Who has given up Aquavitro Salinity? WHY?

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Garibaldi;658106 wrote: After my water change this evening, I took some pictures of the grey deposits left in the white Brute mixing container.

Has anyone else seen this with the Salinity salt?

Take the time to read this whole thread, half of it talks about this very issue. I also started a thread a while back to remedy the grey residue. I think I posted it again somewhere in this thread

Edit: http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=48306&highlight=salinity+film">http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=48306&highlight=salinity+film</a>

Here it is

 

[seachem]

It is not unusual to see some residue after mixing. Here are a couple of snippets from this thread that help explain this. Personally, I see very little residue when I mix at home. This is most likely due to the fact that I use the water quickly after mixing. What residue I do see is in the lower section of the barrel where unused water may mix for as long as two weeks before another batch is made.

When mixing this salt, we have found that 24 hours or less is ideal. The longer you let the salt mix, the more C02 it will take on and the more precipitation you will encounter. C02 --&gt; water --&gt; carbonic acid --&gt; bicarbonates/carbonates. Mixing the salt for more than 24 hours can cause a decrease in alkalinity and pH, resulting in a precipitation of calcium and carbonates. When we mix it here at Seachem, we mix it in 50 gallon drums with one powerhead at room temperature (22-25 degrees Centigrade). There is no need to use a heater. Typically the water is clear within a few hours but sometimes we have to use it within an hour of mixing, when it is still cloudy. This cloudiness clears rapidly once introduced to the tank, generally within 30 minutes, and will not cause any harm to the inhabitants. Furthermore, cloudiness seems to persist more with buckets that have calcium and alkalinity levels on the higher end of the range. This is really inevitable when you have such high levels of those particular components.


The residue that is left in the container is a direct result of 1. the highly concentrated materials used in the salt, 2. letting it mix too long 3. a natural occurrence when mixing a high quality salt. We do an acid wash on our buckets about once a month. This can be done at home simply using Acid Buffer and water. Your bucket will be clean instantly and easily.

 

[seachem]

Thank you for writing in with your concerns over the salt, and we are very sorry to hear about your recent issues. If you don't mind answering a couple of questions, this will help us troubleshoot the issue with you. What specific gravity or salinity did you mix the salt to? Did you test any parameters on a fresh batch of newly-made saltwater? If so, what were these parameters? What are the current parameters in your tank, and what were they prior to switching salts? Can you please provide the lot number off of the bucket of salt, so that we may reference our test results? Is there any other relevant information that you can provide about your tank that may prove useful?

 

[wmboots]

Renegade9;668543 wrote: I am having issues. I switched to Salinity about a month and a half ago. In the last 3 weeks my tank has crashed drastically. PH is very low can't seem to be able to stabalize it. I have lost at least a grand in corals. Anyone else have issues with this recently.

Your not alone with your issues with PH, I am 2/3 the way through my second bucket and have constantly battled low PH and low alk issues. I highly doubt I will buy another bucket. I used seachem salt before and will probably return to it. Since changing to Salinity I have lost several zoa colonies all of which were thriving and growing before I changed. Paly's, LPS, SPS, ricordia and mushroom polyps seem to do OK but my leathers have suffered tremendously except for a large mushroom leather and as I mentioned earlier my zoa's are gone for the most part and I had a few colonies that were gorgeous but have melted away.
Hate to do this but I do blame this on Salinity as I have checked everything else in my setup and going back through my logs the issues began with my salt change. I will stay with a seachem product just not Salinity.

 

[ralph atl]

Just "for the record", I have not had one issue with any coral, fish, or parem since I switched to Salinity...

My corals have never looked better actually, bit I don't necessarily credit the salt..

 

[giulianom]

I picked up my two 225 gallon buckets of Salinity from Jenn today.

Should be interesting to see how it does in a completely new setup...

