Tropic Marin levels?

[SCReef'n]

That's a decent plan, except the part of testing just a gallon.

What fraction of the bucket did the last measurement represent? Salt buckets can settle, and taking a gallon of mix of the top may not reflect the whole bucket.

Made about 30 gallons of fresh salt water that was roughly about 11 heaping cups of salt

 

[Dkeller_nc]

One tip on troubleshooting a possible refractometer error. Most "look through" refractometers are ATC models - automatic temperature compensation. However, the ATC mechanism is simply a bi-metal strip that moves the scale inside the refractometer to account for the sensitivity of refractive index to temperature.

For troubleshooting purposes, I'd suggest taking a small amount of your tank water, a small amount of your freshly mixed seawater, the calibration fluid and the refractometer and putting them all in the same place on your kitchen counter. Wait 30 minutes to allow all of the solutions and the refractometer to come to the same temperature. Then calibrate your refractometer with the calibration solution, and measure the tank water/freshly mixed seawater. If they're different than your expectations, it may be that the ATC in your refractometer isn't working properly.

And as, Randy noted, getting another calibration solution my be a worthwhile additional check.

 

[SCReef'n]

So I mixed it at temp and the salt came from roughly the middle of the bucket. I had used about half of this bucket before I tested it

 

[leepink23]

Made about 30 gallons of fresh salt water that was roughly about 11 heaping cups of salt

I mixed 12.5 cups for 25 gallons and got 35.0 salinity with my Hannah checker and refractometer. My dkh was 7.6. How much is 11 heaping cups?

 

[Smite]

Made about 30 gallons of fresh salt water that was roughly about 11 heaping cups of salt

Shouldnt you be be 15-16 cups for 30 gallons of freshwater to be 1.026?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I was getting low ca with my batch and found i was mixing too fast.

What do you mean too fast? Generally, very fast mixing is good. With enough stirring, you can make a batch of artificial seawater in less than 5 minutes.

Did you mean too fast salt addition without sufficiently fast stirring to mix it in fast?

And just calcium? It cannot precipitate without an equivalent amount of alk declining, at 2.8 dKH for each 18-20 ppm calcium decline.

 

[chris k.]

What do you mean too fast? Generally, very fast mixing is good. With enough stirring, you can make a batch of artificial seawater in less than 5 minutes.

Did you mean too fast salt addition without sufficiently fast stirring to mix it in fast?

And just calcium? It cannot precipitate without an equivalent amount of alk declining, at 2.8 dKH for each 18-20 ppm calcium decline.

Yes added salt too fast. I didnt check alk but ca was low.

 

[SCReef'n]

Ok lfs verified my parameters salinity was 1.026. And all other parameters were fairly close to what I read (what I would believe to be within the margin of error for a hobby grade test). I dosed up my fresh water and did the change. DT is testing normally. Thanks for all the help and input. Test your salt batches guys and gals

 

[Quietman]

Curious...supposed to be one of the more uniform mixes too. Well, glad you found out what's what.

 

[SCReef'n]

I’m still betting on user error, just one that isn’t obvious to me. I do have another bucket and am interested in what that looks like when I get it open. Until then, I think I’ll shake the rest of this one up really well and retest everything. If it’s still way off, it’ll go in the bin.

 

[SeaDweller]

I use TMP exclusively now, there are times I have alk mix up at 6.5 dKh. I’m on my third bucket. It ranges from 6.5-7.5, for alk at least, at 35 ppt

 

[Mark_4880]

I'm not really impressed with Tropic Marin pro. Parameters are not anywhere close to what is advertised. I'm almost done with my second 200 gal bucket and on average I get 6.5 dkh, 1230 mag, 420 cal. It's not a big deal to add alk to new saltwater but the magnesium gets pricey if you want it near or above what Tropic Marin claims it to be.

 

[King Turkey]

wen I did topic M I read 500 ca 9.5 dkh 1500mg at 1.024-1.025

 

[Buffalou]

Never had a problem with TM, was not happy with other salt products tried RC, IO, and Aquaforest until corals finally responded to TM. Additionally the others just didn't mix up as clean and required additional work to keep storage containers clean. Might just be me but day after implementing Small WC with TM my corals looked phenomenal, so after slow acclimation I have switched over totally and they love it.

 

[Simplyorange]

Just mixed a new bucket from BRS and it mixed at 7 alk @ 1.026. Is this a issue for concern?

 

[akaimal]

There is something going on with the tropicmarin pro reef salt. I have been using it exclusively for 8 years. In the last two years or more I have had trouble with parameters dropping after water change. I just switched to ReefCrystals.