Harold B Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 I had to make up some water last night in order to change my carbon today,(to rinse it) and this morning the entire bucket had a white film all over it. It was also all over the mixing pump amd RO line. What would this be. Mg? Is this the result of "setteling"? I thought it seemed a little "to cloudy" when I first mixed it . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanktop74 Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 I have been using the new formula for a while now, gone through 2+ buckets and have not had any issue with this. I mix mine up at a sg of 1.026. I have had this happen in the past when i would add additives to the mixed water, ie bumping up the calcium and mag... but no issues with just mixing up the new salt water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.R Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 I use it in 2 55gal drums of rock and my 29 cube, no issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold B Posted January 22, 2011 Author Share Posted January 22, 2011 Has anyone else ever had this happen with a new bucket of salt? I didn't add anything to it. Any ideas what to do? Its a brand new bucket only made about 10 to 20g max out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 I had it happen with my last bucket of Kent, not the new mix, never seemed to hurt the corals so I didn't think too much of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Did you shake up the bucket before use? Might be settling........... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saltfinsax Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Yea this is happing with my bucket of salt now. Doesn't seem to have any ill affect on any thing. Have done a few 20% changes with it and my water is right on. I kinda thought it was because I started mixing it in cold cold water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold B Posted January 23, 2011 Author Share Posted January 23, 2011 hmmm well I did start with cold RO/DI water ? That matters ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRENT Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 I also had this happen on a 25 gallon WC? I always warm my water before mixing salt so it can't be the cold water theory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefnjunkie Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 hmmm well I did start with cold RO/DI water ? That matters ? Not at all-I have never started with warm water, unless its a 100 degrees outside and then my start off water is , well warm-LOL Could the mixing bucket had anything in it?? Its weird others have had the similar experiances. Steve was yours also the new Kent?? its the salt I plan to switch to, I think.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trautman Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 lets do a little chemistry review: Cold water has a lower capacity to hold salt and other elements in an aqueous solution, thus if you put in the amount of salt for x amount of water @80 degrees then you put the same amount of salt in the same amount of water@ 40 degrees, there will be more undissolved particles floating around until you hit that higher range. i find this happening with my kent when i have cold water, when i put a heater and a power head in over night( which you are supposed to do anyways with kent so that the ph settles), the water is clear the next morning when the water is warm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold B Posted January 23, 2011 Author Share Posted January 23, 2011 I am familiar with the relationship between temp/ amount a soultion can hold. I started with cold RO/DI added the 2 cups salt let it fill about 1/2 way (so the heater would be submersed) put the heater in turned it and the mixing pump on and in the morning it had a film all over everything and as soon as the water is disturbed it goes semi-cloudy. I believe the sublect was the temp of the water when the salt is added. cold vs warm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocboat Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 I had this problem with the Red Sea Coral Pro salt and recently switched to the new Kent formula. I've mixed about 100 gallons of the Kent with no residue issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold B Posted January 23, 2011 Author Share Posted January 23, 2011 Here is what is left after making 5g of water (aprox. 2 cups of salt) It was alot worse this is just whats left I had to use the water to rinse GFO/carbon and I tried to pre filter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Call Kent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisW Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 On a side note, why do you go thru so much to just rinse carbon? I just run it under the tap for a few minutes to knock the dust off. Never had any issue with it. Dennis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold B Posted January 23, 2011 Author Share Posted January 23, 2011 Since i'm using a BRS duel carbon /GFO reactor FME trying to rinse it before putting it in the reactor is a lot more trouble than its worth since after getting it all together it still needs to have some water run through it because moving it around in any way creates more fines/dust. Its a whole lot eaiser to just make up about 4 or 5g of water switch it (carbon/GFO)all out and let the water run through the reactor till its clean/clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trautman Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Here is what is left after making 5g of water (aprox. 2 cups of salt) It was alot worse this is just whats left I had to use the water to rinse GFO/carbon and I tried to pre filter. i have this happen with my kent also, to be honest the few times i saw it on the surface, i thought to myself that it must have been some residue from somewhere else, so i just dumped the bucket and rinsed it, it didnt happen again. my hunch, now that we are on the same page, is that it is something in the salt itself, and that it isnt that big of a deal. but if you call kent let me know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold B Posted January 23, 2011 Author Share Posted January 23, 2011 So i'm in the process of making up 30 or 40g now as I usally do, with a heater and mixing pump. I mixed the bucket before hand by rolling/shaking ect. I have to admit I've never had to shake/mix salt in the bucket before making water with it but we'll see if this might be a fix to the situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trautman Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 i don't understand the logic behind this(no offense); all of the salt is already pre-mixed, this would be like saying if you eat half of a cookie first, and wait to chew it first, then you eat the second half it will be different in you stomach. just saying. if it does work i will for sure be confused Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold B Posted January 24, 2011 Author Share Posted January 24, 2011 Some people have posted here and there about a problem with "settling" of salt during shipping. I haven't had this happen that I know of so i'm trying to figure this out by process of elimination. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Particles of different sizes in the salt will settle differently by the 'bouncing' during shipping. This is where the theory comes from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold B Posted January 24, 2011 Author Share Posted January 24, 2011 Ok well after looking around different forums I think my problem is adding the salt before there is the full amount of water in the bucket/brute can. Aparently if you add to much salt to to little water it causes precipitates. Which is exactly what I did. I had about an inch or two of water and threw in all 2 1/2 cups of salt and let the water fill up, turning the pump and heater on after there was enough water to cover the pump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimberlee Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 I've been using the kent brand for months, and don't really go through it that quick. My bucket does sit for a while so I feel compelled to shake it up every now and than. I mix my water by filling the mixing buckets adding heater than pump and than the salt. Never had a problem w/ any kind of residue, but I was always told this is the way to mix the water. I do know people who use Kent have had problems w/ the alk being about a standered 7. Can any 1 else verify that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandinga Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 My Kent salt drives me crazy! I would switch, but I Pre bought like 5 buckets...so I'm dealing with it. Here is the issue: It has really low magnesium, which causes the calcium,which is high, to precipitate out. This has been an issue with nearly ruining all my pumps and plumbing...I posted about this previously...and posted pics. The magnesium is at 1000 in all my Kent mixes so far!!! Nice. And to boot, the kH is coming in at a cool 6.5!!! Awesome all around... Not. Each water change I have to buffer the kH and raise the magnesium. It's a real pain in the behind, but it has already killed some choice sps colonies because of huge kH swings(I was doing 25% water changes without testing the mix...my bad), and constantly lowering Mg levels. My buckets didn't settle during shipping, and they came from at least 2 sources over a period of 6 months. Anyone wanna buy some extra Kent salt I have laying around???? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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