Bad Batch of Reef Crystals?

[ReeferFive-0]

Over the last month I have noticed more and more nussance algae and some corals not looking great. This has not been severe, but a slow progression of green algae building up on the glass more often and soft corals shrinking up, the bounce mushrooms in particular and my leather closing up more. My system does not use up alkalinity or calcium up very fast so I've tested alkalinity weekly and calcium every few weeks, as the Reef Crystals typically have more calcium and magnesium than my system uses. However, when I go back and look at my testing, the results seem off and the issues started around the same time I started a new bucket of salt.
On May 1st my parameters were as follows:
Nitrate: 4.3
Phosphate: 0.08
Alk: 8.9
Cal: 450
Mag: 1290
I dosed magnesium following this and got it to around 1400 and continued to do 5 gallon water changes on my 30 gallon aquarium weekly. Things started looking off and I did an additional 20 gallon water change to correct any underlying issues and fed reef roids to keep nutrients up during this time and keeping SG at 1.026. Things did not improve and I tested all my parameters again on May 23rd and my parameters were as follows:
Nitrate: 2.9
Phosphate: 0.07
Alk: 9.3
Cal: 430
Mag: 1230
Over the past couple days I corrected the Nitrate to 5 ppm, calcium to 470, and mag to 1350. However, until this month I have never had to dose calcium or magnesium. The alarming thing is that I had to dose 75ml of Brightwells Magnesion when Magnesium was up to 1400 earlier this month. I wish I tested the bucket, but I hastily dumped it out and am going to start a new bucket for my next water change. At this point, should I just continue small water changes until things look better or, if I suspect I was using a bad salt batch, would it be better to do another large water change to get things back on track and then continue with the smaller weekly water changes?

 

[mann1139]

Does your tank look different?

Did you add any new livestock to the tank?

Did you change water sources?

When did you start using this bucket of salt?

Have you tested the saltwater before you add it to see its values?

 

[BeanAnimal]

Typically calcium, alkalinity and magnesium will be consumed at a balanced rate. Magnesium tests are notoriously error prone. As your tank matures and corals grow, the rate of major and trace element consumption will increase.

At some point you will not be able to rely on water changes to keep levels up.

I suspect this may partially be testing related error and increased consumption.

 

[rdirtytwo]

What was your alk after the total 20g water change? I've only had low mag readings with Reef Crystals when (a) my refractometer was out of calibration and (b) when the salt bucket clumped up from moisture/precipitation. My alk tested low on fresh salt mix with (a). How are you measuring salinity?

 

[Rjukan]

Over the last month I have noticed more and more nussance algae and some corals not looking great. This has not been severe, but a slow progression of green algae building up on the glass more often and soft corals shrinking up, the bounce mushrooms in particular and my leather closing up more. My system does not use up alkalinity or calcium up very fast so I've tested alkalinity weekly and calcium every few weeks, as the Reef Crystals typically have more calcium and magnesium than my system uses. However, when I go back and look at my testing, the results seem off and the issues started around the same time I started a new bucket of salt.
On May 1st my parameters were as follows:
Nitrate: 4.3
Phosphate: 0.08
Alk: 8.9
Cal: 450
Mag: 1290
I dosed magnesium following this and got it to around 1400 and continued to do 5 gallon water changes on my 30 gallon aquarium weekly. Things started looking off and I did an additional 20 gallon water change to correct any underlying issues and fed reef roids to keep nutrients up during this time and keeping SG at 1.026. Things did not improve and I tested all my parameters again on May 23rd and my parameters were as follows:
Nitrate: 2.9
Phosphate: 0.07
Alk: 9.3
Cal: 430
Mag: 1230
Over the past couple days I corrected the Nitrate to 5 ppm, calcium to 470, and mag to 1350. However, until this month I have never had to dose calcium or magnesium. The alarming thing is that I had to dose 75ml of Brightwells Magnesion when Magnesium was up to 1400 earlier this month. I wish I tested the bucket, but I hastily dumped it out and am going to start a new bucket for my next water change. At this point, should I just continue small water changes until things look better or, if I suspect I was using a bad salt batch, would it be better to do another large water change to get things back on track and then continue with the smaller weekly water changes?

How about your salinity values? Is whatever you're using to check salinity calibrated, and if you're using a refractometer you shouldn't be using RODI to calibrate it. Just an idea.

