Recent Salt Analysis (good read)
- Thread starter Altohombre
- Start date
Gooseman
Reefing Is An Obsession
cool article ... thanks for the post
ccCapt
Reef Hacker
There is a HUGE thread on RC about that, and that's how that whole testing thing got done. There are lots of discrepencies in their results and how they conducted some of the test. ATW is also a manufacturer of synthetic sea salt. :nono:
Testing methodology and equipment as well as sample preps could have been much better. They appear to have either tested two diiferent bags or samples sometimes and not other times. Or two samples from the same bag, they do not say. I would much more believe the expert tests already done. I have never before seen good results on coralife salt until this test. according to these tests all the major names are pretty much the same. Some copper problems and phosphate problems wit some mixes, but I do not think I will change brands or run out and by Coral life based on their results. To much difference between their results and experts and I definitely cannot believe the results they were getting on the first Oceanic sample. The second one yes, but that first one. The same big differences in some Oceanictests do not seem likely either. Most unbelievable though is the Coral Life salt results.
Gooseman
Reefing Is An Obsession
fatman what kind of salt mix do you use ... i was using the Red Sea Coral Pro salt but my LFS has trouble stocking it ... so i have been forced to use the coralife up to now ... should i switch or look into another type of salt?
tizapolgar
Zymurgist
I would take all of these kinds of analyses with a grain of salt, so to speak.
(egh...yeah, bad pun...)
A lot of the differences in those ratios seem pretty meaningless when you look at the amounts they are actually picking up. And, as has been pointed out, their methodology in preparation, testing, and reporting is suspect.
I won't believe any salt analysis until I see one that is done *independently* and with a more rigorous methodology.
(I read the thread on reefcentral a while ago, and a couple of people came to the defense of the testing methodology...including someone associated with the testing, IIRC. It just doesn't quite fly with me).
(egh...yeah, bad pun...)
A lot of the differences in those ratios seem pretty meaningless when you look at the amounts they are actually picking up. And, as has been pointed out, their methodology in preparation, testing, and reporting is suspect.
I won't believe any salt analysis until I see one that is done *independently* and with a more rigorous methodology.
(I read the thread on reefcentral a while ago, and a couple of people came to the defense of the testing methodology...including someone associated with the testing, IIRC. It just doesn't quite fly with me).
Altohombre
The Tennis Pro Reefer
from all the salt mix analysis I have read it seems that not many companies make a consistent batch be it there fault or it happens due to the large salt buckets settling and making inconsistencies. It also seems that a lot of these testing kits which we think are accurate could be pretty crappy. I mean people see different results all the time with all the major testing kits. I can't imagine one person saying a salt is reading 450 calcium and another person sees 350. That is a big difference.
I buy Instant Ocean a pallet at a time, so it is at least consistent within that shipment. I have never had a fluctuation like their tests though. Usually I find one shipment might have a calcium lower by 25 to 50 and an alkalinity higher by 0.5 or just the opposite but nothing like their tests. I have tried just about every brand and in general find all the major brands pretty equal when using them with RODI water. I have had problems with some brands though such as Coral life where I once got a batch that had an extremely high alkalinity and extremely low calcium with a pH of 8.6.
