How cruddy is your salt mix?

MikeyG · Feb 6, 2022

I can't really express how disappointed I am with the amount of crud in the Red Sea Coral Pro salt. I've been using Instant Ocean salt for years with great results, exceptional coral growth, nutrient balance, and just the simplicity of mixing the salt. But I decided I wanted a salt that has higher trace elements, calcium, and alkalinity as part of its core. So I decided to make the switch to the Red Sea Coral Pro salt. I prepared my 120 gallon tank as my new mixing bin for the salt. Of course everything is done with 100% RODI water and following Red Sea mixing instructions. After mixing the first batch of roughly 120 gallons of salt water I was totally shocked to see the amount of crud that built up in the tank and settled on the glass and on the bottom of the tank. I was very close to not pumping that water into my system because I simply could not bring myself to knowing that while I'm taking out dirty water I'm possibly adding something that's even more dirty than what I'm taking out. Don't know what everyone on this forum has experienced using Red Sea but I want to believe that there is a way to clean up this salt for less crud.
I hope Red Sea knows this is a very, very competitive space with plenty of options and my pocket has no loyalty to bad products.

BostonReefer300 · Feb 6, 2022

In my experience, I only get a lot of crud with that salt when the pump and hose I'm using to mix it is also causing a lot of aeration. If I keep the hose underwater instead of near the top of the water, it's much better. Also, it is worse when I put a heater in there instead of just doing it at room temp. HTH

rtparty · Feb 6, 2022

Red Sea is super dirty salt. If you are after cleanliness, look at ESV

Dvanlier05 · Feb 6, 2022

I've been using Red Sea Coral Pro for years and don't get any build up of any type in my mixing barrel.

flagg37 · Feb 6, 2022

MikeyG said:
I can't really express how disappointed I am with the amount of crud in the Red Sea Coral Pro salt. I've been using Instant Ocean salt for years with great results, exceptional coral growth, nutrient balance, and just the simplicity of mixing the salt. But I decided I wanted a salt that has higher trace elements, calcium, and alkalinity as part of its core. So I decided to make the switch to the Red Sea Coral Pro salt. I prepared my 120 gallon tank as my new mixing bin for the salt. Of course everything is done with 100% RODI water and following Red Sea mixing instructions. After mixing the first batch of roughly 120 gallons of salt water I was totally shocked to see the amount of crud that built up in the tank and settled on the glass and on the bottom of the tank. I was very close to not pumping that water into my system because I simply could not bring myself to knowing that while I'm taking out dirty water I'm possibly adding something that's even more dirty than what I'm taking out. Don't know what everyone on this forum has experienced using Red Sea but I want to believe that there is a way to clean up this salt for less crud.
I hope Red Sea knows this is a very, very competitive space with plenty of options and my pocket has no loyalty to bad products.

Dang, all that crud came from making just 120 gallons?

blaxsun · Feb 6, 2022

If you switch to Tropic Marin, avoid anything manufactured in Turkey. Germany only.

MikeyG · Feb 7, 2022

flagg37 said:
Dang, all that crud came from making just 120 gallons?

I was totally shocked.
Make it worst I spent a lot of time cleaning and plumbing the tank for rapid water change.

MikeyG · Feb 7, 2022

Dvanlier05 said:
I've been using Red Sea Coral Pro for years and don't get any build up of any type in my mixing barrel.

Keep doing what you're doing because all of my reefing buddies who use Red Sea Pro has the same experience. As I said I switched to it primarily because of the elevated parameters but my experience has been it's simply not worth it.

MikeyG · Feb 7, 2022

blaxsun said:
If you switch to Tropic Marin, avoid anything manufactured in Turkey. Germany only.

Can you believe that debacle.
So much for looking for cheaper manufacturing

dedragon · Feb 7, 2022

BostonReefer300 said:
In my experience, I only get a lot of crud with that salt when the pump and hose I'm using to mix it is also causing a lot of aeration. If I keep the hose underwater instead of near the top of the water, it's much better. Also, it is worse when I put a heater in there instead of just doing it at room temp. HTH

I have the same problem with red sea blue bucket, mixes great when mixed for under an hour, at room temp, zero aeration or im dealing with large precip

MikeyG · Feb 7, 2022

BostonReefer300 said:
In my experience, I only get a lot of crud with that salt when the pump and hose I'm using to mix it is also causing a lot of aeration. If I keep the hose underwater instead of near the top of the water, it's much better. Also, it is worse when I put a heater in there instead of just doing it at room temp. HTH

I like your technique.
I do have a heater in the tank to ensure temperature match with my display tank.

NatsRams · Feb 7, 2022

I’ve never had any issue with RS coral pro. One thing I remember reading about that salt is that it should not be mixed for too long or you will get precipitation.

Mixing time, Red Sea Coral Pro, and Precipitation Plausable? Mythbuster style

According to many, including Red Sea, you do NOT want to mix your Red Sea Coral Pro for more then a couple hours. In fact in this video by Red Sea the person mentions no need to mix for more then a couple minutes once the water clears up. Then the video goes on to what I want to test now, over...

www.reef2reef.com

blaxsun · Feb 7, 2022

MikeyG said:
Can you believe that debacle.
So much for looking for cheaper manufacturing

I'm still trying to wrap my head around it... (and I'm returning an unopened batch from Turkey tomorrow).

Spieg · Feb 7, 2022

Red Sea salt is dehidrated sea water and has some impurities in it (anything that doesn't evaporate ends up in your bucket of salt). I'd look at ESV or HW Marine Mix if you want a clean mixing salt.

BostonReefer300 · Feb 7, 2022

I tried the ESV salt for a couple months. Great results/parameters and no crud. However, I found it a pain in the kiester to make it given the four different things that need to be added. The first two solids are added separately and both need to be totally dissolved before adding anything else. Also, I should really get a good digital scale for salt mixing generally, but it's kind of an almost must-have for the ESV salt. Anyway, it was too much of a pain, so I went back to RS Coral Pro

N.Sreefer · Feb 14, 2022

I use red sea coral pro and it takes a year for that much crud to build up in my mixing container. If you read the mixing directions it says no aeration and pretty cold water while mixing once mixed bring up to temp. Mixing that way I haven't had problems with crud building up (tiny amount I only clean mixing container yearly).

rtparty · Feb 14, 2022

ESV is where it's at if you want clean and consistent. It's not hard at all to mix the different components and there are very tangible and legitimate reasons that it's the best way to go.