Your nutrients are quite low, and have been dropping while you've noticed changes in your corals that prefer dirty water. I suspect this being more an issue over the batch of salt but I'm just guessing. Hopefully you nail it down and update the thread

 

[Dom]

Over the last month I have noticed more and more nussance algae and some corals not looking great. This has not been severe, but a slow progression of green algae building up on the glass more often and soft corals shrinking up, the bounce mushrooms in particular and my leather closing up more. My system does not use up alkalinity or calcium up very fast so I've tested alkalinity weekly and calcium every few weeks, as the Reef Crystals typically have more calcium and magnesium than my system uses. However, when I go back and look at my testing, the results seem off and the issues started around the same time I started a new bucket of salt.
On May 1st my parameters were as follows:
Nitrate: 4.3
Phosphate: 0.08
Alk: 8.9
Cal: 450
Mag: 1290
I dosed magnesium following this and got it to around 1400 and continued to do 5 gallon water changes on my 30 gallon aquarium weekly. Things started looking off and I did an additional 20 gallon water change to correct any underlying issues and fed reef roids to keep nutrients up during this time and keeping SG at 1.026. Things did not improve and I tested all my parameters again on May 23rd and my parameters were as follows:
Nitrate: 2.9
Phosphate: 0.07
Alk: 9.3
Cal: 430
Mag: 1230
Over the past couple days I corrected the Nitrate to 5 ppm, calcium to 470, and mag to 1350. However, until this month I have never had to dose calcium or magnesium. The alarming thing is that I had to dose 75ml of Brightwells Magnesion when Magnesium was up to 1400 earlier this month. I wish I tested the bucket, but I hastily dumped it out and am going to start a new bucket for my next water change. At this point, should I just continue small water changes until things look better or, if I suspect I was using a bad salt batch, would it be better to do another large water change to get things back on track and then continue with the smaller weekly water changes?

I once had Instant Ocean Reef Crystals which did not mix to the levels indicated on the box. I reached out the the seller (BRS) who immediately replaced the entire box. It happens, and may be the case with the batch of salt mix you have.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Blaming a bad batch of salt for a suddenly low magnesium test result seems unlikely to be the explanation. Test error is more likely.

Try testing the new salt water.

What is the tank water volume? That helps determine if a water change may possibly have dropped msg that much.

 

[ReeferFive-0]

Does your tank look different?

Did you add any new livestock to the tank?

Did you change water sources?

When did you start using this bucket of salt?

Have you tested the saltwater before you add it to see its values?

As stated, more green algae on the glass and power heads...besides that the corals look ticked off too. No new livestock or water source. I probably started using the new salt about 6 weeks ago...I didn't keep a record of this. I did not test the newly mixed salt water aside from verifying salinity with a refractometer. I will test every newly opened salt mix before using it.

 

[ReeferFive-0]

What was your alk after the total 20g water change? I've only had low mag readings with Reef Crystals when (a) my refractometer was out of calibration and (b) when the salt bucket clumped up from moisture/precipitation. My alk tested low on fresh salt mix with (a). How are you measuring salinity?

Alk stays in the high 8s or low 9s consistently. I use a calibrated refractometer to verify salinity after weighing the proper amount of salt and mixing with RODI water. No clumping of salt, but the bucket did get a small crack from shipping with a small amount of salt spilled out into the shipping box. I put duct tape over the bucket and called it a day. Could this be part of the problem even if no clumping was evident?

 

[ReeferFive-0]

How about your salinity values? Is whatever you're using to check salinity calibrated, and if you're using a refractometer you shouldn't be using RODI to calibrate it. Just an idea.

Your nutrients are quite low, and have been dropping while you've noticed changes in your corals that prefer dirty water. I suspect this being more an issue over the batch of salt but I'm just guessing. Hopefully you nail it down and update the thread

Salinity is verified with a calibrated refractometer after weighing the salt and mixing with the correct amount of RODI. I try to keep phosphate under 0.1 ppm and nitrate between 3 and 5 ppm. I don't use chemicals to do this, just partial water changes, Microbacter 7 weekly, and a small refugium.

 

[Rjukan]

Salinity is verified with a calibrated refractometer after weighing the salt and mixing with the correct amount of RODI. I try to keep phosphate under 0.1 ppm and nitrate between 3 and 5 ppm. I don't use chemicals to do this, just partial water changes, Microbacter 7 weekly, and a small refugium.

Just saying that's pretty low for softies.

