Tropic Marin Pro Reef Salt ??

[Polyp Punk]

hey reefers
so i have to decide which salt to go with soon since i am about to fill the tank soon. I REALLLLLLY want to use the tropic mairin salt but it seems like its really hard to get? anyone know of a site that carries this salt consistently ? i dont want to start with this salt and then switch if its to hard to get. What is the next best salt to use besides Tropic Marin that comes close ? Thanks !!

 

[jser388]

When i was using this mix, i would get it from Great Britain/Ebay lol it took forever and in the end while its good salt and mixes clean, it just wasn't worth the hassle, i have since moved to Red Sea blue bucket and it seems to mix fast and holds well for a while

 

[homer1475]

Any salt you choose will do the job, no one is better then the other. Salt is salt, if anyone tells you differently, they are simply lying.

Pick one that matches your wallet, and the parameters you want to keep. Then ask yourself are you going to mix and use, or mix and store?

 

[ScottR]

hey reefers
so i have to decide which salt to go with soon since i am about to fill the tank soon. I REALLLLLLY want to use the tropic mairin salt but it seems like its really hard to get? anyone know of a site that carries this salt consistently ? i dont want to start with this salt and then switch if its to hard to get. What is the next best salt to use besides Tropic Marin that comes close ? Thanks !!

I use TM coral pro salt and I haven’t been able to get a bucket for over a month now. My LFS said that TM is changing the recipe. Whether it’s true or not, I’m not sure. I have no idea when it will be fully in stock again. I am using Red Sea blue bucket in meantime and haven’t had anything bad happen. I may just stick with Red Sea as it’s cheaper anyway.

 

[homer1475]

There was a thread around here a while back about the availability of TM. CEo of the company(who's a member here) has said it was due to covid and sourcing materials to make the salt. That was a year ago, and people are still having issues finding the salt. So take that statement for what it's worth.

 

[Opus]

There was a thread around here a while back about the availability of TM. CEo of the company(who's a member here) has said it was due to covid and sourcing materials to make the salt. That was a year ago, and people are still having issues finding the salt. So take that statement for what it's worth.

Not sure if it is the same guy, but someone from the company replied in their forum that covid and sourcing is not the issue. He claimed that they had had such an increase in the demand for their products, including salt, that they can't produce it fast enough. No clue if that is totally true. My SIL lives in Germany and they had been completely shut down except for grocery stores and medical for the last couple of months. He said that was not true and they had been working a complete production crew. I guess my SIL lied to me!

 

[homer1475]

Same guy, just back peddling. In the middle of the pandemic, the pandemic was quoted as the issue. When we were once again allowed to go outside, the reason was changed to being locked down, then changed again to production issues.

The fanboys will tell you differently. Just search posts on here and you can see the reason changed many times over the past few months.

Availability coupled with the unusually high price, will be the death of this salt. Least here in the states. It may still be available, but it will not be the darling salt it is today.

 

[ScottR]

TM was back in stock after being out for months (?). Then it just went back out of stock. Oddly, when it came back in - maybe the latter part of 2020 - all of my LFS kept pushing it and it seemed to drive up demand. Then around a month or so ago, the last buckets were off the shelves. I’m not a big fan of switching salts constantly but I’ve had good luck with quite a few brands. I can’t say I’ve ever got a bad bucket that I’m aware of. And I test and dose constantly. But I’ll probably stick with RS blue bucket as it’s always in stock.

And I believe it’s @Lou Ekus that could hopefully clear this up.

 

[homer1475]

Yes it's @Lou Ekus I was referring to(I saw no reason to name him specifically in this thread, but since you did...).

They claim the increased demand now is the reason for the shortages, but their excuse has changed so many times over the last year, I'm not sure why anyone has faith in this company anymore. Think I;m talking out my but, just do a post search on here. Not hard to figure out.

They say they are ramping up production, but talk to anyone that lives in germany, they are still in a hard lockdown(another words there is obviously no one working at tropic marin, so exactly how are they ramping up production?). So whos the one lying here?

 

[Duffer]

there are a couple of threads on this, just do a search. Just for anyone's info, saltwater aquarium had over 180 buckets last week, and it did not go as fast as one would expect.

