question on new salt mix

[shavo]

Hi everybody I have a question regarding a new salt I bought over the weekend. I usually use instant ocean but was a little low on cash and found this salt mix for 23 bucks. I just mixed up some and wanted some info about it before I add it to my tank.
The brand is called CRYSTAL SEA MARINE MIX. Anything it is lacking or I need to watch before I put it in my tank???
thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Mix a little and test. That's the only thing I can tell you. I never heard of this brand name before.

 

[shavo]

thanks crissy, i was hoping that someone out there has, I will look for a picture of this stuff and post it

here is a link I wonder if it is BS

http://www.kazabee.com/html/crystal_sea_marinemix.html

 

[ChrisRD]

Do a search here on "bioassay" and you should get lots of info on this stuff...

 

[shavo]

chris I read some of your posts and it wasn't positive at all. other people seem to agree with you and I read that things turned in just a 48 hour period, I am doing a 15 gallon water change sometime tonight with this stuff i will let you know if I notice anything drastic. crossing my fingers. If I have no problems with this and things go OK I may switch over. not sure yet. I still have half a tin of IO so if I have issues I will do a quick IO water change.
i'll let you know , thanks chris

 

[Len]

Aquacraft's salts were the rave for a very short period of time after Shimek's published article, but a lot of people reported big problems with their salts. It's not usually an avoided brand.

 

[shavo]

it's not usually an avoided brand????

why not? if there are big problems with it why is it not avaoided??

also I was planning on doing a 15 gallon water change tonight with it. is that too much on a 125 with a 30 gallon fuge?

 

[Len]

Ooops! It IS an avoided brand these days That was a big goof.

15g isn't very much water so you're fine. I don't know if I'd switch to that salt though

 

[Old Man Of The Sea]

As Crissy said, get as small amount of this salt for I too never heard of it and beware of salts saying anything as for no phosphates or nitrates. For on my twin eel tanks, I once switched too using Oceanic and on my eel only tanks, I only test every week the Ph and not so often then for nitrates. For on a 240 gal two tanks system, I do a weekly water change of 30 gals.

I back then only checked for nitrates in a rare blue moon and then I was shock by the nitrate level which I had then. The nitrates then was somewhere near 80 PPM and I look for the cause in this.

I retest the RO/DI water in which I the Kent marine four stage unit and I had added a fifth stage to this RO/DI unit.

The water was fine, I then figured to check the water in which I prepare for my water changes, I made the water as I always done at 1.026 and found that this salt had nitrates for the 30 gals water change I mixed had a nitrate reading of 60 PPM. The higher the salinity, the great the volume on the nitrates.

I then drove out to fish world in which they had a salt sale on the instant ocean, I brought the last six boxes they had and done a serious of water changes, and in just some 3 weeks time, the nitrates was at untraceable levels again.

 

[shavo]

well i still have a 1/4 bucket left of IO left. I may use IO next water change and then the crystal sea and alternate for a while and see if there is anything at all to worry about. I mean IO is just a few dollars more but i was a little tapped and saw a deal and went with it. If i see no difference i may try the crystal sea a few times in a row after the IO runs out. we'll see I will do a full boat test of water perameters tomorrow after work and see where things stand.

one a side note. This may be a concern. i noticed that my "in the tank thermometer" was not just cracked but completely busted off at the bottom. (just noticed it) have no idea how it happenned or when. I was wondering what are the ill effects of mercury in my tank!! lol, i think this may be a bad one. actually things look normal. but I have no idea how much if any mercury is in the tank. anybody break a thermometer in the tank before and have things die off?

 

[Old Man Of The Sea]

anybody break a thermometer

In all my years of more then 60, never for im always changing them and the tanks heaters for I not keep, the tanks heaters I look to change them every five years. Also I use sometimes what's the temp, im trying this digital thermometer, or rather im going to once the tanks are ready.

 

[shavo]

so you must have atleast 30 old heaters and thermometers laying around then? can i have a few of them?
lol thanks for the info. the thermometer is not even 2 years old probabbly 1 year and half or so when i changed over to salt. the only thing i can think of is a tang slammed into it and broke it unless somebody had there hands in my tank when i wasn't here.
wierd. no reason for it to break
it isn't heating element that would crack or anything like that. it is just a piece of glass sitting in a tank in a plastic holder about a 1/4 inch away from the glass. could a tags have run into it with enough force to break it? I see my tangs make quick short bursts for no apparent reason occasionally. think that is possible? i really can't figure out what happened to it

 

[Old Man Of The Sea]

A tang you say could had simply swim and smack up against the thermometer? This is highly unheard of I would say as many would agree for like for a sample, take one of these thermometers and lay it on the table and hit it with the open palm of your hand and you would see for yourself that these things need a far stronger marine animal to break it, like a trigger or puffer fish.

Also, its far best to have a sump and have all these items out from your fish tank and under the tank> This is my solution to protecting what I enjoyed all my life and when I buy any new thermometer or heater, I dump the used for I would never think of looking to either selling it or other wise.

The smallest tank I have is a 40 breeder and that too has a heater and all in the sump>

 

[shavo]

one question if something goes into my sump and is pumped into my tank what is the difference?
just curious?

 

[Old Man Of The Sea]

one question if something goes into my sump and is pumped into my tank what is the difference?
just curious?

Cant you figure this out for yourself? Just think for a minute and figure out what would happen if your housing triggers or large puffer fishes :?:

 

[shavo]

lol, well i don't have those creatures. i was thinking if my thermometer broke in my sump since you don't think a tang could do it and I didn't do it i just noticed it was broken tonight.

I was saying if it broke in my sump and was pumped into my display then there is no difference.

I don't have big triggers and the thermometer is in the corner of my tank in the top left hand corner. nothing is ever there and I don't do any work there. no reason for it to break. but it was broken.
I see the reason you are saying to put it in the sump and i just may do that. but any problems that happen in the sump happen to the display if I am not around to catch it in time.

 

[Old Man Of The Sea]

Its always possible for any of these two to develop problems for the thing is with me when im using the thermometer with the suction cup it has, I buy new when the rubber suction cup is no longer able to hold it in place and yes, even the heater could develop a breakage before five years, anything is possible pretty much with these item as well as pumps and power heads, we got to feel lucky that something as this not happens as much, or perhaps they do and we just not hear about it.

Still, I look to do all the best for my tanks and cost wise is pretty small when one things about the years that one puts into this, so as you say that this did happen, all you can do is remove the parts and do a water change as required. So the thermometer itself, im almost buying a new one once a year or so, I mean that they aren't expensive.