Replacement salt for Tropic Marin Pro Reef

[york1]

According to the tropic marine person on R2R the demand has sky rocketed and they are ramping up production. So this shortage should not last much longer

 

[wantsummora acropora]

I ran my tank for 7 years with plain old IO. LOL, I am absolutely sure all the bad stuff stays in the mixing barrel. Seriously, I would have no problem using it in a pinch or fill a new tank. The biggest reason I switched to TM Pro was the 7.0 alk it mixes to. It gives me more opportunity to dose Kalk to improve ph. The clean mixing barrel was a bonus.

A lot of the problems people have with salts are caused by mixing errors, not the salts themselves. These errors usually result in some precipitation of the elements and then you end up with parameters being off.

Also, if you do 5-10% water changes your tank will not notice the difference if you use a different salt. For example, If your Mg is 1350 in your tank and you do a 10% water change with salt at 1400, the resulting Mg would be 1355. The difference is way below what most test kits can detect. And your tank will not know the difference. I understand our stickiness to particular salt brands. I plan to continue using TM Pro. But I worry that discussions like these create unnecessary fears for less experienced reefers. Any of the long term brands will be suitable. It is more about what parameters the salt mixes to and where you want to run your tank. If I could save $400 dollars by using IO to fill my tank, that would be an easy decision. Or, if I wanted to spend my money more on corals or fish than salt, I would have no problem using IO.

Man, I've got so many learning curves I think I'm chasing my tail in a circle. But I remember a certain youtuber saying bad salt (from IO i think) is what caused his tank to crash. Once a product gets a wrap like that, I stay away from it. I have enough problems to deal with.

 

[wantsummora acropora]

According to the tropic marine person on R2R the demand has sky rocketed and they are ramping up production. So this shortage should not last much longer

Thank you for that info. It's good to hear.

 

[gainesvillereef]

Man, I've got so many learning curves I think I'm chasing my tail in a circle. But I remember a certain youtuber saying bad salt (from IO i think) is what caused his tank to crash. Once a product gets a wrap like that, I stay away from it. I have enough problems to deal with.

If IO ever had a bad batch they would have gone out of business. It is the most widely used salt on the market. Salt tends to be the scapegoat when bad things happen that the cause is not immediately obvious. It took me almost 2 years to figure out why my tank crashed. It definitely was not the salt. Randy Holmes Farley has always use IO. He and others, including myself, have analyzed with ICP and found no issues. IMO, the only issue it has is it leaves the mixing container dirtier than others. It is by far not the worst salt for doing this.

Another thing to learn in this hobby is that not everything you see posted on youtube or reef2reef is true. I have witnessed many of the hobby internet influencers make patently incorrect claims and statements too many times to count. I am talking about people like Ryan at BRS, Reef Builders, Reef Dudes, Melev's Reef, and Mr. SaltwaterTank. Mr. SaltwaterTank and BRS were 2 of my biggest resources 8 yrs ago when I was starting. But as I became more experienced I soon realized that I should not accept everything they say as being correct. It's not malicious it's just that these people spend all their time making videos and hawking products and very little time reefing or researching. There are also many that have had tanks for six months and consider themselves experts. Also, things get dated. 8 years ago, if you told me that I would be buying nitrate and phosphate to dose my tank with, I would have said you are crazy. A lot of this game is being patient and letting nature do its work. It is simpler than these "influencers" want to make it. You don't need to stress over what salt to use.

In July I will be entering my 9th year and this hobby still can kick my butt when it wants to. But every butt-kicking is a lesson. And, I love learning.

Enjoy your tank.

 

[90gDreams]

If IO ever had a bad batch they would have gone out of business. It is the most widely used salt on the market. Salt tends to be the scapegoat when bad things happen that the cause is not immediately obvious. It took me almost 2 years to figure out why my tank crashed. It definitely was not the salt. Randy Holmes Farley has always use IO. He and others, including myself, have analyzed with ICP and found no issues. IMO, the only issue it has is it leaves the mixing container dirtier than others. It is by far not the worst salt for doing this.

Another thing to learn in this hobby is that not everything you see posted on youtube or reef2reef is true. I have witnessed many of the hobby internet influencers make patently incorrect claims and statements too many times to count. I am talking about people like Ryan at BRS, Reef Builders, Reef Dudes, Melev's Reef, and Mr. SaltwaterTank. Mr. SaltwaterTank and BRS were 2 of my biggest resources 8 yrs ago when I was starting. But as I became more experienced I soon realized that I should not accept everything they say as being correct. It's not malicious it's just that these people spend all their time making videos and hawking products and very little time reefing or researching. There are also many that have had tanks for six months and consider themselves experts. Also, things get dated. 8 years ago, if you told me that I would be buying nitrate and phosphate to dose my tank with, I would have said you are crazy. A lot of this game is being patient and letting nature do its work. It is simpler than these "influencers" want to make it. You don't need to stress over what salt to use.

In July I will be entering my 9th year and this hobby still can kick my butt when it wants to. But every butt-kicking is a lesson. And, I love learning.

Enjoy your tank.

The only thing I could add to that absolutely awesome post is don't get caught up in the little stuff until it matters. A quality light, some AC powerheads, a heater and biweekly water changes will tank you a very long way. Things required for a nice mixed reef and a Instagramable? TOTM Acro tank are incredibly different..

This was my old reef back 2010ish. Absolute shoestring college kid budget and was torn down and moved every year as I bounced around the metro and florida. Had quality bulbs, quality ballasts, bargain basement halide pendants, homemade sump, couple of cheap powerheads. About as complicated as it got was running two thermometers for redundancy. Was pretty much on cruise control with biweekly 20g water changes, never dosed anything.