 

[acroholic]

I have to agree with Ralph. I haven't seen any ill effects on my system that I could readily attribute to Salinity. While it is possible for any manufacturer to have a bad batch, if it were a consistent issue you'd see screams coming up on all the major reef boards.

Only thing I see on any of the large boards regarding Salinity is that some people, for whatever reason, seem to have issues mixing it. Again, something I've never had issue with. Dump it in, mix it up and use it in a couple hours or in a couple weeks.

I've been cycling through three salt brands on my system: Salinity, Korallin-Zucht, and Instant Ocean, and I haven't seen any changes after using any particular brand.

 

[mvm]

I do have cloudy water briefly after using, but other than that, no problem. The cloudiness doesn't bother me. It's usually gone by the time I finish cleaning up after the water change. I usually mix my water for multiple days before using. Is that a bad idea? How quickly after mixing is it safe to use? I'd rather mix and use quickly, since the temp of my garage is so high.

 

[mvm]

MvM;669103 wrote: How quickly after mixing is it safe to use?

Nevermind. I actually read the thread:doh:

I will say that I had the same residue and cloudy water when using D-D H20 salt, which IMO, is the closest match.

 

[wmboots]

Ralph I'm happy to hear your having good results with salinity wish I could say the same but I have lost too many zoa's and other soft corals to say I think it is a good product for me.
Never had a cloudiness issue until the last batch I mixed up last weekend, since doing a 30+% water change (because I mixed up to big a batch) I have dosed twice for PH added alk once and magnesium once. If I was a complete novice I would think it was me but for some reason my system doesn't work well with salinity. I will be upgrading to the 150 tank I bought off Bill here on the board a few months back. Debating between finishing up the bucket of salanity or switching back to seachem reef salt or giving H2Ocean a shot for the added 60 or 70 gallons of water for the upgrade.

 

[ralph atl]

I do dose BRS 2 part Alk & Calcium 6 times daily...to keep up with demand.

 

[seachem]

wmboots,

I'm sorry that the Salinity salt has not worked out for you. We have been using the Salinity here in our facility since before it was released to the public and we have never had any issues with pH, alkalinity, or more specifically, zoa's or softies. We have 2-265 gallon reef systems, one being predominately SPS and the other LPS, neither of which has ever shown negative signs from the Salinity. We truly hope that you will remain a Seachem customer and that the Reef Salt will be your next option. Please let us know if you have any additional questions or need assistance in the future.

 

[wmboots]

Seachem, thank you for your reply and as I stated in my post my lps and sps are doing just fine as are the paly's I have in my tank (which are growing and spreading too rapidly) its the zoa's and a couple of leathers that just aren't doing well with salanity. I have gone thru 1.5 225 gallon buckets and have found I have to dose PH with in a day of every water change and find alkalinity is border line or just a bit low at that time too.
Calcium I find is running about 1250 after a change but I prefer levels at around 1350-1450 so by preference I dose calcium after each water change. I remain a Seachem fan but salanity just isn't cutting it in my 90 gallon show tank setup. I have decided to see to use the remainder of the bucket I have to topoff when I upgrade to the 150 show tank I have just to satisfy my curiosity of seeing if there will be a difference with the larger setup.

Seachem;670292 wrote: wmboots,

I'm sorry that the Salinity salt has not worked out for you. We have been using the Salinity here in our facility since before it was released to the public and we have never had any issues with pH, alkalinity, or more specifically, zoa's or softies. We have 2-265 gallon reef systems, one being predominately SPS and the other LPS, neither of which has ever shown negative signs from the Salinity. We truly hope that you will remain a Seachem customer and that the Reef Salt will be your next option. Please let us know if you have any additional questions or need assistance in the future.

 

[ralph atl]

I'm thinking you meant mag; not calcium.

 

[seachem]

You are very welcome, wmboots!

