Salt Analysis Study Results

[seapug]

Very interesting, but all the colored bars almost gave me a seizure. I got an idea of what the good and bad are, but is there a statistics guru here who can determine what the "best" one was? Be sure to give major point deductions for Phosphate and Nitrite. Looked to me like Red Sea Coral Pro consistently ranked well.(?)

 

[moo0o]

they really should have tested calcium and everything at the same salinity =( but thanks for the detailed analysis!

 

[reefkoi]

Awesome, I am glad they didn't test the salt that they distribute themselves..................of course that makes this a boring thread for a couple folks, but they made the right call for sure!

Thanks AWT for taking the time and money to do this test for us!

 

[shred5]

Too bad the new tunze salt did not get on this test...

also I had so much trouble with coral life salt that i will not use it. Bad batches...

Dave

 

[Billybeau1]

These are the calcium numbers I came up with bumping each mix to 35 ppt. I'll also show what I got in my own testing. I'll do magnesium tommorrow.

Instant Ocean
AWT - 432 - they actually got two very different readings from 2 different buckets.
My test - 350

Reef Crystals
AWT - 385
My test 420 (I think they got a couple of the bad batches going around lately.)

Coralife
AWT - 528
My test - 560

Kent
AWT - 500
My test - 540

Red Sea Coral Pro
AWT - 420
My Test - 490

Crystal Sea Marine Mix
AWT - 316
Did not test

Crystal Sea Bioassay
AWT - 336
Did not test

Marine Environment
AWT - 660
Did not test

Tropic Marin
AWT - 309
My test - 375

TM Pro Reef
AWT - 380
My test - 450

Oceanic
AWT - 531
My Test 580

Seachem Marine
AWT - 535
My test - 500

Seachem Reef
AWT - 548
My test - 540

I also tested Red Sea regular which came in at 400, Oceanpure came in at 510 and Aquatic Gardens was 430.

 

[melev]

After reading all the work they put into this study, how can anyone not be impressed with how they went about doing this series of tests? New RO/DI system for the test, acid washed barrels, some mixing of salt (who really stirs their bucket of salt before making ASW?), and all the double testing of these many salts, each unlabeled to avoid skewing the results... I think they did a very nice job with what they tried to accomplish.

I would like to know how to convert some of the measurements from mg/l to ppm, such as the Bromine number. They pointed out the number we would aim for, but the results are in a different measurement.

Thank you AWT for doing this. It is very interesting.

 

[King-Kong]

yeah Melev -- this is an incredible resource.. should be stickied. It really ends a lot of speculation for me.

 

[HBtank]

Wow, I was exited until I saw the salinity portion... Awesome execution, but please tell me they ran all the parameter samples at the same salinity, and not by a 7g per 200ml standard.

Otherwise that PDF is just plain confusing and the graphs borderline useless,without a bunch of conversions.

 

[DrBegalke]

I would think most of the results, could be converted to 35 ppt, I will ask around for some input.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

My first impression is that some of the numbers I am seeing make NO sense.

IO's calcium for instance: 503 and 246. Has ANYONE ever come up with either of these numbers for IO before? And the alkalinity... IO (and RC for that matter) consistently mix up to a high alkalinity of 10-12 dkh I believe (at least that is what you always hear). This test has IO at 8.5-8.6.

Not complaining, implying, accusing, etc, but why is this the first time we are seeing these numbers for these salts?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It is somewhat surprising to me that a company that specializes in selling testing services to reefers did not bother to run a standard or a spiked sample to see if their technique actually detects bromide in seawater, leaving the results for bromide meaningless.

 

[BraenDead]

Wow - a huge thank you to everyone who helped organize this!

Bob

 

[EvilE]

Thanks much Dr.!!!

 

[Mavrk]

This is great. Can alkalinity be converted linearly like what was done with calcium?

I remember when this was first posted looking for money to do the test. I was ready to put in a few bucks, but AWT volunteered to do it for free. What a great company. Thank you for this.

 

[a2fire2i]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11821991#post11821991 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by HBtank
Wow, I was exited until I saw the salinity portion... Awesome execution, but please tell me they ran all the parameter samples at the same salinity, and not by a 7g per 200ml standard.

Otherwise that PDF is just plain confusing and the graphs borderline useless,without a bunch of conversions.

This is nice, but I must agree with the above. Can anyone cofirm? It these numbers are at the 7g/200ml and not 35 ppt, then you shouldnt even bother comparing the different brands graphed results, correct?

 

[acdraindrps]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11819620#post11819620 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mbbuna
i think its great that they showed to what level a measured amount of salt added to a measured amount of water will bring the SG to but i think that after that they should have raised all salts to NSW before doing the rest of the tests.

Agreed.

 

[dreaminmel]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11822180#post11822180 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LobsterOfJustice
And the alkalinity... IO (and RC for that matter) consistently mix up to a high alkalinity of 10-12 dkh I believe (at least that is what you always hear). This test has IO at 8.5-8.6.

Not complaining, implying, accusing, etc, but why is this the first time we are seeing these numbers for these salts?

My current bucket of RC (and the one before) has actually been mixing up to those alk numbers. I do agree it is not the norm for RC as I've been using this salt for years and never had it mix up that low before these two buckets...

Thank you for the results AWT. Your work is much appreciated. At the very least I now know which salts to avoid in my effort to keep phosphate and nitrate out of my tank.

 

[cd77]

Well done, Dr. Begalke! Thank you for all of your efforts to get this report! And thank you, AWT!

Curious to hear what conclusions people may draw from this.

 

[Dack77]

Does anyone have concern over the ammonia in the Seachem Salt? Or is that a small enough amount that is pretty much nothing to worry about once put into a tank with an established biological base.

 

[Davidb6]

Not to be negative to AWT but didn't I read on RC some concern about AWT's latest water test results?

I was just about to switch from IO to Tropic Marin Reef Pro due to another test result on RC.