Does anyone use Tropic Marin Pro sea salt?

enzo · Dec 24, 2016

This is hard to find in my area im located in Wilmington Ma. Long ago I had one lfs that carried Tropic Marin but they sold the store and no one else carries it. Is this because there not as good, to expensive, or something else. I had great success when I used them many years ago, I'm just getting back into the hobby and it's been 9 months now and I'd like to use Tropic Marin Pro. For now I'm used AquaForest and I'm not liking it.

Reefcowboy · Dec 24, 2016

Ive used Coral Pro, ESV and switched to Tropic Marin Pro a year or so ago, and I cant say enough good things about it.
I run an sps only tank and definitelly can tell the salt quality by how they mix and the coral reactions while doing a WC.

ESV is thought to be an excellent salt and while I run ESV Alk, Ca and Mg, thought would be good chemistry to also run their salt. Corals always slimed a bit after a water change. Coral Pro kept me getting red slime and the very high Alk(12.00 dkh) pushed me away.

TMP isnt cheap, but mixes clear, and has been very consistent throughout the batches to my tank. I change the water and corals keep polyps always out, never sliming or reacting while having great coloration during the months ive used it.

Im not bashing the other salts Ive used, im sure others have had success with it, but TMP will be keeping my money for years to come.

Elementalj · Dec 24, 2016

I love the stuff! It never cakes up, mixes evenly and quickly. Stores easily with little circulation and the alkalinity is spot on for what I'm doing.

FFFishy · Dec 24, 2016

I started out with RS Coral Pro. I was new to the hobby and knew very little about water chemistry. As I learned, and as I decided what I would use as 'proper levels' for Alk, Calc, Mag, I switched to Tropic Marin Pro. I've used it for approx 18 months. Very consistent parameters. Easy to mix. Mixes clear. It is a bit hard to find locally. I've got one LFS (40 minute one-way drive) that usually has it. Lately, I've been ordering it from Marine Depot --- free shipping, lower cost, delivered to my door. Of course, the UPS guy hates me.

Bdog4u2 · Dec 24, 2016

I used it awhile back it was the one with a carbon source added to it but one of my tanks got dinos and it loved tropic marin salt and it went away when switched to reef crystals but I loved the way it mixed so clear

Garrett W. · Dec 24, 2016

I have been using the aquavitro salinity salt for a while and am really loving the batched mixes. it does take a few hours to mix to ensure there isnt any cloudiness but since i dont have a high demand system at the moment it ensures that i dont have to do any crazy extra dosing throughout the week.

dieselkeeper · Dec 24, 2016

I use to use it a couple of years ago. I lost some SPS colonies due to their low Alk. I didn't like having to adjust for 5 dkh

Rick.45cal · Dec 24, 2016

Elementalj said:
I love the stuff! It never cakes up, mixes evenly and quickly. Stores easily with little circulation and the alkalinity is spot on for what I'm doing.

What parameters does your's consistently mix up to? Do you test Alk for every batch of saltwater that you make? (I test Mg, Ca, Alk for all NSW I mix). I've been browsing salt mixes and always looking for options.

Elementalj · Dec 24, 2016

Rick.45cal said:
What parameters does your's consistently mix up to? Do you test Alk for every batch of saltwater that you make? (I test Mg, Ca, Alk for all NSW I mix). I've been browsing salt mixes and always looking for options.

With both the boxes I've used I've gotten a consistent 7dKh.

Elementalj · Dec 24, 2016

I was using reef crystals and always was ending up with crazy high alkalinity and low ca

burtbollinger · Dec 24, 2016

I used it for years but with my new tank im avoiding it...Alk was way too low for my uses. I'm going to the opposite end of the spectrum and using Red Sea Coral Pro this time.

Elementalj · Dec 24, 2016

burtbollinger said:
I used it for years but with my new tank im avoiding it...Alk was way too low for my uses. I'm going to the opposite end of the spectrum and using Red Sea Coral Pro this time.

What are you keeping in the new system?

Rick.45cal · Dec 24, 2016

That's pretty close to what I am looking for. I'm looking for 7.5 dKH ideally. I've got a few buckets of NeoMarine that say they mix up at that, but I haven't tried them yet.

I bought some IO while it was on sale on Black friday because I wanted a salt with lower Mg levels so I could load it with Kent tech M (not that my bryopsis cares about it.). It's alkalinity consistently mixes up at 10.64 dKH (I've mixed 240 gallons so far in two batches). I had to burn the excess off with HCl (not a big deal, but I would rather not have to do that on a regular basis).

I had been using Red Sea Blue bucket, but it's a little higher on the alk than Ideally want and tends to be consistently low in Mg. Not a big deal but it would be nice to find one that was consistently close to what I am looking for. That way I can mix 100-125gallon batches,test and not have to make major adjustments. I'm getting ready to set up constant automatic waterchanges to the display tank, so in the spirit of simplification, I'd like to find a salt that I can mostly be happy with the parameters.

I think in part because of this thread I have it narrowed down to NeoMarine and now Tropic Marin Pro. I think next salt purchase I will give the Tropic Marin a try. I have 3 buckets of NeoMarine to get through after 3 boxes of IO... I could let the tank decide.... I'll let you know in roughly 99 weeks what the tank decides it likes the best between the three.

Elementalj · Dec 24, 2016

Rick.45cal said:
That's pretty close to what I am looking for. I'm looking for 7.5 dKH ideally. I've got a few buckets of NeoMarine that say they mix up at that, but I haven't tried them yet.

I bought some IO while it was on sale on Black friday because I wanted a salt with lower Mg levels so I could load it with Kent tech M (not that my bryopsis cares about it.). It's alkalinity consistently mixes up at 10.64 dKH (I've mixed 240 gallons so far in two batches). I had to burn the excess off with HCl (not a big deal, but I would rather not have to do that on a regular basis).

I had been using Red Sea Blue bucket, but it's a little higher on the alk than Ideally want and tends to be consistently low in Mg. Not a big deal but it would be nice to find one that was consistently close to what I am looking for. That way I can mix 100-125gallon batches,test and not have to make major adjustments. I'm getting ready to set up constant automatic waterchanges to the display tank, so in the spirit of simplification, I'd like to find a salt that I can mostly be happy with the parameters.

I think in part because of this thread I have it narrowed down to NeoMarine and now Tropic Marin Pro. I think next salt purchase I will give the Tropic Marin a try. I have 3 buckets of NeoMarine to get through after 3 boxes of IO... I could let the tank decide.... I'll let you know in roughly 99 weeks what the tank decides it likes the best between the three.

Rick, I had consistent issues with bryopsis when I was using reef crystals. It could be because of many factors, but once I switched 5 months ago I haven't had much issue.

I'll test and take a pic of my results and post once I'm done with the dishes! ;-)

Elementalj · Dec 25, 2016

Thought I'd share results, sorry I'm so late. I got tied up [emoji6]
This is my preparation for tomorrow's water change

Here's the Hanna checker in ppm
The value is multiplied by .056 to give me the final

Second test was with salifert with an expiration of

The reading on the syringe is .50

These are the values for this salt

Mixed with RODI with a tds of zero.

Happy reefing! emoji41]