Tropic marin pro salt

seeing it's nearly impossible to get this salt, what salt are folks using that comes close to tropic marin pro parameters.. Alkalinity - 7 Calcium - 440 ppm Magnesium - 1350 ppm

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Opus]

TM was back in stock after being out for months (?). Then it just went back out of stock. Oddly, when it came back in - maybe the latter part of 2020 - all of my LFS kept pushing it and it seemed to drive up demand. Then around a month or so ago, the last buckets were off the shelves. I’m not a big fan of switching salts constantly but I’ve had good luck with quite a few brands. I can’t say I’ve ever got a bad bucket that I’m aware of. And I test and dose constantly. But I’ll probably stick with RS blue bucket as it’s always in stock.

And I believe it’s @Lou Ekus that could hopefully clear this up.

I agree, I've never had a problem switching salts. But I'm not a SPS guy so it is probably more critical to them. The only issue I ever had was back in 2002 time frame with a salt I can't remember the name of but I don't think it is even produced anymore. Me and a friend got each got a bucket because it was cheap. Both of us couldn't keep any shrimp alive in our tanks while using it. Once we both switched we could start keeping shrimp again. Nothing else was effected, just shrimp.

I currently use the regular Tropic Marin salt but have no issues changing once I need a new bucket.

 

[GillMeister]

hey reefers
so i have to decide which salt to go with soon since i am about to fill the tank soon. I REALLLLLLY want to use the tropic mairin salt but it seems like its really hard to get? anyone know of a site that carries this salt consistently ? i dont want to start with this salt and then switch if its to hard to get. What is the next best salt to use besides Tropic Marin that comes close ? Thanks !!

Tropic Marin Pro. It's great salt. I used it and had good results. Mixes quickly, cleanly, consistently. After going through 800 gallons of TM Pro I got sick to death of spending hours trying to find someone who had it. Much of the demand was from the BRS salt mix comparison. I got a recommendation from RHF to use Red Sea Salt as an equivalent and I see no discernable difference between the two. IMO, you would be crazy to start out with Tropic Marin unless you do small or infrequent changes.

 

[KStatefan]

I do not remember @Lou Ekus saying that is was anything but not being able to keep up with demand. Maybe he can answer how they were able to keep producing when they were shut down.

I ordered a part for one of our lasers at work two weeks ago from Germany and was able to get it in a coupld days so everything must not be shut down manufacturing wise there.

 

[Lou Ekus]

@homer1475 , @KStatefan , @duffer , @Opus , @ScottR , @Salt_Life

I will make one more statement here, and then leave the discussion to all of you. On these threads, I answer questions to the best of my abilities. I try not to make sweeping brand statements or promos. However, in this particular instance, I feel that my prior statements are being misrepresented and I want to be very clear and set the record straight!

To claim that I have been inconsistent in my presentation of the supply/demand status of Tropic Marin here in the US is just not truthful! I have always given as clear a picture of current developments as possible. If you look back at thread comments, made by me, in relation to these current product shortages, you will see that I have been very consistent in what I have said about it. And I stand by those statements 100%.
The demand for Tropic Marin has increased dramatically over the past year. Without going into a lot of detail about our shift scheduling, we have been able to, not only maintain our manufacturing schedule in Germany, but actually increase the amount of product that has been coming over to the US. In fact, there has been more Tropic Marin product coming into the US than ever in the history of the company. This has been true during all of the phases of the COVID lock down in Europe. The lock down in Germany was at no time valid for animal food or further products for animals that are needed daily. Our lab falls into this category. Now, with a new manufacturing facility online, and additional increased capacity at one of our existing facilities, we are continuing to ramp up the supply to the US even further. For these reasons we expect to be able to catch up with this increased demand in the next few months.
I have also mentioned that now, as an additional factor, many of the shipping ports in the US are “backed up”. This means that, in some cases, products are making their way across the ocean, but having trouble making the last leg of the journey to the warehousing facilities of our distributors and our domestic warehouse. While this is not the main cause of delays. It has become a small factor more recently.
This information is given as an extremely candid and transparent view of the supply/demand situation here in the US. If you have any specific questions, you can always reach out to me at [email protected] or by phone at 413-367-0101.

