Fritz Redline alk issue - help please

damselindistress · Dec 5, 2020

I've been using Fritz blue for a while and like it but am tired of dosing alk for my mixed reef so I decided to try out the Fritz Redline when it was on special for Black Friday. Redline is supposed to be high alk, around 10-12 when mixed to 35 pt salinity.

I just mixed up my first 5 gallon batch, salinity tested spot on at 35 pt. Checked the alk with my Hanna checker and it was 5.5 - what happened?? I checked it again with fresh vials - same, 5.5, so then I test my tank thinking the checker is off. Nope, tank tests out at the normal 7.5.

Any ideas anyone??

I did notice there was a white film/residue in my mixing bucket and on my powerhead. Salt has been mixing for 48 hours if that matters. Did I let it mix with the powerhead too long? Usually the Fritz blue mixes up pristine with zero residue.

GoVols · Dec 12, 2020

damselindistress said:
I did notice there was a white film/residue in my mixing bucket and on my powerhead. Salt has been mixing for 48 hours if that matters. Did I let it mix with the powerhead too long? Usually the Fritz blue mixes up pristine with zero residue.

The alk could have precipitated out, but Fritz lost their quality control about three years ago.

Might want to give the Red Sea / Coral Pro mix a whirl

TriggerFinger · Dec 12, 2020

High alk salt starts to precipitate after mixing too long. My Red Sea high alk gets mixed for 30 mins only and used within 12 hours. When I use my Fritz blue I let it mix for 24 hours and use. Any longer and I get precipitation. I also mix my salt with cold water; that helps a lot.

Uncle99 · Dec 12, 2020

I don’t mix this stuff more than a few hours, mixes clean and clear. I use within 24.

damselindistress · Dec 13, 2020

Thanks guys for this info, that helps a lot.

@GoVols can you tell me more about their quality control issue, I know about "the" big one most people reference (Rico's tank?) but I assumed they revamped their qc procedures afterwards, may be a naive assumption on my part? I have 2 LFS (Knoxville) that I mostly deal with, one won't sell Fritz and the other one swears by it. I tried Fritz based on the recommendation of the one that swears by it bc I have a lot of respect for their operation. The other LFS I frequent for their array of livestock and corals but I've gotten bad advice from them in the past and feel like they are mostly after the sale and thats it. That's off-thread about the LFS's but given your user name I thought it might be relevant lol.

GoVols · Dec 13, 2020

damselindistress said:
Thanks guys for this info, that helps a lot.

@GoVols can you tell me more about their quality control issue, I know about "the" big one most people reference (Rico's tank?) but I assumed they revamped their qc procedures afterwards, may be a naive assumption on my part? I have 2 LFS (Knoxville) that I mostly deal with, one won't sell Fritz and the other one swears by it. I tried Fritz based on the recommendation of the one that swears by it bc I have a lot of respect for their operation. The other LFS I frequent for their array of livestock and corals but I've gotten bad advice from them in the past and feel like they are mostly after the sale and thats it. That's off-thread about the LFS's but given your user name I thought it might be relevant lol.

Shaun may have fixed his QC, but I stopped using his original mix in the spring of 2017.

I came to the conclusion that he makes the Liveaquia mix (back then) and things got out of hand when his production went up. Then he started arguing with many reefers about his bad batches. He also raised his tolerances to wider margins of error within the big three.

Check out both salts specs, including bag, bucket, and box sizes they come in.