Never switing salts again!!!!!

ca161406

ca161406

Member
Well the other day i went down to my LFS to pick up some salt and they were out of my usual(oceanic) so i decided to try some coralife because i needed to do a 25% water change. when i got home i did my usual mixing and waited about 5 hours and tested the water for everything and all was good. so i went ahead and did my usual glass cleaning then did the change. after about 5min my puffers started going crazy twitching, puffing, loosing color and swimming sideways. AHH! So i started to fill my bucket with fresh water to get the temp up and ran to petsmart to get my usual salt. luckily they had it so i rushed home and started mixing the water. i looked in my tank and thought they were gone
. one was upside down behind a rock and the other was stuck to the powerhead. i started draining and once the water i mixed looked clear i tested the SG and dumped it in. i did it several more times winding up doing about 150% water change to get it all out. then through some carbon in one of my filters. within ten min after they started to come back to life and started swimming around. and about an hour they were back to normal. the next day i finished it off with a 50% change to be sure. they are doing great now, just seem a lil mad at me haha. but im happy theyre okay! any ideas of what could of caused this!???? i just thought it was weird because oceanic is made by coralife, and ive herd of others changing salts with no problems at all. i just hope they continue to make it now haha! because i'd be afraid to switch
 
dse

dse

Member
you answerd your self in the post, you said you tested the new salt before you added and it seemd fine but it was also cooler then the main tank water so realy your temp sent them loopy not the salt. try to make sure it's the excat temp next time. also did you just poor in the tank or in the sump? best way to go is to go via the sump.
 
janscott23

janscott23

Member
Dude that sucks and wierd I started all of my tanks with with coralife and have used it for about 2 years with out any problems, Just change over to Instant Ocean (just because its cheaper and trying to save $$$$) about 3months back.
I have noticed that with the coralife I had more alge growth but since I started using instant ocean I have allmost no alge in all my tanks...
Gotta go with what works best for you.
good luck I hope your fish make it
 
ca161406

ca161406

Member
with my normal water changes i use a refractometer but when i did the rush i used my hydrometer because it was faster and i was trying to save time.
the water temp was within 1* of my tank so that couldnt of been the problem when i added it, and i dont have a sump right now theyre in a temporary tank while im setting up my 125
hmm i wonder if thats a good or a bad thing? good that you dont have to clean, bad because maybe it cant grow?? idk?
thanks a lot, i think theyre going to be fine theyre back to their food begging active selves lol
 
ca161406

ca161406

Member
Originally Posted by Janscott23
http:///forum/post/2750596
check the archives and faq section on this site theres a post for oceanic users it might help.
yeah i just was reading it. the one from like 2005. it had to do with the mag. lvls in mixes
 
stanlalee

stanlalee

Active Member
if that happened to me the salt mix would be the LAST variable I would suspect as the cause. considering 75% of the water in the tank was already there the salt would literally have to be poisoned for it to cause that.
 
saltn00b

saltn00b

Active Member
there have been recorded incidents of bad batches of salt. every now and again you hear about something like this, that wipes out a whole reef tank. they say when you get a new bucket (assuming you buy salt by the bucket to save $) to make a very small amount of water and test it for everything first. cant say i have done that yet, but that is what was recommended, and could happen to any brand. for what it's worth i prefer red sea coral pro
 
smokingreefer

smokingreefer

Member
I wait atleast 24hrs before I even think about putting newly mixed saltwater in. I also use oceanic in my tank and have great success. I have mixed salts with varied results. I would suggest waiting a day or so next time until your normal salts gets in.
 
nigerbang

nigerbang

Active Member
I use IO salt, works okay for me, one of the more consistance salts..CAL. a tad low in it though..as far as mixinging for 24 hrs...nah I mix mine for about 4-5 hours and its good...Allthough I use a different approach to it so it works faster.
Allthough I did get a few free buckets of SeaChem Reefsalt at Macna
 
ca161406

ca161406

Member
honestly i do think it was the salt because there were no other things i did different. so maybe it was one of those evil bad bathes?

as for waiting i normally wait anywhere between 5-12 hours depending if i get lazy or not. when i get my 125 set up ill probably wait overnight with the mix but its been working good for me this way for about 6 months. soo i dunnoo haha
idk i like oceanic a lot, ive never used IO because when i was first researching i wanted to use a natural salt instead of an artificial one. but i do hear great things though
 
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