Did Instant Ocean lower their alk ?

[seaplane]

Just tested a new bucket of IO at 7.7 dKh, previous bucket was 11. (via Hanna) Tank is reading 7.8, pH 8.1 . ??? Dare I trust the results?

 

[EmdeReef]

Following, I’d use IO if the alk was lower. Going to test a batch when I get back home later.

 

[andrewkw]

I'm going to open a new box on Wednesday I'll test it then, but this would be good news. I just ordered 3 more boxes since they were so cheap but I typically stayed away from IO in recent years because of high alk. Not that it's a huge deal.

 

[EmdeReef]

I'm going to open a new box on Wednesday I'll test it then, but this would be good news. I just ordered 3 more boxes since they were so cheap but I typically stayed away from IO in recent years because of high alk. Not that it's a huge deal.

I ordered 5 boxes too even though I don’t use it lol
Agree, would be great news. Save hundreds on salt.

 

[madweazl]

I haven't seen a change but my newest box is about a month old. I did have a bucket that had 1500+ magnesium a few months back though. Tetra shipped out a new bucket and it was back to normal; I only bring it up because you may have received a bucket out of the norm.

 

[seaplane]

Well, I must have gotten an "off" bucket. Ca is 320 and mag 1080.

 

[EmdeReef]

I just tested a small batch at 35ppt with the Hanna alk checker and got 13.5. Too bad.

 

[madweazl]

Well, I must have gotten an "off" bucket. Ca is 320 and mag 1080.

This leads me to believe your salinity is off.

 

[Potatohead]

This leads me to believe your salinity is off.

Absolutely

IO will always have highish alk because they expect so many people to run it in fish only systems at lower salinity

 

[madweazl]

Absolutely

IO will always have highish alk because they expect so many people to run it in fish only systems at lower salinity

It's usually 10.5-11 dKh which is pretty standard for most. It was designed to closely mimic NSW (outside of alkalinity).

 

[seaplane]

This leads me to believe your salinity is off.

Don't think so, refractometer calibrated to 35ppm just before testing.

 

[madweazl]

Don't think so, refractometer calibrated to 35ppm just before testing.

You may want to try it again because if all three are low, the chances of the salinity being correct is slim to none.

 

[Scotty Buttons]

This is probably a dumb question but are you talking about regular IO or reef crystals?

 

[seaplane]

This is probably a dumb question but are you talking about regular IO or reef crystals?

IO

 

[FDAWG]

My batches are around 11 dKh @ 34 ppt

 

[andrewkw]

I just got 10.5 dkh at 1.026 with a salifert test kit.

 

[Jonreefer]

Well, I must have gotten an "off" bucket. Ca is 320 and mag 1080.

any chance it was settling of the bucket/box unless you used a bag.
If it did settle and you never mixed up the salt. I would try and mix it up as much as you can so it is mixed properly and you get all the proper elements in your water when you make it.

 

[pdiehm]

I just tested a new batch of 15 gallons at 11.2/500/1600