Bad kent batch?

[Swicicki]

I was battling a bad outbreak of what you think were Dinos.

Brown algae that grew on EVERYThing.

It was so bad my coral banded was covered in it!

I lost fish, my zoas closed up tight for a month! I was very frustrated. I was starving my fish to death and no end in sight

I went thru 400 gallons ( 2 boxes ) of kent salt in three months (125 gal tank)

I switched to RC and with in 2 weeks no more brown and my corals are opening again!

 

[Swicicki]

Typo whAt I thought were Dino ...not "you"

 

[bkushy]

I'm using Kent right now as well and same problem. I had a spotless tank with instant ocean. Fighting brown all the time since the switch.

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[Swicicki]

Is there a lot of brown residue on the mix container? There was with me

 

[54seaweed]

I've been using kent a little over a year with no complaints everything seems to thrive

 

[Swicicki]

I had used kent in the past and was happy but I had mad problems recently

As soon as I switched things got better

No idea if it was causation or correlation

There was a lot of brown residue and in wondering if they put in too much Fe??

 

[jeffaquarius]

A new Kent has high calcium but with lower Alkalinity. If you are not dosing to correct it that may be the problem. Those unwanted brown algae thrives on lower alk.

 

[Swicicki]

Shouldn't they put a warning in the bag "Hey this salt is way too low in all and will mess up your tank "?

 

[jeffaquarius]

Have you ever bought a car only to find it is being recalled?

 

[bkushy]

I am using Kent on my upstairs tank and have brown everywhere. The downstairs tank is instant ocean and no problems at all. It started shortly after the salt change upstairs. Can't say for certain as there are so many variables but it definitely looks like a strong possibility.

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[jeffaquarius]

Here is some pointers when changing salt mix. Take note of your tank parameter specially the alk, mag and cal. Keep in mind about the "balancing act" of these 3 trace elements. Once your cal starts to go up it affects the alk by going down. While the mag is like a mediator of the other the 2. Meaning if mag is low the other 2 will go hay wire.

Now if your current cal is already high and you just did a water change which has also a very high cal, guess what will happen to your alk? I would presume your original alk is already low when you have a very high cal in your tank. It will go down some more. As mentioned low alk is a haven for brown algae.

Suggestion: Take parameter of new saltwater and if alk is low adjust by adding baking soda prior to changing water.

 

[Swicicki]

I understand there is quite a bit of chemistry going on but if product A causes my tank to turn brown with algae, my corals to close and makes me starve the fish to death then I am buying product B

 

[TheTodd]

I bought a 200g box of Kent Reef and my 240g FOWLR got crazy algae, but the 35g holding tank I had a bunch if frags and a Rabbitfish in looks okay...no real change. It does leave a residue when mixing that I have not seen with other salts. This was my first time trying Kent and I'm moving on to other brands to see if I can find something I like better. I think I will probably go back with IO for the 240g and buy smaller tubs for the 60g reef until I find something that keeps things constant.

 

[Macscale]

I just recently tried kent and it has been the worst I've used so far. A ton of residue and I too had excessive algae growth when I started to use it.

IMO- Red Sea Coral Pro is the best. I've never really had any problems with it and it works flawlessly.

 

[Swicicki]

I've never had a problem with any salt but kent

 

[bkushy]

Well I guess that's it. I've been trying all kinds of solutions but never suspected the salt. Time to switch and see if the problem goes away.

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[PB_Smith]

Hmmm, good to know, I was going to buy a 200 gallon box next week.
Guess I'll continue shopping.