Another bad pail of IO

[martym]

I bought a pail of IO from J&L this weekend and mixed a batch. Let it circulate for 24 hrs and had a Alklinity reading of 7.2meg/l I called J&L and they are going to replace it. Make sure everyone that you are testing hardness before adding to new water your aquarium.
Marty

[Aquattro]

Marty, did it turn cloudy after mixing?

[martym]

Ye it did. It took the full 24hrs to clear up. There was still some tannish undissolved stuff in the bottom.

[Jack]

What was the alk of the clear stuff?

[zulu_principle]

Here's what Im doing, might help some others who are worried about this.

Im testing mixed saltwater for which I always have a 30 gallon garbage can to pre-mix saltwater with one of the pool or hottub test strips that contains ALK, pH and Chlorine.

I have a bench mark from my tank and a recent batch of makeup salt water.

Its a cheap test, about $5 for 50 strips.


Wendell

[Aquattro]

According to Randy's testing, the water turns to a skim milk type cloudiness within 30 minutes of mixing. This alone would be a tell tale sign that the salt you had was from the bad batch.

[zulu_principle]

Good point, just read the thread and some interesting results.

Guess I will watch the water mix for the next little while. :eek:

[Marcus K]

I just picked up a pail of IO as I have read such good things about thier salt. I was making the switch also as Coralife is getting harder for me to get and costs more for a smaller amount. I just mixed some up with no problem with cloudiness but am a little concerned as the salt is just poured into the pail. My Coralife came in three bags that were resealable. I did read on the pail of IO that you are to seal the bags after use.

Can anyone let me know if thier IO comes in bags inside the pail? If not how do you seal the pail?

Thanks. Marcus

[Aquattro]

There are no bags. The lid fits tight and does a fine job of sealing the pail.

[Samw]

Man, I hope they figure this out soon. I need to buy a new bucket this month. Wonder if my corals will be unhappy if I switched to Kent.

[Jack]

Sam, I think they are both manufactured in the same plant.

[Canadian Man]

Sam I switched to kent a few months ago and to the tank and corals it made no diffrence. I now use kent because it's the same price here as IO and I find it mixes with a higher Alk and Calcium readings so it's not lowering my tank levels when I do a waterchange.

cheers

[martym]

The readings of the clear water where 7.2 meg/l

[Megalodon]

Marty, or anyone who's affected by this, post on my thread in Reef Central.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=1857017#post1857017

That would be a good way to have your voice heard because Aquarium Systems is watching that thread closely and we're trying to come to a consensus there as to how common of a problem this is.

You'll all have to send a sample to Bob Studt at Aquarium Systems... they'll compensate if they find it's the bad salt.