Why not to use io salt

[crimper]

Sorry to hear your loss. But maybe further testings should merit your claim.

I don't want to sound simplistic, but that claim can be proven. Maybe setup a 10G tank and throw in some snail, hermit crab, maybe a damsel fish and some not so nice corals in there and see what happens.

This will clear up lots of speculations.

[dcw1sfu]

Originally Posted by TimT

Sorry to hear about your loss. I threw IO to the curb a while ago because it was consistently inconsistent enough that it alarmed me. I'd used it since the mid 70's.

It's not just the big three that can nuke a tank. I lost a whole bunch of SPS to a bucket of reef salt(not IO or RC) that was deficient in Potassium.

Since the majority of the cost of salt mix is freight one must wonder how they can sell it so cheap. What quality are the chems used?

It's not correct to assume that just because no one else complained that it's not the salt. It's also not correct to assume that just because part of a batch is ok that the whole batch will be ok.

Cheers,
Tim

What did you end up switching to after all those years of IO?

[TimT]

Originally Posted by Gobytron

Just as not correct to assume it was the salt though, no?

Assumptions/generalizations are always risky and usually incorrect. So there's a funny saying... Assume = making an ASS out of U and ME

Normally I'm very hesitant to blame salt or other types of additives as it's usually something the hobbyist did or something that happened to the tank. This situation is different though. Spit.fire is an experienced hobbyist and able to discern if it was the salt, the water, the mixing pump or something he did. When combined with my own personal experiences with this salt, my knowledge of how much freight is for salt and the price it is sold for. I think it's a 90%+ chance it's the salt, but no one can know for sure.

If the salt mix had ammonia contamination it could easily do to a tank what was reported.

Originally Posted by dcw1sfu

What did you end up switching to after all those years of IO?

I use either D+D or Red Sea as they are made from evaporated ocean water.