Mixing coral Pro salt wrong?

[terraincognita]

Anyone else seen this?

I’ve always done my mix overnight as even at. 4 hours I still smell a “chemical” smell...

is that really a problem though? Or by mixing it longer are we ruining the Params?

also now that I think about it, dosing is direct introduction of those elements and they take a few hours to properly mix into a tank as well.

so is the Overnight mixing overrated??

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Ignore their directions.

If you are not getting precipitation, then mix as long as you want.

If you are getting precipitation, don't heat the water and mix only for a short period.

I don't know what you smell, but the purpose of mixing is not related to chemical odors and their removal.

 

[mdb_talon]

Haha I guess I have never read their instructions. I guess I understand what they are saying about precipitation, but I mix usually at least 1 day ahead of time with a heater and an airstone and have never had any issues with precipitation.

 

[LegendaryCG]

I mix mine sometimes for a couple days. Alk is still like 10.5 min. It’s hotter than a lot of people like but it works well for me.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Haha I guess I have never read their instructions. I guess I understand what they are saying about precipitation, but I mix usually at least 1 day ahead of time with a heater and an airstone and have never had any issues with precipitation.

It sometimes happens, and sometimes not. Likely depends on the CO2 in your air (more CO2, lower pH, less precipitation) and temperature (higher temp means more precipitation.

It is an issue with all high alk salt mixes.

 

[terraincognita]

Ignore their directions.

If you are not getting precipitation, then mix as long as you want.

If you are getting precipitation, don't heat the water and mix only for a short period.

I don't know what you smell, but the purpose of mixing is not related to chemical odors and their removal.

Gotcha, it's not really a chemical smell, but just the trace elements smell that I'll notice after 2 hours, vs 12 hours i wont.

So based on what you're saying though I should be mixing it until I get the params they're saying I should have based on their 35PPT Mix, once I get those params whether it be 3 hours or 12, that's when it could be said to be properly mixed yes? Mixing longer isn't going to change those beyond any precipitation that might occur?

Technically mixing past this is just costing me cents on an electric bill.

 

[Jekyl]

I use coral pro and always mix overnight and use a heater while doing it

 

[terraincognita]

I use coral pro and always mix overnight and use a heater while doing it

Yeah That was my standard protocol also.

I guess I'll just try to mix it overnight check params, and then keep trying at different time frames and see what results I'm getting.

Other than Cal, Mag and Alk though just not sure if there's other trace elements in there that need longer to mix.

The only thing that throws me off is that smell. Not sure if anyone else knows what im talking about but it has like a raw mineral smell, but slightly reminiscent of plastics....

My buckets don't have the smell when empty so I know it's not them.

Just strange they would say do it ONLY for 2 hours and not longer, and to mix at 68F as an ideal water temp. Meanwhile 90% of reefers are doing what we do.

I probably wouldn't have brought it up if they weren't a German company, I just know Germans are very specific and exact (my Grandmother is german) especially when it comes to things like this. Everything to them is about precision.

 

[redeyejedi]

Ive used coral pro for years. 1-2 hours of mixing and then straight in the tank. No more brown crusty stuff.

 

[Gordonm]

Mix mine for 3 hours and dump it in.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Gotcha, it's not really a chemical smell, but just the trace elements smell that I'll notice after 2 hours, vs 12 hours i wont.

So based on what you're saying though I should be mixing it until I get the params they're saying I should have based on their 35PPT Mix, once I get those params whether it be 3 hours or 12, that's when it could be said to be properly mixed yes? Mixing longer isn't going to change those beyond any precipitation that might occur?

Technically mixing past this is just costing me cents on an electric bill.

As soon as it is clear, I'd stop mixing. In addition to wasting electricity, it risks precipitation calcium carbonate by heating the water. If they have formulated it to an unusually low pH, mixing it in normal air will also drive up pH which also is a big factor in precipitation.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Yeah That was my standard protocol also.

I guess I'll just try to mix it overnight check params, and then keep trying at different time frames and see what results I'm getting.

Other than Cal, Mag and Alk though just not sure if there's other trace elements in there that need longer to mix.

The only thing that throws me off is that smell. Not sure if anyone else knows what im talking about but it has like a raw mineral smell, but slightly reminiscent of plastics....

My buckets don't have the smell when empty so I know it's not them.

Just strange they would say do it ONLY for 2 hours and not longer, and to mix at 68F as an ideal water temp. Meanwhile 90% of reefers are doing what we do.

I probably wouldn't have brought it up if they weren't a German company, I just know Germans are very specific and exact (my Grandmother is german) especially when it comes to things like this. Everything to them is about precision.

FWIW, there are no ions in seawater that will vaporize and smell. Organic matter of various sorts can smell, as can a few inorganic molecules like hydrogen sulfide or ammonia.