Red Sea Coral Pro salt - low alkalinity

[PapaReefer]

Hello

Just purchased new bucket of Red Sea Coral Pro salt and noticed that when freshly mixed I get only 6.4dKH alkalinity instead of 12dKH expected
I am using RODI water and used same salt before and never had same issue.

I am a bit puzzled - how can it be?
And more important - what should I do? Is it bad salt batch so I should go back to my LFS?
Or should I just dose alkalinity to bring it up to the expected level?

Thank you

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Bad test? Bad batch? Settled bucket contents, with more alk on the bottom? Precipitated on mixing?

Think that covers the possibilities. lol

 

[Chrille26]

I use the same salt and havnt seen a dkh that low before. Is it possible that you could verify the low reading with a second testkit? It could be a false reading due to the test not being accurate. Also sometimes you need to shake or roll the bucket if the salt isnt properly mixed. Otherwise it sounds like a bad batch of salt.

 

[PapaReefer]

I am using Hanna Checker with fresh reagent.
When mixed I see no precipitation.
Will try to roll/shake the bucket and retest...

 

[Jeffcb]

I would return it. I use Coral Pro and its always spot on 11.5

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I wouldn't return it until you verify the measurement accuracy somehow.

Bad test results are much more common than bad batches.

 

[Jeffcb]

It also has a batch number inside the lid that you can check on Red Seas website. You can check you batch here. https://www.redseafish.com/my-batch/

 

[PapaReefer]

Tried roll/shake the bucket and retested... still 6.4dKH
Tested with Hanna and also RedSea test.

Tomorrow will take it back to LFS

 

[Potatohead]

Bad test? Bad batch? Settled bucket contents, with more alk on the bottom? Precipitated on mixing?

Think that covers the possibilities. lol

Or low salinity. I think salinity being off is probably #1 reason for salt complaints.

 

[nastyville615]

I know this thread is kinda old but I just had the exact same dkh readings with this salt. Almost for certain salt is bad! Did u ever figure out what was going on?

 

[Jeffcb]

I went to blue bucket because coral pro was too high.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I know this thread is kinda old but I just had the exact same dkh readings with this salt. Almost for certain salt is bad! Did u ever figure out what was going on?

Do you see any visible undissolved material? Coral Pro is so prone to precipitation that they recommend little heating or mixing and have a video of what happens if you mix (heat by mixing) too long).

 

[JoJosReef]

I switched from RSCP made by my LFS to HG made by me last month because their recent RSCP was reading super low ALK, whereas previously was always spot on. Unfortunately, don't have any batch info since I bought premade at LFS. Still, was unhapoy with the ALK swing...

 

[NorCalReefing]

This just happened to me. Noticed my Alk decrease slowly the past few weeks. Mixed up a batch of the Red Sea Coral Pro I bought from BRS and it tested just below 7 dKh…

 

[Scottm032]

Hello

Just purchased new bucket of Red Sea Coral Pro salt and noticed that when freshly mixed I get only 6.4dKH alkalinity instead of 12dKH expected
I am using RODI water and used same salt before and never had same issue.

I am a bit puzzled - how can it be?
And more important - what should I do? Is it bad salt batch so I should go back to my LFS?
Or should I just dose alkalinity to bring it up to the expected level?

Thank you

What’s the salinity level?