 

[ReeferFive-0]

Blaming a bad batch of salt for a suddenly low magnesium test result seems unlikely to be the explanation. Test error is more likely.

Try testing the new salt water.

What is the tank water volume? That helps determine if a water change may possibly have dropped msg that much.

I will definitely test every new batch of salt before using it...I have not previously tested new salt to verify it mixes correctly, which is my mistake. The aquarium is just 30ish gallons and I typically do 5 gallons weekly. However, I did an additional 20 gallon water change when things started not looking great...which seemed to make things worse, which was then verified by multiple tests. The calcium and magnesium was consistently lower than it should have been, even after correcting it and then doing another water change the following week.

 

[ReeferFive-0]

I opened a new bucket of Reef Crystals and mixed up 15 gallons to approximately 1.026 sg or 35 salinity using the same calibrated refractometer. I let the batch mix with a powerhead and heater for a few hours and tested it. The results are as follows:
Alk: 10.9
Calcium: 500+ out of the range of Salifert
Mag: 1500+ out of the range of Salifert
This is what I would expect, as this salt mix is supposed to have elevated levels of calcium, magnesium, and other trace elements. I have a 30 gallon aquarium and will change out 15 gallons tonight, 15 gallons on Friday, and 15 gallons a week from now with this mix and see where I'm sitting at the first part of next week. I'll feed heavy between water changes so my nutrients hopefully won't completely bottom out in the process.
I am still convinced the last bucket of Reef Crystals I was using didn't mix up to these parameters and caused everything to be out of balance.

 

[jerricolaboy]

I’m running into the same issues. Gonna try and change the salt too, hadn’t thought of that

 

[JustAnotherNanoTank]

I opened a new bucket of Reef Crystals and mixed up 15 gallons to approximately 1.026 sg or 35 salinity using the same calibrated refractometer. I let the batch mix with a powerhead and heater for a few hours and tested it. The results are as follows:
Alk: 10.9
Calcium: 500+ out of the range of Salifert
Mag: 1500+ out of the range of Salifert
This is what I would expect, as this salt mix is supposed to have elevated levels of calcium, magnesium, and other trace elements. I have a 30 gallon aquarium and will change out 15 gallons tonight, 15 gallons on Friday, and 15 gallons a week from now with this mix and see where I'm sitting at the first part of next week. I'll feed heavy between water changes so my nutrients hopefully won't completely bottom out in the process.
I am still convinced the last bucket of Reef Crystals I was using didn't mix up to these parameters and caused everything to be out of balance.

I feel this has been a common trend with this salt to be different batch to batch or have mixing and storing problems.

 

[ReeferFive-0]

I’m running into the same issues. Gonna try and change the salt too, hadn’t thought of that

Whether I continue to use this salt or something else, I'll make sure I test the first batch out of a newly opened container to make sure there are appropriate levels of Alkalinity, Calcium, and Magnesium before dumping it into my aquarium...lesson learned.

 

[ReeferFive-0]

I feel this has been a common trend with this salt to be different batch to batch or have mixing and storing problems.

I've learned my lesson and will always test the first batch of mixed salt water before dumping it into my aquarium.

 

[herozero]

Whether I continue to use this salt or something else, I'll make sure I test the first batch out of a newly opened container to make sure there are appropriate levels of Alkalinity, Calcium, and Magnesium before dumping it into my aquarium...lesson learned.

Switched back to Aquaforest Reef Salt last water change after some not dissimilar issues, but I'm also in need of new DI cartridges so not e ceteris paribus as I narrow down my problem; I know you haven't switched water sources but if you're using an RO/DI are the filters and TDS readings acceptable?

 

[ReeferFive-0]

Switched back to Aquaforest Reef Salt last water change after some not dissimilar issues, but I'm also in need of new DI cartridges so not e ceteris paribus as I narrow down my problem; I know you haven't switched water sources but if you're using an RO/DI are the filters and TDS readings acceptable?

Yes, I use Spectrapure Maxcap 90gpd RODI system and my TDS always reads 0, as I stay up on maintenance.

 

[UMALUM]

I ordered a pallet of rc on black Friday sale and just opened my 5th bucket. All have measured at or really really close to 10 / 440 / 1350. I do know of bad batches as I received several bad bags years ago. I guess what I can't rap my head around is what exactly could be lacking or let's just say "off" that would cause a nutrient imbalance and sudden algae bloom? It's not making sense to me but am really curious as I still have a half pallet of this smack.