Talked to Aquarium systems again today. After venting on the flunky that I talked to yesterday, the Supervisor, Bob, was a little easier to deal with. What it boils down to is they tested my salt at:
32 ppt
366 ppm CA
3.25 ALK
They said this would correlate to around 400 ppm CA and 3.5 ALK at a SG of 1.025. These are totaly dofferent than the readings I got. I want to tell you, I gave Bob the third degree, they do not use a hobbiest level test kit to test there salt (I knew this, but still used it as a point of contention), they use a lab grade Hach test kit for CA and the Fastest kit for ALK. He would not admit to me that the salt was bad, that was very important to him. He did however agree to replace my salt, send me a CA kit, ALK kit, and some CA and ALK standards to compare my current kits too. All in all I am satisfied, if not pleased, with the ooutcome. Sometimes though, you gotta ba a real b@!!buster to get satisfaction
I did learn something interesting from Bob, when I questioned him about MAG levels in IO, he told me it should mix up at about 1300 ppm at 1.025 SG, but that the mag is not very important. He said he has purposely mixed salt with 1/2 the MAG content and the same CA and Carbonates, tested and the readings were the same as a new bag of IO, with the exception of a low Mag level. He further stated that he let the S/W sit for a couple of weeks and tested again, and got the same results as the first time. I certainly would like feedback on this point. I wouldn't personally expect any difference in readings, without the biological impact of the critters in our tanks.