We would be interested in hearing about the results with the larger system. :yes:

 

[sharkbait]

Ok here is my take. I have voiced my thought with other members but this is the first post in this thread. After reading everyone's positive and negative replies and stances on this salt. You are paying a premium price for a premium salt; however, half say they aren't getting the results and the other half say they are. My stance or thought is would you pay premium price for a car that fifty percent of the market said didn't work, didn't meet the expectations that the manufacture guaranteed, caused issues that the manufacture has to research and explain why said things are happening. My next thought/point is if I am paying a premium price I should get the results that comes along with the premium price. Would you buy a Ferrari if it only had 200hp and was four cylinders? You pay the premium price and expect that Ferrari to have some crazy amount of HP, just as you pay the premium price for salinity and expect the CA, MAG, PH and any other levels to be correct. What is the point in paying the price of the salinity only to have to fix or add doses to bring it up to where it SHOULD already be? For me I just cant justify buying into this product that has fifty percent saying doesn't work and fifty percent saying it does. In the normal product market that is a pretty horrible rate and normal consumers would not even try and entertain the thought of purchasing that product.

These are my thoughts/concerns with Salinity salt.

 

[wmboots]

Being one the most outspoken members with issues concerning Salanity, I will say price was never one of them.
When I take into consideration what I pay for a bucket of Salanity that mixes 225 gallons versus another salt that mixes 160 gallons I find the cost per unit is the same and in many cases actually cheaper than the other salts. This includes Seachem Reef Salt, I/O, I/O Reef Crystals and many others. I have used all three I mentioned above and can say that what I paid per 160 gallon bucket vs 225 gallon bucket of salanity the cost per gallon was cheaper than 2 of those mentioned and exactly the same as the other one.
Having said this I never considered Salanity a premium salt but just salt that made claims that I personally could not verify being accurate in my system.

Sharkbait;670937 wrote: Ok here is my take. I have voiced my thought with other members but this is the first post in this thread. After reading everyone's positive and negative replies and stances on this salt. You are paying a premium price for a premium salt; however, half say they aren't getting the results and the other half say they are. My stance or thought is would you pay premium price for a car that fifty percent of the market said didn't work, didn't meet the expectations that the manufacture guaranteed, caused issues that the manufacture has to research and explain why said things are happening. My next thought/point is if I am paying a premium price I should get the results that comes along with the premium price. Would you buy a Ferrari if it only had 200hp and was four cylinders? You pay the premium price and expect that Ferrari to have some crazy amount of HP, just as you pay the premium price for salinity and expect the CA, MAG, PH and any other levels to be correct. What is the point in paying the price of the salinity only to have to fix or add doses to bring it up to where it SHOULD already be? For me I just cant justify buying into this product that has fifty percent saying doesn't work and fifty percent saying it does. In the normal product market that is a pretty horrible rate and normal consumers would not even try and entertain the thought of purchasing that product.

These are my thoughts/concerns with Salinity salt.

 

[acroholic]

A question for SeaChem: have you folks been able to, or have you tried to recreate any of the Salinity mixing issues your customers are complaining about? I have not had these problems, but am wondering if you have investigated these claims to better understand what your Salinity Buyers are experiencing?

 

[seachem]

Acroholic,

Yes; a little over a year ago we ran some experiments mixing at different temperatures and degrees of agitation. At that point, we determined that when mixed in warmer water, the cloudiness increased. The cloudiness also incresed when we used a high degree of agitation.

Since then, the labeling on our mixing recommendations has changed as a result and we now suggest to mix as close to room temperature as possible.

 

[acroholic]

Seachem;671870 wrote: Acroholic,

Yes; a little over a year ago we ran some experiments mixing at different temperatures and degrees of agitation. At that point, we determined that when mixed in warmer water, the cloudiness increased. The cloudiness also incresed when we used a high degree of agitation.

Since then, the labeling on our mixing recommendations has changed as a result and we now suggest to mix as close to room temperature as possible.

Thank you for your response.
Dave