Reef Octopus salt review?

[nanomania]

Hey guys, has anyone used reef octopus salt? Is it good? Its really cheap, and reef octopus as we know is a very well known brand. Woukd like to know from someone who is using it.

Reef octopis salt:
Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.in/itm/252563644844

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I've not actually heard anything about it, nor do I recall seeing people report using it.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

It's on sale right now and I was also considering buying a bucket of it...i like that it's made from natural evaporated seawater with only added trace elements. One thing that's really important to me is the ability of the salt to mix fully. Has anyone else tried it so far?

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

It's on sale right now and I was also considering buying a bucket of it...i like that it's made from natural evaporated seawater with only added trace elements. One thing that's really important to me is the ability of the salt to mix fully. Has anyone else tried it so far?

Seems like the same idea as the old D-D mag pro +. If it is, I'd be interested.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Seems like the same idea as the old D-D mag pro +. If it is, I'd be interested.

I'm not sure what that price is... I'm in BKK so doubt you'd be able to take advantage of the sale though...

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

I'm not sure what that price is... I'm in BKK so doubt you'd be able to take advantage of the sale though...

I may look for this. I'm about out of salt and this mixes 9dkh, 420, 1330. They aren't afraid to make claims right on the front of the label in regards to parameters. I'm a fan of full disclosure.


Edit: short search. It doesn't look available anywhere in the states.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It's on sale right now and I was also considering buying a bucket of it...i like that it's made from natural evaporated seawater with only added trace elements. One thing that's really important to me is the ability of the salt to mix fully. Has anyone else tried it so far?

I hope that’s not all it is, because it won’t have enough alkalinity if it is. Calcium carbonate precipitates as seawater is evaporated.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I may look for this. I'm about out of salt and this mixes 9dkh, 420, 1330. They aren't afraid to make claims right on the front of the label I'm regards to parameters. I'm a fan of full disclosure.

Again, i love the fact that it's made from evaporated seawater (of course they added or raised levels of certain elements). Reef Octopus is a widely known and liked company so I'm not sure why their salt hasn't caught on.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I hope that’s not all it is, because it won’t have enough alkalinity if it is. Calcium carbonate precipitates as seawater is evaporated.

I know! The alk of natural seawater is far lower than the salt mix...I actually wrote a post the same time as you regarding that.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

I know! The alk of natural seawater is far lower than the salt mix...I actually wrote a post the same time as you regarding that.

The front of the box says 9dkh. Clearly they are adding alk.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

The front of the box says 9dkh. Clearly they are adding alk.

Yeah, for certain components they have to adjust to what we reefkeepers prefer...I'm not a fan of the very expensive Tropic Marin salt with a Dkh of only like 6 or 7 if I'm not mistaken. I haven't tried it but it makes no sense to pay a premium for salt especially if you don't want to maintain your parameters there.

 

[KrisReef]

This post started in 2017 and I still have not found that eBay add? IS it even still made?

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

This post started in 2017 and I still have not found that eBay add? IS it even still made?

It's still on their website and a quick Google search just showed shops selling it in Europe, Asia, and Canada...I'm sure you can find it in the USA

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

This post started in 2017 and I still have not found that eBay add? IS it even still made?

Lol. It's on the reef octopus website. I suspect it's an Asian or European market product. D-D salt is like this also. It's out there. You see and hear about it. You may have even bought it a few times. Don't go falling in love though. She won't stick around long.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

If you really want to find some, all you have to do is call Reef Octopus and find out who their distributor is.

 

[biom]

Again, i love the fact that it's made from evaporated seawater (of course they added or raised levels of certain elements). Reef Octopus is a widely known and liked company so I'm not sure why their salt hasn't caught on.

Almost only component which is used by companies producing salt for marine aquariums from evaporated sea water is (partly) unpurified sodium chloride. The concentrated brine that left after crystallization of sodium chloride is mixture of magnesium chloride/sulfate, potassium chloride and many others which is hard to separate so it is discarded (or used as road deicer).

