Leaving Red Sea Salt

[Butuz]

Time for a Parrot fish

LOL

 

[DesertReefT4r]

I did not have any problem using Red Sea blue bucket, decent salt imo. Pro Reef was too high in alk for me. I like Fritz and HW salts personally.

 

[Peace River]

Hello, Reefers!

I have been using Red Sea Salt for 6 months now coming from Reef Crystals. Why I left Reef Crystals was due to the high ALK and trying to keep my tank stable when doing water changes.

Since I started using Red Sea Salt many of my corals have been declining and I got an outbreak of red slime algae. Could the coral declining be the issue of Red Sea? Maybe or maybe not. Could the red slime be because of it? Maybe or maybe not but I did some research and found people that start Red Sea salt seem to have red slime outbreaks.

I was speaking on the phone with a CEO of another salt manufacture. He enlightened me on Red Seas salt harvesting process. He said it's the worst and cheapest way to get salt. It's left out in the desert for months and who knows what contaminants get into the salt. Also, the salt is made for many other things and Red Sea purchases it from them Dirt Cheap. Then turns around and charges a premium. In his opinion, it's one of the worst salts and they are just good at marketing. Now as he sells other salts I was a bit skeptical.

After I did some DD. I found where they manufacture the salt. It's near the red sea and it's left to dry out. It's also subcontracted and Red Sea buys let's say leftovers. After looking into this it seems he's right. I will be discontinuing using Red Sea Salt.

This is not to bash Red Sea salt or say it's bad salt. I'm just looking to go another route.

I keep my alk around 8-8.5 and my calc around 400. Do you think Tropic Marin Pro Reef Salt would be a good one to get? If I do the non-pro then the alk is 9-10 but the non pro is in the 7 so I guess its what way I want my alk to swing? Do I just buffer it before the change or do the change and then adjust?

Thanks

Some salts are mined from the ground and some are evaporated from saltwater (also referred to as solar salt). The comment about Red Sea being the "worst" and "left out in the desert for months and who knows what contaminants get into the salt" is one perspective. In contrast, the mined salt has been in the ground for up to thousands of years and one could say 'who knows what dinosaur poop is in it". Both of these statements (and yes, I have heard both directly from aquarium salt vendors) are part of, IMHO, unfortunate sales pitches.

I recommend that anyone interested in this discussion watch the BRS video "Which salt mix is best for my tank?", check out the related recent R2R thread here, and watch the follow up videos on salt at BRS TV for some helpful thoughts on the topic.

 

[Neo Jeo]

Some salts are mined from the ground and some are evaporated from saltwater (also referred to as solar salt). The comment about Red Sea being the "worst" and "left out in the desert for months and who knows what contaminants get into the salt" is one perspective. In contrast, the mined salt has been in the ground for up to thousands of years and one could say 'who knows what dinosaur poop is in it". Both of these statements (and yes, I have heard both directly from aquarium salt vendors) are part of, IMHO, unfortunate sales pitches.

I recommend that anyone interested in this discussion watch the BRS video "Which salt mix is best for my tank?", check out the related recent R2R thread here, and watch the follow up videos on salt at BRS TV for some helpful thoughts on the topic.

Thanks for sharing the link. We really got on topic about who’s poop is in our salt lol! Now we’re onto dinosaur poop

 

[Zuma]

Fritz =

 

[CeeGee]

I had the exact same experience. Went from IO to blue bucket. Corals started to die and cyano took over. Switched to the new Live Aquaria salt doing large water changes and my tank has never looked better. Highly recommend the Live Aquaria salt.

 

[FishDoc]

Fritz blue box for the win. I like most Red Sea products but the salts overacted in my opinion...

 

[Newstead]

Totally different experience with Red Sea. Used IO for years, when I went back to 2 small tanks, switched to Red Sea blue bucket and my corals have exploded. All I dose is alk and calcium to replace what the high coral growth uses between water changes.

 

[DAR JOE]

I started used reef Crystal's and it was horrible all was so low. Red sea salt has the highest levels. You need to mix for at least 2hrs then do the water change if u wait any longer than 2hrs the levels decrease. There is a article about it online I can't find it right now

 

[Dr.Xipoles]

I know of the ceo who bashed red sea. He also thinks icp and triton testing is quite flawed. Tbh, the points he make and the evidence he uses to back up his claims are quite compelling and doesnt seem biased as he advises going for pharma grade salts such as tropic marin, hw reefer, and some others including his own. That being said, i dont use his salt. I use hw marinemix reefer for the sps tank and IO for the frag tank. I used to use reef crystals but hated the time it took to mix and the clarity of the water. You can see what i mean about clarity in that brstv episode on the different salts passed through the sediment filter.

 

[golver1]

My mixing containers are full of yellow crap at the bottom after using red sea...

I've never seen it, but your the second person I have heard who has had this happen.

 

[Neo Jeo]

I've never seen it, but your the second person I have heard who has had this happen.

It's like a yellow hard crusted film. If I knock it up its like hard chunks. I thought it was normal.

 

[CALI2949]

I'VE BEEN USING LIVE AQUARIA SALT MIX FOR OVER A YEAR NOW WITH NO ISSUES AND THE PRICE IS REASONABLE.

 

[Lou Ekus]

just saying

Hi siggy....can you tell me where this picture is from?

 

[siggy]

I'VE BEEN USING LIVE AQUARIA SALT MIX FOR OVER A YEAR NOW WITH NO ISSUES AND THE PRICE IS REASONABLE.

Been thinking of trying it

 

[siggy]

Hi siggy....can you tell me where this picture is from?

A large LFS in my area...guessing over 10K gallons in his systems, he was not selling it BTW. PM if you need more

 

[WVNed]

I am going to use Red Sea for the Ned Sea.

Why, because it rhymes of course.

I used some RC with some TM to do my water change yesterday. A mushroom cloud formed when I mixed them but everything went OK after that.

 

[siggy]

https://www.aquariumspecialty.com/quantum-usa-sps-reef-macro-probiotic-salt.html

Has anyone tried this?

QUANTUM USA SPS REEF MACRO PROBIOTIC SALT

This salt contains natural macrobiotics, probiotics as well as vitamin precursors which help to improve mineral content, promote beneficial bacteria growth & enhance fish vitality.
The foundation of this salt is sodium chloride which is sourced from the pristine natural seawater located in South Australia.
Natural seawater contains over 70 elements and provides the sodium chloride for our SPS Macro Probiotic along with our FOWLR Macro Probiotic, LPS Macro Probiotic & Mixed Macro Probiotic Salts.
After years of scientific research as well as enthusiast feedback, we have tweaked both element & compound concentrations to provide you with a salt that is optimized to help enhance fish health & vitality in SPS Reef environments.

 

[Neo Jeo]

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/vide...your-salt-mix-really-cost-brstv-investigates/

Good Vid!

 

[golver1]

It's like a yellow hard crusted film. If I knock it up its like hard chunks. I thought it was normal.

I supposed this could be caused by conditions other than the poor quality salt.
- Metals (high iron) in the water reacting to the salt.
- Salt that is old or exposed to moisture.
- Vitamins or additives added to salt by manufacturer at to high a ratio.
- Tainted salt mix. Some additives turn water yellow when dosing, perhaps the salt was exposed.