Tropic Marin Pro Reef, bye bye

NashobaTek · Feb 27, 2021

IO since it first came out. What I do to get it mixed and disolved from the get go is use warm or hot water for the initial couple of gallons and then and cold or cool water to bring it to tank temp. No cloudy water and never any residue.

NashobaTek · Feb 27, 2021

IO since it first came out. What I do to get it mixed and disolved from the get go is use warm or hot water for the initial couple of gallons and then and cold or cool water to bring it to tank temp. No cloudy water and never any residue.

AJsReef · Feb 27, 2021

Red Sea blue bucket is very close in parameters and doesn’t foul mixing containers much, cheaper as well... That said I’m not moving away from TM pro anytime soon, kind of annoying to have to maintain a back stock but oh well.

Reef. · Feb 27, 2021

AJsReef said:
Red Sea blue bucket is very close in parameters and doesn’t foul mixing containers much, cheaper as well... That said I’m not moving away from TM pro anytime soon, kind of annoying to have to maintain a back stock but oh well.

Maybe not much compared to other salts but when I used Red Sea blue bucket there was definitely a brown residue left, not noticeable on mixing a single bucket but over time definitely noticeable.

thewedge · Feb 27, 2021

Several years ago I switched to TMP on the advice of my lfs because I was having problems with a goniopora. At the time the guy said they see better results with that because it has more manganese which apparently was needed for the goniopora. YMMV
A year or two later the lfs went out of business so I started ordering my salt from BRS and switched to HW Marinemix. I found that salt to be comparable in quality. Both mixed up pretty quickly and left much less gunk behind then Instant Ocean did. I also found that the alk level in the HW seemed to be optimal for my system. I mix it to about 9.2. I had periods where I tried to raise my alk as an experiment but my corals never liked it when I went much above 10.

jaganshi066 · Feb 27, 2021

Reef. said:
Maybe not much compared to other salts but when I used Red Sea blue bucket there was definitely a brown residue left, not noticeable on mixing a single bucket but over time definitely noticeable.

Same

Devaji · Feb 27, 2021

NashobaTek said:
IO since it first came out. What I do to get it mixed and disolved from the get go is use warm or hot water for the initial couple of gallons and then and cold or cool water to bring it to tank temp. No cloudy water and never any residue.

does it still take you 24Hr to mix it? I am a IO/RC user to thought about TMP for a day but nah to rich for my blood. but one thing I dont like about it, it does take a long time to be able to use. I am mixing a bucket now as I had to move the nano did a deep clean and ended up with 3 gal short. that is where salt mix that mixes faster does come into play.

NashobaTek · Feb 27, 2021

Devaji said:
does it still take you 24Hr to mix it? I am a IO/RC user to thought about TMP for a day but nah to rich for my blood. but one thing I dont like about it, it does take a long time to be able to use. I am mixing a bucket now as I had to move the nano did a deep clean and ended up with 3 gal short. that is where salt mix that mixes faster does come into play.

Not any more since I started using hot water to desolve the salt initially and then add in the cold water to get it to tank temp. Takes maybe 30 minutes now. Usually by the time I get the second bucket ready the first is done and clear.

Uncle99 · Feb 27, 2021

ReefBeta said:
For the primary part, it's that it mix up the cleanest, and fast (within couple hours). I have a water mixing station. It makes a big difference on how filth it gets after couple cycle.

Also it's not that more expensive. Cost per gallon of water made is like within 10% difference between most salt beside instant ocean.

Maybe in the US, but I can read price tags.
IO $49
FR $69
RS $90
TMP $180.

So it mixes clean and fast?

I would not pay twice RS, ever, makes no sense, salt will only ever be salt.

There not the only salt manufacture that can do that, but the marketing, very well done.....

Reef. · Feb 27, 2021

Uncle99 said:
Maybe in the US, but I can read price tags.
IO $49
FR $69
RS $90
TMP $180.

So it mixes clean and fast?

I would not pay twice RS, ever, makes no sense, salt will only ever be salt.

There not the only salt manufacture that can do that, but the marketing, very well done.....

if those are standard prices then I can see why so many strong opinions on salt, in the UK most salts are within £15 of each other.

jaganshi066 · Feb 27, 2021

Reef. said:
if those are standard prices then I can see why so many strong opinions on salt, in the UK most salts are within £15 of each other.

I don’t think tmp is $180, last time I saw it was about $100

Kfactor · Feb 27, 2021

I switched from blue bucket to tmp and my tank did no better but I really like how it mixes and now I’m doing awc and like how it’s holds . We’re I live it’s hard to find any good salt every one carries io or Aqua forest and I don’t want to use ether so I’m stuck ordering anyway and here in Canada shipping sucks on a pail of salt it cost around 50 to ship so I paid close to 180 for the tmp salt and if I get blue bucket it’s 140 with shipping lol

SteveMM62Reef · Feb 27, 2021

I’ve been using Reef Crystals for years now, and don’t have a problem with it. I order the 200 gallon box from Walmart, gets delivered to my door, with no shipping fees. There are 40 gallon bags in the box, I tumble the bag by hand before opening it. Typically I mix 14 to 16 gallons of salt at a time. Dump the RO/DI water in a 30 gallon brute container, on top of the saltwater left over from a water change. Estimate how much Salt and add It at once. I do use a pump to circulate, and I have a heater in the container. Next day I adjust it to 34ppt.

ReefBeta · Feb 27, 2021

Uncle99 said:
Maybe in the US, but I can read price tags.
IO $49
FR $69
RS $90
TMP $180.

So it mixes clean and fast?

I would not pay twice RS, ever, makes no sense, salt will only ever be salt.

There not the only salt manufacture that can do that, but the marketing, very well done.....

Well, TMP on BRS is $99. If it were $180, I would not use it at all. My LFS is selling them for $114, even that sounds a bit high, so I usually wait for BRS to restock then buy half a year worth of supply.

Sleeping Giant · Feb 27, 2021

Devaji said:
does it still take you 24Hr to mix it? I am a IO/RC user to thought about TMP for a day but nah to rich for my blood. but one thing I dont like about it, it does take a long time to be able to use. I am mixing a bucket now as I had to move the nano did a deep clean and ended up with 3 gal short. that is where salt mix that mixes faster does come into play.

I always mix an extra bucket for that reason or if I need to use extra water for something I didn't plan for.

Devaji · Feb 27, 2021

Sleeping Giant said:
I always mix an extra bucket for that reason or if I need to use extra water for something I didn't plan for.

smart soon I'll have mixing station so i'll have 50-75 gal of mixed SW&FW on hand
I should have know I would need some guess I was just not thinking...

jaganshi066 · Feb 27, 2021

ReefBeta said:
Well, TMP on BRS is $99. If it were $180, I would not use it at all. My LFS is selling them for $114, even that sounds a bit high, so I usually wait for BRS to restock then buy half a year worth of supply.

I don’t know where they got $180 from