The main advantage to use unpurified sodium chloride produced by evaporation is the bacteria and maybe some trace elements that left after crystallization.
But the biggest challenge for using unpurified sodium chloride produced by sea water evaporation (and reason why most of the companies do not using it) is the significant risk of potential pollution and the need of constant tests of the quality. I think Red Sea had this issue with elevated phosphate in the past.
That said I would only trust well know and well established producers if I go for salt produced from evaporated sea water. (at the moment I think it is only Red Sea)

P.S. By the way the bacteria that will left on salt crystals after crystallization has nothing in common with the typical bacteria composition in a coral reef. There are only few extremophilic bacteria that could thrive and reproduce in this relatively long process of evaporation in very high salinity and high temperature environment. But still there are much more bacteria in Red Sea salt than in other brands using purified rock sodium chloride.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Well, I decided to go ahead and try it out. It's certainly not a popular product they make but it doesn't have negative reviews either. If i were to guess, it's going to very similar to every other salt. The only thing I'm looking for is a salt that will mix completely without leaving any unmixed salt at the bottom. As for the pollutant concern, I'm unsure why you'd trust Red Sea more than them...people have had issues with Red Sea in the past so they're not perfect just like any other company in the industry. Tropic Marin released their absolutely terribly mismixed salt from their plant in Turkey to reefers all over the world and they're supposed to be the best of the best only using pharmaceutical grade ingredients which obviously must go through extremely stringent testing and screening before shipping it out. (Apparently they made a few mistakes as well.) Do I distrust them now? No, of course not. It was just an error. My point is that I don't know why you choose to put your faith in Red Sea (a company I love as well) and not take practically the same words said by both them and Reef Octopus on their sites regarding the screening of their salt for pollutants with the same weight.
Also, keep in mind that many aquaculture facilities such as Biota and others as well pump in water directly from the ocean. Many reefers use NSW straight from the ocean as well. While pollution is a concern, i think the magnitude of the concern can be minimized if the company values the quality of their products and Reef Octopus is a trusted and expensive producer of equipment so I don't think they'd risk jeopardizing their reputation by using evaporated salt from risky locations.

Almost only component which is used by companies producing salt for marine aquariums from evaporated sea water is (partly) unpurified sodium chloride. The concentrated brine that left after crystallization of sodium chloride is mixture of magnesium chloride/sulfate, potassium chloride and many others which is hard to separate so it is discarded (or used as road deicer).

The main advantage to use unpurified sodium chloride produced by evaporation is the bacteria and maybe some trace elements that left after crystallization.
But the biggest challenge for using unpurified sodium chloride produced by sea water evaporation (and reason why most of the companies do not using it) is the significant risk of potential pollution and the need of constant tests of the quality. I think Red Sea had this issue with elevated phosphate in the past.
That said I would only trust well know and well established producers if I go for salt produced from evaporated sea water. (at the moment I think it is only Red Sea)

P.S. By the way the bacteria that will left on salt crystals after crystallization has nothing in common with the typical bacteria composition in a coral reef. There are only few extremophilic bacteria that could thrive and reproduce in this relatively long process of evaporation in very high salinity and high temperature environment. But still there are much more bacteria in Red Sea salt than in other brands using purified rock sodium chloride.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

In all honesty, I like taking a couple liters of water from the reefs surrounding the islands when I visit them to bring back and add to my nanos...I know there's always the risk of introducing pathogens or parasites but I don't do it very frequently and believe the bacterioplankton diversity in the water surrounding absolutely beautiful reefs can't hurt.

 

[biom]

My point is that I don't know why you choose to put your faith in Red Sea (a company I love as well) and not take practically the same words said by both them and Reef Octopus on their sites regarding the screening of their salt for pollutants with the same weight.

Because Red Sea are producing salt and chemical additives for reef hobby from decades, their salts are one of the most used in this hobby and personally I am using their salt from many years with no big issues.
Why to put my faith in Reef Octopus? All I know of them is they are producing skimmers and have zero company tradition / experience in reef chemistry.

But I see you already have very strong opinion on this. Best of luck of using it, it is your tank. Keep us informed about the results.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Because Red Sea are producing salt and chemical additives for reef hobby from decades, their salts are one of the most used in this hobby and personally I am using their salt from many years with no big issues.
Why to put my faith in Reef Octopus? All I know of them is they are producing skimmers and have zero company tradition / experience in reef chemistry.

But I see you already have very strong opinion on this. Best of luck of using it, it is your tank. Keep us informed about the results.

I was trying to say that I have no reason to believe one is better than the other. That's the point I meant to get across at least. There are whole threads dedicated to people having issues with Red Sea salt even though that hasn't and hopefully doesn't happen to you. If i had some allegiance or favoritism towards Reef Octopus I wouldn't have revived this old post for opinions. I very simply wanted to try a different salt and since this one just happened to be on sale at the moment and there are no guarantees any salt will be perfect, why wouldn't I try this one?
Thanks for the good luck wishes, however, I doubt there will be many interesting results to inform people of since it's just a different brand of salt.