Crystal Sea Bio-Assay Salt Question

[Origami]

the only problem I have had with crystal Sea, and I've been using it in the store and on several other tanks over the years, is it MUST be mixed with 0 ppm TDS water.  When I was having issues with my RO unit not producing below 5 ppm TDS I noticed Diatom algae growth following water changes.  After troubleshooting my issue I traced the problem back to bad membranes.  If you are going to use it, I do the following when mixing 140 gallons of water: add 1 box bioassay( i know it says it makes 150 gallons, but if you read closely the package says this mix provides a SG of 1.023-24),  Add 75mL of B-Ionic part 1 and 2.  My testing on the batches prepared this way always read the following levels: dKH= 10-11, Cal= 420-450, mag=1290-1350.  And yes the salt mix parameters were lower a few years ago, but now I believe the production of Crystal Sea has become geared more towards reef tanks.

 

Hope that helps,

Sean

Thanks, Sean. It does help.

 

They have changed the formulation. I just received a response a few minutes ago from Marine Enterprises International (Baltimore), the maker of Crystal Sea Bioassay (and also Marine Mix). I'll list the major ions that we normally test for in their assay below:

 

Calcium: 410 ppm

Carbonate alkalinity 169 ppm CaCO3 equivalents (or 9.5 dKH)

Magnesium 1290 ppm (this is substantially higher than in 2009)

 

Additionally, for what it's worth:

Potassium: 380 ppm

 

Personally, if I were using the salt, I would probably be boosting both calcium and alkalinity (just a tad), just as Sean's doing at Fins & Feathers. Magnesium, in the new formulation, looks just fine.

[Gilbert]

Thank you Sean,Origami, and everybody who has chimed in with useful info. This has really helped me out a lot!