got ethical husbandry?

Low Magnesium

I find it odd that all of you are having mag issues with the SeaChem yet I chew through bucket after bucket and the mag fluctuates between 1450-1550. It makes me nervous to use it in FO tanks with snails it's so high at times. Best bet is if your having problems contact SeaChem with the batch number, don't sit on your hands, it helps for them to know if there are issues, plus they will take care of you IME ;)

I've been using the Salinity now 100% and am pretty much done with anything coming out of "the big mixer" too many problems with levels being all over the place. BTW, Tony is correct the Salinity salt does not cost more than any of the other brands, look at the numbers.

Rommel, according to the IO/RC formulation guy, if you mix the bucket all that does is redistribute the crystals so what's at the top of the bucket may be different than what's at the bottom, or the center and the sides.
 
Answer from Seachem;

Thank you for your questions. We are very sorry to hear that you are not satisfied with our salt. We here at Seachem, as hobbyists ourselves, take great pride in manufacturing quality products that are in the best interest of the animals that we are keeping. Let me assure you that before we send out any batch of salt, we take a random sample and check the following parameters:

-pH
-alkalinity
-calcium
-magnesium

Though there will be some variation from batch-to-batch, a new mix of saltwater should yield the following parameters:

Ca: 400-420ppm
Mg: 1200-1250ppm
alkalinity: 4-6meq/L
pH: 8.2-8.4

Although we take measures to avoid any potential issues, we appreciate you bringing this matter to our attention, so that we may look further into the issue that you have experienced. If you will allow us to ask a few questions, then we will be better able to troubleshoot this issue. Firstly, you said that you are getting a magnesium of 1100-1150 ppm, which is definitely lower than what it should be. Are your readings coming from a newly-mixed batch of the salt, or from your tank after having added the new saltwater?

Does your test kit include a reference solution, and, if so, have you tested the reference? We understand that adding a magnesium supplement can become expensive, and this is why we try and make sure that the salt mixes up with elevated levels of calcium, magnesium, and alkalinity, thus minimizing the need for further supplementation. You stated that you have tested for calcium and alkalinity, what results did these tests give? Also, What pH did your mixture yield?

I apologize for all of the questions, but the more information that you can provide, the more thorough we can be in trying to solve the issue. If you could also please let us know where you purchased the salt and provide the lot number off of the bucket, then this will give allow us to check whether we have had issues with that particular batch in the past. Again, I am so sorry that you have not been fully satisfied with the Reef Salt, but if you could please write us back, then we will determine the best means of correcting the problem. Thank you, and have a nice day!

Seachem Support 100215
 
I am changing 4gal today, my weekly maintenance. Seachem Reefsalt, new bucket for me so good excuse to check it, at 1230, sg 1.025, temp 80. I run my top off a little high temp as the tank sits for over an hour and the sump water cools off enough to balance.

Yesterday tank parameters:
dKH 7.0
CA plus 500
MG 1350
NO3- 15

I have been changing water every five days to bring down nitrates. Not dosing CA or MG in the last month as I was changing so much water. Dosing Alk at 8ml a day and will increase that to 10ml to nudge alk up to 8 over the next few weeks.
 
I still have some Seachem Reef salt. I'll mix up a batch and see what the Mg lvl is. I probably won't get to it till this weekend or so.
 
My current bucket of Seachem Reef is a little on the low(for Seachem) side for Mg.

At 1.026 it's showing 1200ppm.

Water has been well mixed in the barrel for quite a while.

I had that bucket sitting around from last year some time.
 
I am no expert on this, but am wondering if letting the mixed water sitting there for a long time will lower MG level. I mix saltwater about once a month, and my auto water change use it up in a little more than one month of time starting from the time the water is made. Just wondering.
 
I complained with Seachem and they told me my batch was bad and sent me some chemicals.
I was at Neptunes today and Cerissa told me that lots of people were complaining that batch was way low in Mag too, even them since they use it too.
Should've gone Salinity from the get go.
Reef Salt + Mag bottle costs more than Salinity :(
 
I wouldn't call it a "bad batch" but rather a batch lower then advertised. IMO "bad batch" entails stuff like killing animals outright, etc.
 
It's not BAD, it's just not NICE :D

Yeah, I guess it's SeaChem's turn this time :(

At least it's not 900 ppm like we had with another brand.
 
Seachem's turn this time? You need to read up on where salt it made my friend. They only make Salinity... nearly everything else is from the big mixer and done per contract.

have you posted that bio yet? I've not been on a couple days.
 
GreshamH said:
Seachem's turn this time? You need to read up on where salt it made my friend. They only make Salinity... nearly everything else is from the big mixer and done per contract.

have you posted that bio yet? I've not been on a couple days.
Click to expand...

Oh, I know where it's made from when you told us before.

SeaChem label this time, that's all.

Started to post a bio, but my browser barfed it out somewhere. Not much one for talking about myself, so I have to get a round tuit again :(
 
I hate talking about myself as well... check my bio out. Some are very short.
 
Well Seachem sent me some free Mag supplements but funny thing is the mag has now come up to 1300 in newly mixed batch of water. I really wonder if rolling the bucket would help. The first three 10g batches I made all tested at 1100 and now the last two 10g batches I've made have tested at 1300. They sent me a 600gram bottle of Reef Advantage Mag and a 1 liter bottle of ions aquavitro Mag.
 
From SeaChem Tech Support:

Hi Norman,

I just wanted to let you know that we did receive your sample of Reef Salt and were able to test it here in our lab. Our results are listed below:

pH = 8.41
Alk = 3.2
Ca = 430
Mg = 1060

Unfortunately, we also tested a low magnesium in the sample that you provided. It is lower than our acceptable range and we certainly do apologize for this issue. We will not be able to replace your buckets of salt, but we would be more than happy to send you a magnesium supplement to compensate you and to help you to maintain a higher magnesium. This is not something that we run into that often, but when we do, we definitely make a record so that it does not occur with future buckets of Reef Salt. We hope that you will continue to use Seachem products and we appreciate all of your cooperation. Again, we are very sorry for the inconvenience this has caused. We will get the magnesium supplement out to you very shortly. Thanks for your patience and have a great afternoon!

Product Support
100215
Click to expand...

So they got the same Mg results as me.

That's kind of interesting because when I tested their 1300 ppm Mg reference standard, I got 1375 ppm.

So seems like their salt was 1060 ppm Mg, and the reference standard may have been off.

The low Mg might explain why the salt mixed up cloudy and took 3 days to clear.
 
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