Why does reef crystals only have 320 Ca?
- Thread starter StrategicReef
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Billybeau1
Premium Member
Mike, I'm afraid I disagree.
You say "all the people that posted in this thread" Just how many is that ?
And how many is that compared to the thousands of people on Reef Central that are using Reef Crystals and not having problems ?
I spend a lot of my time and money trying to help fellow reefers figure out chemical issues with products and testing supplies. I do this because I enjoy helping out and for as much water testing I have done over the years, I'd like to think the numbers I post are pretty close to real.
Threads like this come along all the time and in many cases, the issue is with testing of some sort and not the actual product itself.
In the 8 years I've been here, I can only remember one salt manufacturing issue and that was the low alk Seachem fiasco awhile back.
I hope you didn't take Boomers recent comments about me seriously. I have no affiliation with Marineland and I do not own stock in Reef Crystals. He was joking with me, as he does from time to time. We are friends.
I simply want to see this for myself since a number of people are seeing problems and it all seems to be coming from the same place, I'm hoping to shed some light on the situation. I am not satisfied with the response one of our members got from Drs Foster & Smith.
Whether you choose to believe my findings or not is up to you. I'm quite sure a number of our members are interested in what I come up with.
Personally, I did not care for your comment or bdare's for that matter. You seem to have been jumping on a number of my posts as of late.
Just because a few people reported a calcium problem with a salt mix doesn't necessarily mean that salt mix has consistency issues. It very well could be a bad batch problem, or a moisture problem, or a mixing problem or a testing problem. I prefer to find the real cause of the problem before we all go and point fingers and accuse manufacturers of a bad product. This has happened too many times in the past in our hobby.
Are you doing anything to help figure out this problem ? If not, I suggest you post in a thread where you can be of some help.
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11459358#post11459358 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Billybeau1
Mike, I'm afraid I disagree.
You say "all the people that posted in this thread" Just how many is that ?
And how many is that compared to the thousands of people on Reef Central that are using Reef Crystals and not having problems ?
I spend a lot of my time and money trying to help fellow reefers figure out chemical issues with products and testing supplies. I do this because I enjoy helping out and for as much water testing I have done over the years, I'd like to think the numbers I post are pretty close to real.
Threads like this come along all the time and in many cases, the issue is with testing of some sort and not the actual product itself.
In the 8 years I've been here, I can only remember one salt manufacturing issue and that was the low alk Seachem fiasco awhile back.
I hope you didn't take Boomers recent comments about me seriously. I have no affiliation with Marineland and I do not own stock in Reef Crystals. He was joking with me, as he does from time to time. We are friends.
I simply want to see this for myself since a number of people are seeing problems and it all seems to be coming from the same place, I'm hoping to shed some light on the situation. I am not satisfied with the response one of our members got from Drs Foster & Smith.
Whether you choose to believe my findings or not is up to you. I'm quite sure a number of our members are interested in what I come up with.
Personally, I did not care for your comment or bdare's for that matter. You seem to have been jumping on a number of my posts as of late.
Just because a few people reported a calcium problem with a salt mix doesn't necessarily mean that salt mix has consistency issues. It very well could be a bad batch problem, or a moisture problem, or a mixing problem or a testing problem. I prefer to find the real cause of the problem before we all go and point fingers and accuse manufacturers of a bad product. This has happened too many times in the past in our hobby.
Are you doing anything to help figure out this problem ? If not, I suggest you post in a thread where you can be of some help.
I think the problem here is you are attempting to tell those of us with low number either we are crazy or just don't know how to test water. I've been doing this for a long time. The Ca in the Reef Crystals I have is 360. PERIOD.
Just because you order a bucket from the good Drs and you test your water at 420 isn't going to prove anything. I'm sure they get new salt in all the time. Unless you test the salt from someone who is reporting the low numbers you are simply reporting the results from YOUR bucket.
I'll gladly send you 1/2 cup of salt for you to test.
The reason people are jumping all over you is because as I stated before... you are either telling us we are crazy or incapable of testing our water.
Mike O'Brien
New member
Yep, I tell who I can to test their makeup water before adding it to the tank and adjust it as necissary.<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11459358#post11459358 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Billybeau1
Mike, I'm afraid I disagree.
You say "all the people that posted in this thread" Just how many is that ?
That would be 15
And how many is that compared to the thousands of people on Reef Central that are using Reef Crystals and not having problems ?
Not many, but that does not matter. How many of them actually test anyway ?
I spend a lot of my time and money trying to help fellow reefers figure out chemical issues with products and testing supplies. I do this because I enjoy helping out and for as much water testing I have done over the years, I'd like to think the numbers I post are pretty close to real.
I don't doubt you
Threads like this come along all the time and in many cases, the issue is with testing of some sort and not the actual product itself.
]I agree, but that's not always the problem. Many of us have done all we could to ensure accurate results. Like correctly calibrating our refractometers and using multiple test kits
In the 8 years I've been here, I can only remember one salt manufacturing issue and that was the low alk Seachem fiasco awhile back.
I hope you didn't take Boomers recent comments about me seriously. I have no affiliation with Marineland and I do not own stock in Reef Crystals. He was joking with me, as he does from time to time. We are friends.
No, not that it would matter to me.
