Lowering alk in new salt mix!so angry!!!

[dean.reef]

So angry ,I switched to kz salt due to the more natural parameters I’ve used redsea blue and neon stone and always found them different bucket to bucket,so I decided to pay the premium and try kz salt so I’ve gone through 2 buckets now an recently on my 3 but this time it’s mixing up to over 12-13 doh and calcium over 500!shere as before I was getting around 7.2dkh which was perfect,I always mix the salt before making a mix,to be fair I always give the bucket a shake every couple of days do I don’t get any unbalanced mix,it makes me angry that these company’s can’t make a salt mix which is the same in every bucket it’s a synthetic mix so surely all the elements are measured out??ontop of that paying a premium to ensure this!!thats £70 on salt!!20kg bucket!!whats the point.rant over,do basically I’ve been reading that if I add Maurice acid will lower the alk,but does this effect other parameters like calcium and magnesium?ild rather spend £5 on some acid than research a new salt pay top money again to find the parameters are just as s**t!!any tips much appreciated

 

[Gareth elliott]

I recently started using seachem acid buffer to lower the dkh of my salt mix. Use a scale and measure out 2g for 5 gallons and let sit for a day. Brings from 9.3 to 7.7.

Primary ingredient is sodium bisulfate. Which changes turns the alkalinity into co2.

 

[dean.reef]

I recently started using seachem acid buffer to lower the dkh of my salt mix. Use a scale and measure out 2g for 5 gallons and let sit for a day. Brings from 9.3 to 7.7.

Primary ingredient is sodium bisulfate. Which changes turns the alkalinity into co2.

Does it effect calcium and mag?just annoying parameters swing so much bucket to bucket

 

[Instigate]

It would be good to verify that your refractometer is properly calibrated, could lead to high numbers if the SG is too high I believe.

 

[dean.reef]

It would be good to verify that your refractometer is properly calibrated, could lead to high numbers if the SG is too high I believe.

Yes I do I use a hanna photometer then cross check it with my refractometer,I also tried lowering sg but hardly made a difference

 

[Flippers4pups]

Could be a bad batch of salt.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

If didn’t test it , would you even know the difference. Most don’t

 

[madweazl]

No, the muriatic acid wont affect the elements, it will however, drop the pH buy a huge margin so let it mix for a good while before using (I typically let it mix for 12-18 hours though it may not need that much time). I've always been a fan of Instant Ocean for the consistency but had a bucket that was mixing over 1600 magnesium and 500 calcium. I called them and gave them the batch number of the bucket; they replaced the bucket of salt (which was back to normal levels).

 

[marvelousone]

seachem acid buffer will drop ALK. I have tested calcium and mag. It don't change them. I do let it circulate for 24 hours before I do the water change.