IO becoming less concentrated????

[Feet4Fish]

So over the last 6 months and about 12 water changes I have noticed an issue. I use a 55 gallon barrel to mix saltwater in. I mix salt with water at 77-78. I have used instant ocean for this system since its inception. I have to add the equivalent of approximately 160 gallons worth of salt to get my 55 gallons up to 1.021.

I have mixed saltwater for nearly 15 years now and this is new to me. There isn’t a bunch of precipitate sludge in my barrel. There is a crazy amount of flow from bottom to top in the barrel and I mix with water at temp. Maybe one of you out there can see an error in my ways and point it out.....

 

[Alchameth]

Not just you and not just normal IO.. I bought a bucket of IO reef and I noticed my 15G mix that used to take 8-9 cups is now taking almost 3/4 cup per G to get 1.025

Now that Tropic Marin reef is getting back in stock at most places I bought 2 buckets today. The cost difference is near nothing at that poor mix split.

 

[Rick.45cal]

Something isn’t right, how are you measuring the salinity? I use IO exclusively and make 140 gallon batches at 1.027 and don’t use that much salt.

 

[Alchameth]

I use a refractometer and I checked the calibration and that's not a problem.

 

[Feet4Fish]

I have confirmed with a refractometer, digital salinity meter and bobber style hydrometer. Not one batch either but almost every batch last several months.

 

[Rick.45cal]

I have confirmed with a refractometer, digital salinity meter and bobber style hydrometer. Not one batch either but almost every batch last several months.

Next time I make a batch I’ll open one of the buckets I ordered recently and see what happens. I guess I should be prepared to be disappointed lol

 

[flampton]

Only explanation is they are adding water to their salt or have come up with aeration method that bulks it up. Did the consistency change? Is it airy or heavy.

To figure this out you need to weigh some out instead of going by volume

 

[stanlalee]

I bought a bucket of IO RC a few weeks ago and another 3 months ago. 3 non heaping cups in 5 gallons still gets me 1.26-1.27. I don't know how many gallons per bucket that equates to but that has not changed for me in 13 years. I know you don't get 160 gallons at 1.26 (I think they say it makes 160g at 1.20 or something low). At $33/bucket and everybody else being $60-75/bucket I'm more than satisfied and aquariums don't care (even though your mixing bin might).

 

[Pntbll687]

So over the last 6 months and about 12 water changes I have noticed an issue. I use a 55 gallon barrel to mix saltwater in. I mix salt with water at 77-78. I have used instant ocean for this system since its inception. I have to add the equivalent of approximately 160 gallons worth of salt to get my 55 gallons up to 1.021.

I have mixed saltwater for nearly 15 years now and this is new to me. There isn’t a bunch of precipitate sludge in my barrel. There is a crazy amount of flow from bottom to top in the barrel and I mix with water at temp. Maybe one of you out there can see an error in my ways and point it out.....

So you added an entire bucket worth of salt to a 55g barrel and it all dissolved?

I've used IO for the last 7 years, and there's a little difference in ALK and Ca from batch to batch, but salinity had been there same throughout. I make 28g batches, and 16 cups of IO puts it at 1.026 every time.

 

[Thaxxx]

I have confirmed with a refractometer, digital salinity meter and bobber style hydrometer. Not one batch either but almost every batch last several months.

How many 160gal buckets are we talking about?
Did you get them all at the same place at the same time?
I get 1.026 with 22 oz. (By weight) for every 4 gals every time.

 

[t5Nitro]

My most recent 200 gallon box of IO is the usual 2.5 cups per 5 gallons as it has been for the past 15 years in my experience using it. Ill pay close attention on the next box!

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

I have to add the equivalent of approximately 160 gallons worth of salt to get my 55 gallons up to 1.021.

You added enough salt to make 160 gallons of seawater, approximately an entire 5 gallon bucket of Instant Ocean, to a 55g barrel of freshwater... and the water only measured 1.021 SG? Something is very wrong here.

I use Instant Ocean and mix the salt by weight. I add between 150 - 160 grams of salt per gallon of fresh water to get conductivity around 53 mS/cm2. Ever since I started measuring the salt mix by weight, this number has not changed.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

IO already uses hydrated salts of magnesium sulfate and chloride and calcium chloride in their mix (no reason not to), so there's no real way the mix can be substantially more "diluted" than usual in terms of mass. It might be more fluffy than previous batches, however.

Go by the amount the bucket says it makes, not the cups.

 

[Feet4Fish]

So for a while I was using the 50 gallon bags with idea as the were the most cost effective. Pour first bag in and check a few hours later 1.007ish. Pour second bag in 1.015. Third bag 1.022 ish. Thanks for input everyone. Just wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing something obvious.

 

[Pntbll687]

So for a while I was using the 50 gallon bags with idea as the were the most cost effective. Pour first bag in and check a few hours later 1.007ish. Pour second bag in 1.015. Third bag 1.022 ish. Thanks for input everyone. Just wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing something obvious.

If you are adding this much to a 55g barrel, then whatever you are using to test the salinity is no good

 

[Feet4Fish]

If you are adding this much to a 55g barrel, then whatever you are using to test the salinity is no good

Thought maybe the same however digital refractometer, hand held one and tropic Marin floating hydrometer all within 0.002

 

[piranhaman00]

I put one 50 gallon bag into 40 gallons of rodi and get a salinity of 1.026-1.027.

 

[Thespammailaccount]

Thought maybe the same however digital refractometer, hand held one and tropic Marin floating hydrometer all within 0.002

I would take a sample to the LFS and have them check salinity

 

[Thaxxx]

Something is messed up.
I stopped getting the bags. For some reason even unopened ones would harden up if kept over a couple months. Especially the OI Crystals. I only get the 160 buckets now, of the regular.
Of subject but maybe useful...
Also I think there are many Amazon sellers that buy rejects very cheap from companies of all kinds of products. I have gotten many vitamin and supplements with less than a month left on expiration dates.

 

[Alchameth]

......
Also I think there are many Amazon sellers that buy rejects very cheap from companies of all kinds of products. I have gotten many vitamin and supplements with less than a month left on expiration dates.

Something... I mean how is it you can buy a 160G bucket of IO RC on Amazon with a coupon for about $31, but the 200G box is twice the price. I also called them earlier this year when one of the bags in a box (when the bucket prices were more in line and it was cheaper to buy the box) was harder than concrete and the salt was YELLOW. The said it was fine, that I could use it, but no way I was putting salt with some possible unknown contaminate in it into my tank so sent it back.