reef crystals smell?

[jph]

i opened up my first bucket of reef crystals yesterday (been using IO up until now) and it caught my attention that it has a pretty particular smell to it.

it's not like it stinks or anything, it just doesn't smell like ocean

anyone else notice this?



J.

[Wiskey]

Do you mean the mixed up water does? Or the salt itself does?

Whiskey

[tdwyatt]

I notice a mildly chemuical smell, but nothing disturbing. What you smell when you smell the ocean or ocean spray is mostly dissolved organics from fishes, corals, sponges, etc.,algae, iodine from seaweeds, and occasionally the smell of decomposing organics and traces of sulfur, etc., not the smell of the dissolved salts.

[chrischris]

wow tdwyatt i did not know that and yes i have noticed that a little bit since i switched to rc a couple of months ago but the water test fine

[jph]

Originally Posted by Wiskey

Do you mean the mixed up water does? Or the salt itself does?

it's pretty much the salt, and the water itself, after adding the salt to it.
24 hours later, it doesn't have a smell to it anymore.

Originally Posted by tdwyatt

I notice a mildly chemuical smell, but nothing disturbing. What you smell when you smell the ocean or ocean spray is mostly dissolved organics from fishes, corals, sponges, etc.,algae, iodine from seaweeds, and occasionally the smell of decomposing organics and traces of sulfur, etc., not the smell of the dissolved salts.

yeah, a mild chemical smell, that's a good way to describe it

i'll have to remind my wife what we're smelling next time that we take a walk down the shoreline hehe.



J.

[Hop]

I've noticed the same thing with my last two buckets jph. Not sure what changed, but they had a bad batch or so I've read. But mine tested fine and I have not noticed anything negative

[Wiskey]

Okay, that about matches my experiance, when I first open the bucket - or when I'm pouring my salt I've noticed a bit of a smell to about any of them actually. I never notice a smell after the water is all mixed up though.

Whiskey

[jph]

well, i just tested the first batch of RC that i mixed 24h ago.

the results are well... not sure waht to think of them.

SG : 1.025 (kooking some rock, don't want to mix it up too strong and waste salt)
15 dKH
Ca : 350 ppm
Mg : 1000 ppm

i used brand new Elos test kits

to make sure it is not user error, i immediately tested a sample from my tank water, and it came in at an expected 7 dKH

is RC supposed to be that high in ALK ?



J.

[Wiskey]

Woh; no I would not expect it to be that High in Alk, I would also not expect it to be that low in CA and MG, it's lower than my IO is. Are you sure all the tests were run properly? Are you confident that these test kits are accurate?

Whiskey

[jph]

Originally Posted by Wiskey

Woh; no I would not expect it to be that High in Alk, I would also not expect it to be that low in CA and MG, it's lower than my IO is. Are you sure all the tests were run properly? Are you confident that these test kits are accurate?

Whiskey

well, i don't have any IO anymore, so i can't test another salt mix right now.
however, my tank water tested with a value that i was expecting.

i ordered these Elos kits as they seem to be the new hot thing. a lot of people seem to recommend them over the salifert kits these days.

i dumped the rock that i'm cooking in the bucket... and i'll test the water again tomorrow, we'll see what effect some rock, a bit of bacteria and some micro fauna has on the salt



J.

[jph]

just FYI; with the salifert kits, i was always douting my test values. was it 13 drops, or 14 drops? or maybe 15 drops?

this one is pretty obvious, color change is very obvious and almost instant.


J.

[silvers]

IO has been haveing problems with some batches If you send them a cup of the salt then they will replace the bucket free of charge. To me it smells like vitimans.

[DevilBoy]

when i used to use RC i did notice a slight smell to it. Everything tested out fine. besides my alk which i would get at 14 - 15 dkh. but i have since switched salts and i seem to be very happy with the salt i am using now. almost everything when testing it is right on. i need to bump my mag slightly and thats it.

[jph]

Originally Posted by silvers

IO has been haveing problems with some batches If you send them a cup of the salt then they will replace the bucket free of charge. To me it smells like vitimans.

i just sent them a message using the contact form on the website. let's hope they tell me to send in a sample


thanks!
J.