 

[Adam]

If IO ever had a bad batch they would have gone out of business. It is the most widely used salt on the market. Salt tends to be the scapegoat when bad things happen that the cause is not immediately obvious. It took me almost 2 years to figure out why my tank crashed. It definitely was not the salt. Randy Holmes Farley has always use IO. He and others, including myself, have analyzed with ICP and found no issues. IMO, the only issue it has is it leaves the mixing container dirtier than others. It is by far not the worst salt for doing this.

Another thing to learn in this hobby is that not everything you see posted on youtube or reef2reef is true. I have witnessed many of the hobby internet influencers make patently incorrect claims and statements too many times to count. I am talking about people like Ryan at BRS, Reef Builders, Reef Dudes, Melev's Reef, and Mr. SaltwaterTank. Mr. SaltwaterTank and BRS were 2 of my biggest resources 8 yrs ago when I was starting. But as I became more experienced I soon realized that I should not accept everything they say as being correct. It's not malicious it's just that these people spend all their time making videos and hawking products and very little time reefing or researching. There are also many that have had tanks for six months and consider themselves experts. Also, things get dated. 8 years ago, if you told me that I would be buying nitrate and phosphate to dose my tank with, I would have said you are crazy. A lot of this game is being patient and letting nature do its work. It is simpler than these "influencers" want to make it. You don't need to stress over what salt to use.

In July I will be entering my 9th year and this hobby still can kick my butt when it wants to. But every butt-kicking is a lesson. And, I love learning.

Enjoy your tank.

The only thing I could add to that absolutely awesome post is don't get caught up in the little stuff until it matters. A quality light, some AC powerheads, a heater and biweekly water changes will tank you a very long way. Things required for a nice mixed reef and a Instagramable? TOTM Acro tank are incredibly different..

This was my old reef back 2010ish. Absolute shoestring college kid budget and was torn down and moved every year as I bounced around the metro and florida. Had quality bulbs, quality ballasts, bargain basement halide pendants, homemade sump, couple of cheap powerheads. About as complicated as it got was running two thermometers for redundancy. Was pretty much on cruise control with biweekly 20g water changes, never dosed anything.

I'd have to say I agree wholeheartedly with these posts. IO is the salt most public aquariums across the country use. For me switching had nothing to do with any residue in the mixing container, that was minimal for me as I've always added the salt slowly. It mainly had to do with the elevated lithium it and RC both have, along with the high alk. I'm willing to pay a little more for a salt that doesn't have the excess lithium with alk & cal very close to where I keep my system. Those are the main things I look at. Once you start having to dose, and more importantly, using a CARX, a 15-20% water change starts having an effect on your parameters over time. Yes it's small per actual change, but after 4, 5, 6 changes you find yourself constantly needing to make corrections. Stability is key. Use whatever salt you like that keeps the system stable at a price point you're comfortable with. Then stick with it.

 

[Steve Burton]

I've always felt perfectly fine about using Instant Ocean, but hearing that "Randy Holmes Farley has always used IO." is a great supporting argument, I didn't know that. Seems to me that a lot of people with big tanks and people who change a lot of water are much more likely to use it also.

 

[wantsummora acropora]

If IO ever had a bad batch they would have gone out of business. It is the most widely used salt on the market. Salt tends to be the scapegoat when bad things happen that the cause is not immediately obvious. It took me almost 2 years to figure out why my tank crashed. It definitely was not the salt. Randy Holmes Farley has always use IO. He and others, including myself, have analyzed with ICP and found no issues. IMO, the only issue it has is it leaves the mixing container dirtier than others. It is by far not the worst salt for doing this.

Another thing to learn in this hobby is that not everything you see posted on youtube or reef2reef is true. I have witnessed many of the hobby internet influencers make patently incorrect claims and statements too many times to count. I am talking about people like Ryan at BRS, Reef Builders, Reef Dudes, Melev's Reef, and Mr. SaltwaterTank. Mr. SaltwaterTank and BRS were 2 of my biggest resources 8 yrs ago when I was starting. But as I became more experienced I soon realized that I should not accept everything they say as being correct. It's not malicious it's just that these people spend all their time making videos and hawking products and very little time reefing or researching. There are also many that have had tanks for six months and consider themselves experts. Also, things get dated. 8 years ago, if you told me that I would be buying nitrate and phosphate to dose my tank with, I would have said you are crazy. A lot of this game is being patient and letting nature do its work. It is simpler than these "influencers" want to make it. You don't need to stress over what salt to use.

In July I will be entering my 9th year and this hobby still can kick my butt when it wants to. But every butt-kicking is a lesson. And, I love learning.

Enjoy your tank.

All I'm saying is...dude got a whole pallet of salt as a result. Read into that what you will. I believe at the time there were others saying the same thing about the same brand re a bad batch of salt. I don't think that IO would go out of business. Not everybody are on forums, not everybody would have gotten that particular batch. etc., etc. But I know what you mean about youtube; If you are passively advertising or actively advertising then I look at you with a side eye. I pretty much stay in this local club with people I can trust, R2R or with regular joe you-tubers not trying to sell me something. But your statement brings to mind 2 you-tubers: CJ's Aquarium, who never quarantined anything, had issues all the time, killed coral and fish like they were pests to be eradicated but still pumped out youtube videos. If you dared to say anything the least bit critical he would ban you from his channel. And EatSleepReef who in one of his videos made excuses about why he didn't quarantine and just as he was speaking about it (the camera was on his tank) suddenly you see this acro eating flatworm crawling on his glass. I watched CJ's Aq. because I need to learn patience and the consequences if you cut corners and ESR because he had a great looking mixed reef I wanted to emulate. I still do, but I am learning from his mistakes too.