chaostactics Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 Before I put the manufacturer on blast and also attempt to rip them a new one (i don't think they're going to care) are there any other explanations for this? Tap water Ammonia = 0 Water from RO/DI Ammonia = 0 Water from RO/DI water storage container Ammonia = 0 Water from RO/DI water storage container poured into the same 7 gallon instant ocean bucket i've been using for 10-15 years to mix make up water Ammonia = 0 Water in above said bucket after mixing in 3 cups of salt into 5 gallons of water Ammonia = .25-.3 tested with both an API test kit and a Tropic Marin test kit. Tank water Ammonia = .2ish ( I had just done a number of large changes over the last week to try and drive the ammonia down till I could figure out what the source was. I hadn't thought to test my newly mixed saltwater until a couple of days ago. This was checked with and API and Tropic Marin test kits. The salt used was a brand new sealed bag of a 200 gal box purchased within the last month. 1 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 9 minutes ago, chaostactics said: Before I put the manufacturer on blast and also attempt to rip them a new one (i don't think they're going to care) are there any other explanations for this? Tap water Ammonia = 0 Water from RO/DI Ammonia = 0 Water from RO/DI water storage container Ammonia = 0 Water from RO/DI water storage container poured into the same 7 gallon instant ocean bucket i've been using for 10-15 years to mix make up water Ammonia = 0 Water in above said bucket after mixing in 3 cups of salt into 5 gallons of water Ammonia = .25-.3 tested with both an API test kit and a Tropic Marin test kit. Tank water Ammonia = .2ish ( I had just done a number of large changes over the last week to try and drive the ammonia down till I could figure out what the source was. I hadn't thought to test my newly mixed saltwater until a couple of days ago. This was checked with and API and Tropic Marin test kits. The salt used was a brand new sealed bag of a 200 gal box purchased within the last month. I have seen posts before about ammonia in the salt. I’m sorry but I can’t remember if it was on here or another site. Quote Link to comment
Humblefish Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 I've had both Seachem Vibrant and Instant Ocean test positive for ammonia. QC ain't the aquarium industry's strong point. 1 Quote Link to comment
mcarroll Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 Ammonia and the Reef Aquarium covers this.....I wouldn't worry IMO. There's no case (that I can think of anyway) where you'd be putting animals into a tank where the bio-filter wouldn't be able to process this ammonia quickly. Unless your eyes are watering when you open the salt bag....that might be too much ammonia. 😭 1 Quote Link to comment
chaostactics Posted January 20, 2020 Author Share Posted January 20, 2020 @mcarroll thank you for your response. Thats what I sort of figured but my system ammonia has climbed a bit recently and I don't have any organic reason for the climb that I can figure out. On 1/13/2020 at 6:53 PM, Humblefish said: I've had both Seachem Vibrant and Instant Ocean test positive for ammonia. QC ain't the aquarium industry's strong point. Instant ocean reef crystals 😞 Quote Link to comment
Steemax Posted January 20, 2020 Share Posted January 20, 2020 I've been using Reef Crystals for the first time on my 1 month old reef and it's not registering any ammonia 🤷♂️ Maybe a bad batch? Quote Link to comment
DSA65PRO Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 I won’t buy anyone’s Salt Mix From a Store that has Critters in it. I swear the Ammonia can go right through plastic. I been getting Reef Crystals from Walmart. I get it shipped to the store and pick it up. The only problems I’ve had is the box is beat up. I check the bags for tears, which has only happened once. Don’t even get me started on home delivery, the whole side was ripped on the bucket. Quote Link to comment
chaostactics Posted February 25, 2020 Author Share Posted February 25, 2020 The salt mix that was leading to the ammonia was reef crystals. : ( 1 Quote Link to comment
mcarroll Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 Just noticed my link earlier was off to the 2007 article that discussed this. Corrected link pointing to the section on ammonia and saltwater mixes: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-02/rhf/index.php#5 1 Quote Link to comment
mcarroll Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 I can't remember if you already mentioned this, but did you reach out to Instant Ocean to talk to them yet? IMO they will most likely replace it for you if it's really an issue. FWIW... I recently had a bricked bag....one out of four in the box; weird. But getting a replacement was easy...they just needed a photos of the bricked bag and of the receipt as well as their lot# from the bag. They shipped me a whole box to replace the bag so I felt that it was way more than equitable. Some hassle, yes -- but that makes the price almost a two for one deal....and arguably the bricked bag is still usable. I didn't try it, but I've heard that you can dissolve the small amount of sediment that would be leftover by mixing in a bottle of seltzer water to temporarily drop the pH of the mix water. Aeration would bring pH back to normal when it's all done and you're ready to use it. 1 Quote Link to comment
Humblefish Posted February 26, 2020 Share Posted February 26, 2020 5 hours ago, chaostactics said: The salt mix that was leading to the ammonia was reef crystals. : ( You need to put your big boy pants on, look in the mirror, and make lemonade out of that ammonia salt the good company provided you with! 🤣 (I'm making fun of something I read elsewhere about blaming the aquarium industry.) Quote Link to comment
chaostactics Posted February 27, 2020 Author Share Posted February 27, 2020 On 2/25/2020 at 12:56 PM, mcarroll said: I can't remember if you already mentioned this, but did you reach out to Instant Ocean to talk to them yet? IMO they will most likely replace it for you if it's really an issue. FWIW... I recently had a bricked bag....one out of four in the box; weird. But getting a replacement was easy...they just needed a photos of the bricked bag and of the receipt as well as their lot# from the bag. They shipped me a whole box to replace the bag so I felt that it was way more than equitable. Some hassle, yes -- but that makes the price almost a two for one deal....and arguably the bricked bag is still usable. I didn't try it, but I've heard that you can dissolve the small amount of sediment that would be leftover by mixing in a bottle of seltzer water to temporarily drop the pH of the mix water. Aeration would bring pH back to normal when it's all done and you're ready to use it. Nope didn't even try. Worth looking into, thank you. Out of 5 boxes I've ordered from Amazon have had 1-3 bricked bags (an Amazon not IO issue IMO) I just keep ordering boxes until I have 4 bags of powder and send the bricks back for return 😆🤦🏼♂️ 2 Quote Link to comment
Doc_ Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 This link overall might be of interest to you but I have linked the specific section of relevance Sources of Ammonia in Reef Aquaria: Salt Mixes below is taken from the above. These levels of ammonia may be introduced from impurities in calcium chloride and magnesium chloride, where ammonia is a well known impurity resulting from some of the commercial manufacturing processes used But the levels it introduced shouldn't be an issue if there is adequate bio-filtration. I use Red Sea Salt and when I did a water change over the weekend my Ammonia NH3 reading on my Seneye went from 0.001 to 0.008 and was back to 0.001 within about 5 hours 1 Quote Link to comment
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