RE: Salt Brands

[Randy1]

I just tried the salt Tropic Marin on my last water change. My calcium fell to 350ppm. and alkalinity also took a dive. I mixed some fresh salt water using Tropic Marin and tested the calcium and Alk. and they were not even close to where should be. Up till now I've been using Reef Crystals with great results but my local store says Tropic Marin has more Trace elements and is an overall better salt. I'm going back out to buy my reef crystals.

[BubbaWPB]

http://saltaquarium.about.com/gi/dyn.../1/default.asp

this site has a comparison of salt mixes

[My2heartboys]

http://saltaquarium.about.com/gi/dyn.../1/default.asp

this site has a comparison of salt mixes

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It seems that all of them have their strong points as well as their weak points. I wonder if that means we could take a cup of each of them and then come up with the perfect salt mix.

Anne

[Steven Pro]

As I recall, the Bingman study is 5 years old or longer. While very interesting in its day, it is unlikely that it is representative of brands out now.

[BubbaWPB]

I've got a source of NSW... goodness only knows what's in it!

[Randy1]

I seem to have a lot less need for additives when using reef Chrystal's at least at this point.

[chrisbrph]

In the past I was a Reef Crystal Fan and attempted to switch to Tropic Marin- at the time fish began showing signs of irritation (flicking) and Ca and Alk were not the easiest to maintain. I was told to keep in mind that Tropic Marin at the time was the closest to NSW that was available. I switched back to the Reef Crystals and was happy again......UNTIL 3 months ago- something has changed with the new bucket of RC that I opened. Ca and Alk went haywire- LFS mentioned that they had changed recently due to new issues with RC.

Final thought- 2 months ago I switched to TROPIC MARIN REEF PRO- wow this is what I was hoping for- stable ALK- Ca still needed more often but if I allow my corals to judge (many over 10 years old)- I have never seen such extension and polyp/xenia growth in years..... almost like they added steroids to the salt.... Just an opinion and option...... REEF PRO IS THE KEY- MORE EXPENSIVE BUT MUCH BETTER IN A TRUE REEF THAN THE ORIGINAL TROPIC MARIN.....

[Randy1]

I recently tested a new batch of Topic Marin Pro Reef and found many levels to be low. Alk. was 2.0 meq./L and Cal. was only 350. LFS said Reef Crystals use a chelating process to get the salt to hold more calcium thus reaching the so called magic number(s). The problem is that this chelating process interferes with the corals ability to use this calcium, you have optimum readings but less usable calcium in your tank. Tropic Marin doesn't use this process has lower readings of calcium but supposable better usability.