IO reef crystals calcium issues?

[Sophie"s mom]

Good morning everyone! So a question, I use IO Reef Crystals salt mix, and have never had an issue. But this weekend I did a 25 gallon water change and my calcium went up from 372, to 569 with that WC. I am also having a cloudiness issue with this lot of salt. When mixed it takes several days to clear rather than the usual overnight. Is anyone else having these problems with this salt?

 

[Gtinnel]

I haven’t, but I do small AWC so I’m not sure I would notice a difference. Have you tried testing the calcium of newly mixed water to see what it is at?

 

[Sophie"s mom]

I haven’t, but I do small AWC so I’m not sure I would notice a difference. Have you tried testing the calcium of newly mixed water to see what it is at?

I did not do that, and this is the first time I have had a calcium issue.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I think there's more likely a testing issue than that calcium was over 1000 ppm in the mix, but it's possible it was a bad bucket, or one that had heavily settled if you used just part of it.

Try testing the clear settled mix directly. Solid particles can dissolve in a calcium test and give a false impression of how high it might be in the remaining clear water. If calcium reads very high, test alk on it too, which may be reduced by precipitation.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

I think there's more likely a testing issue than that calcium was over 1000 ppm in the mix, but it's possible it was a bad bucket, or one that had heavily settled if you used just part of it.

Try testing the clear settled mix directly. Solid particles can dissolve in a calcium test and give a false impression of how high it might be in the remaining clear water. If calcium reads very high, test alk on it too, which may be reduced by precipitation.

Thank you Randy, I have noticed with this batch of salt that once the water does actually clear, (which really takes days instead of overnight) There is a white powdery residue in the bottom of the bucket. This salt always leaves a residue on the side of the bucket, but I have never seen this on the bottom before. My ALK did go down slightly. IT was at 10.01, prior, but at 8.8 after the water change. IF the salt mix has settled as you mentioned, would you advise mixing the dry salt back up again? I can do this by laying the bucket on its side and and turning it over a few times. Or should I just aim to get new salt? This is the only salt I have ever used, and have never dealt with anything like this before. I know typically, to bring calcium down, a water change is recommended, but as that is what seemed to make it go up, I don't think that is a good plan. So for now, I just unplugged the calcium side of my doser, hoping it will go back to a decent level in a couple days.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thank you Randy, I have noticed with this batch of salt that once the water does actually clear, (which really takes days instead of overnight) There is a white powdery residue in the bottom of the bucket. This salt always leaves a residue on the side of the bucket, but I have never seen this on the bottom before. My ALK did go down slightly. IT was at 10.01, prior, but at 8.8 after the water change. IF the salt mix has settled as you mentioned, would you advise mixing the dry salt back up again? I can do this by laying the bucket on its side and and turning it over a few times. Or should I just aim to get new salt? This is the only salt I have ever used, and have never dealt with anything like this before. I know typically, to bring calcium down, a water change is recommended, but as that is what seemed to make it go up, I don't think that is a good plan. So for now, I just unplugged the calcium side of my doser, hoping it will go back to a decent level in a couple days.

Did you use a large fraction of a bucket, making settling less likely of an issue, or just a small part, say off the top layers of a bucket?

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Did you use a large fraction of a bucket, making settling less likely of an issue, or just a small part, say off the top layers of a bucket?

I mix in 5 gallon buckets, and did 25 gallons this time, so 2.5 cups at a time for 5 buckets, off the top.