Coralife SW mix likely needs to be recalled.

[CenlaReefer]

I tested my salt water mix from Coralife this morning. With salinity at 1.025, the level of calcium was so low that it did not even register on the chart using my Red Sea Reef Foundation test kit. The titrant used was less than .18 mL. The chart goes as low as .58 which indicates a calcium level of 290. I am estimating the SW mix to be just under 96 ppm or less! I ran this test because every single time I did a water change, my corals began to suffer. Some of them even died. I also noticed that my calcium levels dropped for my tank after doing three small water changes. That is never happened before. Every other time I did water changes, there were signs the corals perked-up with some improvement.

Some of the literature (i.e from Randy Holmes Farley) says to do water changes to help balance out your water when calcium and alkalinity are out of sync. This was making my problem much worse because my saltwater mix is likely needing to be recalled! I am calling Coralife first thing Monday. I hope I can mail a bag of this mix back to them to see if I can get some restitution after they test it. Needless to say, I am NEVER buying this salt water mix again.

 

[Gareth elliott]

Was this a new batch? End of batch? From my understanding alkalinity, ca, mg are added during the process of making salt mixes from mined salt. I would email coralife.

 

[Flippers4pups]

I tested my salt water mix from Coralife this morning. With salinity at 1.025, the level of calcium was so low that it did not even register on the chart using my Red Sea Reef Foundation test kit. The titrant used was less than .18 mL. The chart goes as low as .58 which indicates a calcium level of 290. I am estimating the SW mix to be just under 96 ppm or less! I ran this test because every single time I did a water change, my corals began to suffer. Some of them even died. I also noticed that my calcium levels dropped for my tank after doing three small water changes. That is never happened before. Every other time I did water changes, there were signs the corals perked-up with some improvement.

Some of the literature (i.e from Randy Holmes Farley) says to do water changes to help balance out your water when calcium and alkalinity are out of sync. This was making my problem much worse because my saltwater mix is likely needing to be recalled! I am calling Coralife first thing Monday. I hope I can mail a bag of this mix back to them to see if I can get some restitution after they test it. Needless to say, I am NEVER buying this salt water mix again.

I would verify with a different test kit or take a sample to your LFS.

 

[CenlaReefer]

This is a freshly-opened bag. It was a box with multiple bags. I will try to get the purchase date. My brother has a batch purchased at the same time. I am asking him to test his batch as well. The only good LFS is 1 hr and 40 minutes drive away from here. I guess my local Petco has some test kits for calcium. I will check.

 

[Flippers4pups]

This is a freshly-opened bag. It was a box with multiple bags. I will try to get the purchase date. My brother has a batch purchased at the same time. I am asking him to test his batch as well. The only good LFS is 1 hr and 40 minutes drive away from here. I guess my local Petco has some test kits for calcium. I will check.

If they do, it will be in a API test kit. Not saying it's not a bad batch. Any salt mix manufacturer can have a bad run of salt. Coralife salt calcium should be high.

How do you test SG?

 

[CenlaReefer]

How do you test SG?

Refractometer

 

[TheEngineer]

Also, did you mix the bag before using?

 

[reefisland]

I tested my salt water mix from Coralife this morning. With salinity at 1.025, the level of calcium was so low that it did not even register on the chart using my Red Sea Reef Foundation test kit. The titrant used was less than .18 mL. The chart goes as low as .58 which indicates a calcium level of 290. I am estimating the SW mix to be just under 96 ppm or less! I ran this test because every single time I did a water change, my corals began to suffer. Some of them even died. I also noticed that my calcium levels dropped for my tank after doing three small water changes. That is never happened before. Every other time I did water changes, there were signs the corals perked-up with some improvement.

Some of the literature (i.e from Randy Holmes Farley) says to do water changes to help balance out your water when calcium and alkalinity are out of sync. This was making my problem much worse because my saltwater mix is likely needing to be recalled! I am calling Coralife first thing Monday. I hope I can mail a bag of this mix back to them to see if I can get some restitution after they test it. Needless to say, I am NEVER buying this salt water mix again.

Follow up with a post of your results and turn out ..