I simply want to see this for myself since a number of people are seeing problems and it all seems to be coming from the same place, I'm hoping to shed some light on the situation. I am not satisfied with the response one of our members got from Drs Foster & Smith.
I want that too. That's my point. But IMO it's not really their problem. I'm sure they ship out a lot of buckets. They are just trying to keep their customers satisfied by replacing the buckets.
Whether you choose to believe my findings or not is up to you. I'm quite sure a number of our members are interested in what I come up with.
I totally believe you. I credit the members of this particular forum with enough smarts to use a test kit correctly. How your findings make ours wrong is where I don't agree.
Personally, I did not care for your comment or bdare's for that matter. You seem to have been jumping on a number of my posts as of late.
In this thread, yes. Elswhere, I don't believe I did anything.
Just because a few people reported a calcium problem with a salt mix doesn't necessarily mean that salt mix has consistency issues. It very well could be a bad batch problem, or a moisture problem, or a mixing problem or a testing problem. I prefer to find the real cause of the problem before we all go and point fingers and accuse manufacturers of a bad product. This has happened too many times in the past in our hobby.
If we though it was a bad product, we wouldn't be using it. IMO a bad batch is a consistiency problem. We get thing done in this hobby by threads like this. These forums are R&D for companies like Marineland.
Are you doing anything to help figure out this problem ? If not, I suggest you post in a thread where you can be of some help.
2thdeekay
New member
I appreciate everyones input here. I'd hope that everyone's Ca and Alk posted readings would be properly considered, as this is just a public forum.
Personally, I don't think one person is enough proof that numerous posted measurements are erroneous, even if it's a possibility. I agree with Billybeau1 & others, that this should be properly evaluated to find out what's been happening.
I doubt there is a conspiracy against the salt mfr going on here.
Billybeau1
Premium Member
Well I'm not going to publicly squabble about your reply although I disagree with a number of your replies. I just found your quote above a jab. I know of no one on Reef Central that thinks anyones post is the "final word" on anything in this hobby. Not even Randy's and I'm sure he'll agree to that. I merely test a lot and post my results.
As you know, testing saltwater has a lot of variables, especially with hobby grade test kits and it is easy to get confused about test results at times.
When you have time, re-read the whole thread from start to finish. Then evaluate your comments. I did that about an hour ago and I see a comment I made that could possibly be construed as offensive. Not my intent or never will it be. Sometimes when threads get real long like this, we tend to loose focus on the original posters question.
We'll get to the bottom of this, collectively , I'm sure. Thats what makes this the best Reef Chemistry forum on the web.
Billybeau1
Premium Member
Well first off, people aren't jumping all over me as you state. What people ? 2 people ?
Sending me a sample of your salt is useless. You should know that.
Unless I have a bad memory, I don't recall calling anyone crazy for posting their test results. There are many reasons for not seeing expected results from a salt mix. Not just user error.
We deal with all levels of aquarists on this forum and I have no idea what level of experience they have. Sometimes you have to ask the obvious questions to get the simple answers. My intent is not to make them look foolish. My intent is to help them solve their problem. When dealing with water chemistry, many of us assume the reefer has the proper knowledge to deal with these issues. Believe me, many times, this is not the case.
I suspect you need to spend a little more time around here reading threads to understand what I'm talking about.
2thdeekay
New member
I agree
IMHO, the best investigators ask questions when presented with odd looking data. The worst investigators make immediate judgements.
If anyone has other numbers to post, please do. If people want to send me samples of their salt, I'd be willing to do a standardized testing. Of course, we could have more than one person do standardized tests... Any other volunteers to test samples?
Besides standard reef tests, I have access to a chem lab, including mass spec.
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I have not been following this thread, so I have skipped allot. I don't know why there is still arguing or who is on what side of the issue. F & S had some bad lots numbers with low Ca++, so it would seem. This is not the only forum showing these low values.
From another forum yesterday
SG-1.025
Alk- 4.34 meq/ l
Ca- 320
Mg- ~1145-1200
Nitrate- 0
I have not tested my tank for calcium yet however in the new batch I made last night with reef crystals at 1.025 saltinity all my paramaters were zero except for phosphate which was at 0.5 ppm, ALK 3.6, PH 8.2, and calcium at 350 (using tap water)
For me, using DI water, RC mixes up at 1.025 with around 360ppm Ca and about 8 dKH (2.8 meq/l)
From another forum yesterday
SG-1.025
Alk- 4.34 meq/ l
Ca- 320
Mg- ~1145-1200
Nitrate- 0
I have not tested my tank for calcium yet however in the new batch I made last night with reef crystals at 1.025 saltinity all my paramaters were zero except for phosphate which was at 0.5 ppm, ALK 3.6, PH 8.2, and calcium at 350 (using tap water)
For me, using DI water, RC mixes up at 1.025 with around 360ppm Ca and about 8 dKH (2.8 meq/l)
Billybeau1
Premium Member
Everything's cool Boomer. We are just trying to get to the bottom of this. Seems you may be right. Just for giggles, I ordered a bucket of RC from Drs Foster & Smith. Should be here tomorrow. I recently got a small bag from the lfs and it was fine. I didn't care for the response one of our members got from Drs Foster & Smith so I thought I'd see for myself.
And we will be starting all over again :lol:
Billybeau1
Premium Member
:lol:
