
:lol: not me, YOU! I am just saying, I am steering clear of RC's until AS gets this thing figured out and fixed. Why buy a salt knowing it's low on key elements, just having to spend more money for suppliments to make it right. Doesn't make any sense.<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11922591#post11922591 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Thales
Go for it. Let us know how it works out.
Thales
Active member
Because its not rally all that low on key elements (about the same as IO), because all of the salt may not be 'compromised', because it doesn't cost much more than IO, because you really need to test and supplement any salt anyway, and because my tank has been doing fine on RC through this 'crisis'. Most importantly, because we don't really know what is going on with any of the other salts either.
EvilE
New member
The others are testing fine--RC is not. I'm not gonna sit here and argue with you, I was an RC fan, but this problem has frustrated me. I am taking my hard earned money elsewhere, with a salt that produces what it claims. If you want to waste your money on a bunch of shoddy salt, that's your deal.
Thales
Active member
Your last line makes it an argument!
I understand your frustration, but surely you don't need to vent it on me.
I have seen enough of these salt 'crises' come and go, and seen too many people jump ship on and experience major losses due to switching salt to ditch a salt myself simply because some of it tests at low, but easily manageable levels.
I was supplementing before the 'crisis' and supplementing now. Nothing has changed for me in the past year, so I don't understand what I am wasting money on.
I understand your frustration, but surely you don't need to vent it on me.
I have seen enough of these salt 'crises' come and go, and seen too many people jump ship on and experience major losses due to switching salt to ditch a salt myself simply because some of it tests at low, but easily manageable levels.
I was supplementing before the 'crisis' and supplementing now. Nothing has changed for me in the past year, so I don't understand what I am wasting money on.
Jeff
Premium Member
Not so much. Why do you feel that you should have to adjust a store bought product to make it work?
I went through 3 buckets of Reef Crystals before going back to Tropic Marin and I am glad I did. Reef Crystals ran high in alk for me making it difficult to maintain a stable balance of alk/calcium.
EvilE
New member
I'm not venting on you man--it's all good. Reef on!<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11922870#post11922870 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Thales
Your last line makes it an argument!
I understand your frustration, but surely you don't need to vent it on me.
I have seen enough of these salt 'crises' come and go, and seen too many people jump ship on and experience major losses due to switching salt to ditch a salt myself simply because some of it tests at low, but easily manageable levels.
I was supplementing before the 'crisis' and supplementing now. Nothing has changed for me in the past year, so I don't understand what I am wasting money on.
I am thinking SCRS, after I use up 6 buckets of low quality RC, 3 I bought from DrFS, and the 3 AM sent me! By then there maybe an issue with SC Reef salt! I am fustrated too, if I have to add to RC, save $6.00 a bucket and add what to IO that I need, I bought RC because they say I do not have to add Ca and Mg and who knows what else!
mixed_reefer
In Memoriam
Coralife here too. I was supposed to get 2 buckets of instant ocean as a replacement for bad RC, they sent me one bucket of RC LOL.. Keep your salt and ill keep my money, I was a big RC fan before this happened.
mixed_reefer
In Memoriam
major losses due to switching salt
How are you going to have any major loss if the salt was manufactured correctly? In the last 3 months i have used 3 different types of salt, as long as the parameters come close to matching i dont understand how your going to have any losses.
How are you going to have any major loss if the salt was manufactured correctly? In the last 3 months i have used 3 different types of salt, as long as the parameters come close to matching i dont understand how your going to have any losses.
Thales
Active member
I don't think you should have to adjust a salt to make it work, I just think thats the nature of the beast. Salt formulations can change without warning and there are burps in batches. Hoping that a salt mix is consistant can easily get you in the position some are in with the RC issues. Instead of switching salts every time something tests out differently than it tested before, I think it makes more sense stick with one thing, and make adjustments as necessary. Fixing the deficiencies that some have found in some RC salts is easy and inexpensive, so for me, no big deal.
Every couple of years there is some bruhaha about a particular brand of salt having a 'bad batch', and for a few of months people jump back and forth between brands with varying results from joy to disaster until everything settles down again.
Would I like a salt that mixed out to the parameters I like every time? You bet. I just don't think, even with the best of intentions, that that is going to happen forever with any salt mix.
Every couple of years there is some bruhaha about a particular brand of salt having a 'bad batch', and for a few of months people jump back and forth between brands with varying results from joy to disaster until everything settles down again.
Would I like a salt that mixed out to the parameters I like every time? You bet. I just don't think, even with the best of intentions, that that is going to happen forever with any salt mix.
jglackin
New member
I just stumbled upon this thread. Oddly enough, I just tested Reef Crystals using a Hach spectrophotometer and other equipment in a water lab. Here's what I got at a salinity of 32:
pH - 8.17
NH3 - 0.00
NO2 - .0030
NO3 - .8
ALK - 194.4
CA - 501.8
PO4 - .04
I used RO-DI with a TDS of 0.00.
pH - 8.17
NH3 - 0.00
NO2 - .0030
NO3 - .8
ALK - 194.4
CA - 501.8
PO4 - .04
I used RO-DI with a TDS of 0.00.
Billybeau1
Premium Member
Thales, I like your thinking.
The thing is guys and gals, is that not all reefers maintain their parameters the same way.
Some, like Randy, use a salt mix low in calcium and magnesium and choose to boost it right off the bat. He changes like 1% daily of his water.
Other reefers who change water every 2 weeks, rely on the salt mix with elevated calcium and magnesium to offset the consumption between water changes. They often supplement small amounts of Ca++ and Mag to maintain their levels between water changes.
So you see, its all how you use the salt and what husbandry schedule you maintain that determines what brand salt mix is best for your tank. Everyone does it different.
I agree with this point. If you buy a salt mix that has consistently provided 420 ppm calcium and all of a sudden, it does not, then that, is the problem.
Randy has been using IO for years, if not forever.
How do you think he would feel if, all of a sudden, IO mixed to 250 ppm calcium and 800 magnesium.
I do not think he would be too happy.
Reef Crystals has been a fine salt, for a long time. They recently became the most used salt from a recent poll conducted here.
I'm sure AM is not taking this laying down.
As Thales pointed out, there have been a few bumps in the road with a few different salt mixes over the years.
This too shall pass.
The thing is guys and gals, is that not all reefers maintain their parameters the same way.
Some, like Randy, use a salt mix low in calcium and magnesium and choose to boost it right off the bat. He changes like 1% daily of his water.
Other reefers who change water every 2 weeks, rely on the salt mix with elevated calcium and magnesium to offset the consumption between water changes. They often supplement small amounts of Ca++ and Mag to maintain their levels between water changes.
So you see, its all how you use the salt and what husbandry schedule you maintain that determines what brand salt mix is best for your tank. Everyone does it different.
I agree with this point. If you buy a salt mix that has consistently provided 420 ppm calcium and all of a sudden, it does not, then that, is the problem.
Randy has been using IO for years, if not forever.
How do you think he would feel if, all of a sudden, IO mixed to 250 ppm calcium and 800 magnesium.
I do not think he would be too happy.
Reef Crystals has been a fine salt, for a long time. They recently became the most used salt from a recent poll conducted here.
I'm sure AM is not taking this laying down.
As Thales pointed out, there have been a few bumps in the road with a few different salt mixes over the years.
This too shall pass.
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