 

[Crabby48]

It’s in USA and stores are getting it. Same thing happened last year at this time.

 

[GillMeister]

@homer1475 , @KStatefan , @duffer , @Opus , @ScottR , @Salt_Life

I will make one more statement here, and then leave the discussion to all of you. On these threads, I answer questions to the best of my abilities. I try not to make sweeping brand statements or promos. However, in this particular instance, I feel that my prior statements are being misrepresented and I want to be very clear and set the record straight!

To claim that I have been inconsistent in my presentation of the supply/demand status of Tropic Marin here in the US is just not truthful! I have always given as clear a picture of current developments as possible. If you look back at thread comments, made by me, in relation to these current product shortages, you will see that I have been very consistent in what I have said about it. And I stand by those statements 100%.
The demand for Tropic Marin has increased dramatically over the past year. Without going into a lot of detail about our shift scheduling, we have been able to, not only maintain our manufacturing schedule in Germany, but actually increase the amount of product that has been coming over to the US. In fact, there has been more Tropic Marin product coming into the US than ever in the history of the company. This has been true during all of the phases of the COVID lock down in Europe. The lock down in Germany was at no time valid for animal food or further products for animals that are needed daily. Our lab falls into this category. Now, with a new manufacturing facility online, and additional increased capacity at one of our existing facilities, we are continuing to ramp up the supply to the US even further. For these reasons we expect to be able to catch up with this increased demand in the next few months.
I have also mentioned that now, as an additional factor, many of the shipping ports in the US are “backed up”. This means that, in some cases, products are making their way across the ocean, but having trouble making the last leg of the journey to the warehousing facilities of our distributors and our domestic warehouse. While this is not the main cause of delays. It has become a small factor more recently.
This information is given as an extremely candid and transparent view of the supply/demand situation here in the US. If you have any specific questions, you can always reach out to me at [email protected] or by phone at 413-367-0101.

Thank you, Lou! For those still using TM Pro have you projected the actual increase in demand for future years and have adequate capacity to cover that demand? I realize forecasting is speculative in retail. You also probably can't rely too heavily on 2020 sales figures if you had a shortfall in supply but many people are very loyal to their brands and they could use some assurances.

I truly hope you're able to continue supporting the hobby at a high level. When a key supplier falters it hurts us all.

 

[jaganshi066]

I use TM coral pro salt and I haven’t been able to get a bucket for over a month now. My LFS said that TM is changing the recipe. Whether it’s true or not, I’m not sure. I have no idea when it will be fully in stock again. I am using Red Sea blue bucket in meantime and haven’t had anything bad happen. I may just stick with Red Sea as it’s cheaper anyway.

I’m using Red Sea blue bucket and I’m tired of cleaning my mixing station to all the brown residue left

 

[GillMeister]

I’m using Red Sea blue bucket and I’m tired of cleaning my mixing station to all the brown residue left

I haven't had this issue.

 

[BuddyVanDoodle]

For those that use Red Sea vs those that use Tropic Marin because they say it is “cheaper” I have a question for you. On the Red Sea bucket it says 175 gallons WHEN mixed to 1.021 specific gravity and that bucket will cost you $72. On the Tropic Marin bucket I’ve only seen it say mix to 1.025-1.027 and it says it will mix 200 gallons for $100. When the Red Sea is mixed to 1.025-1.027 you’re getting less than 175 gallons made. So how close is it actually in price per gallon made? Is it really that much cheaper?

 

[GillMeister]

For those that use Red Sea vs those that use Tropic Marin because they say it is “cheaper” I have a question for you. On the Red Sea bucket it says 175 gallons WHEN mixed to 1.021 specific gravity and that bucket will cost you $72. On the Tropic Marin bucket I’ve only seen it say mix to 1.025-1.027 and it says it will mix 200 gallons for $100. When the Red Sea is mixed to 1.025-1.027 you’re getting less than 175 gallons made. So how close is it actually in price per gallon made? Is it really that much cheaper?

You are correct, the price per pound or kilo is roughly equivalent when buying the largest packages. This is a point worth considering though I still think this might trumped by the availability. And to be fair, Red Sea might have been in the same situation if BRS had said it's the salt you have to have.