Tropic Marin salt from Germany mixed brown

[bnord]

I purchased a bucket from BRS well for the period that it was being sourced from turkey. Had the brown mixing and sediment problem with my first use from that bucket, took photos sent them to BRS and they replaced it without a question. I never looked to see if it was sourced from turkey but I assume it was not. So occasionally they have had quality control problems before and after turkey

 

[Hairyteeth]

So residue from batches of recent German-manufactured salt?

Yup

 

[areefer01]

I’ve heard several folks switching to Red Sea blue bucket, but I’m curious what other folks are switching too also

Not switching here. Also used a complete bucket of pro reef from Turkey oddly enough. I always thought it was from Germany and never once looked once after I found the first post.

No smell.
No residue.
Mixed clear as always.

I'm using a 20 gallon yellow HDPE lab drum to store. Basically I fill it up. Bring it to temp. Add the pro reef salt. Add pump to mix. Wait an hour. Check salinity. Do water change within 48 hours (just depends how lazy I am). No residue. Ever.

210 gallon. Mixed reef.

 

[IKD]

Not switching here. Also used a complete bucket of pro reef from Turkey oddly enough. I always thought it was from Germany and never once looked once after I found the first post.

No smell.
No residue.
Mixed clear as always.

I'm using a 20 gallon yellow HDPE lab drum to store. Basically I fill it up. Bring it to temp. Add the pro reef salt. Add pump to mix. Wait an hour. Check salinity. Do water change within 48 hours (just depends how lazy I am). No residue. Ever.

210 gallon. Mixed reef.

It’s clear some folks are not affected (you). It’s also clear some folks are affected (not you). I was just asking the ‘not you’ crowd that decided to switch salts which one they are switching to.

 

[areefer01]

It’s clear some folks are not affected (you). It’s also clear some folks are affected (not you). I was just asking the ‘not you’ crowd that decided to switch salts which one they are switching to.

If I was to switch I would go back to instant ocean regular. In fact once I move to daily auto water changes that will more than likely be the salt. Basic salt. Stores easy enough. Cheap. TM AFR will take care of the rest. If I end up switching out of that (due to daily dosing and yearly cost) I'll go back to ESV 2 part with C added.

So yes, not switching yet but to answer I'll go back to IO standard. I used to run IO Reef Crystals but the residue after mixing is a bit much for me.

 

[Garf]

I noticed the same problem in my mixing bin today. The brown oily residue builds up on cables first then the walls of the container and I am noticing the brown in my micron filter when it was white last week. This appears to be caused by this latest bucket. It was mixing clean for last 2 months using the German salt. I had this previously with the turkish salt with at least one bucket and several boxes. Here are my pictures of lot numbers on lid and barcode.

Is it best to take this back to my LFS or How can one "contact Lou"?


I used this paper towel to clean the temperature probe wire into the tank. The picture on right is the start of the brown crud. While this may look clean to you it was pristine about 2 weeks ago before I switched to this latest bucket.

Looks bacterial to me if it’s just coating surfaces, it gets everywhere. I use the TM classic, after months of repeated use I get the brown stuff growing, the answer to that is bleach the bin and equipment, regularly. Now if it’s dispersed through the water, that would worry me, and may be an indicator that nutrients are getting through the RODI system.

 

[drawman]

I noticed the same problem in my mixing bin today. The brown oily residue builds up on cables first then the walls of the container and I am noticing the brown in my micron filter when it was white last week. This appears to be caused by this latest bucket. It was mixing clean for last 2 months using the German salt. I had this previously with the turkish salt with at least one bucket and several boxes. Here are my pictures of lot numbers on lid and barcode.

Is it best to take this back to my LFS or How can one "contact Lou"?


I used this paper towel to clean the temperature probe wire into the tank. The picture on right is the start of the brown crud. While this may look clean to you it was pristine about 2 weeks ago before I switched to this latest bucket.

I was getting this same colored impurity with my german batch and water changes with it were hitting corals hard. I was told by @Lou Ekus and BRS that they won't be replacing german salt FYI.

 

[Perry]

I was getting this same colored impurity with my german batch and water changes with it were hitting corals hard. I was told by @Lou Ekus and BRS that they won't be replacing german salt FYI.

I moved on to RS Blue Bucket, my LFS offered to replace with German made salts in stock, but I will be credited a Blue Bucket instead, actually should have a credit, as the salt is more expensive, but owell, happy to have usable salt, lol. Moving on....

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

Oh, my lfs is going to replace it with a bucket of Red Sea because this is my second bucket of tropic Marin that I had this problem with so this one was a replacement and then it has the same problem so I’m just not going to use tropic Marin until they get their crap together

Red sea b.b mixes brown too..

 

[gbroadbridge]

Red sea b.b mixes brown too..

Not even once here. Been using it since April 2015.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

Not even once here. Been using it since April 2015.

Ok if you say so

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

Clean r.o water vs red sea b.b i mixed this morning with 2 gallons missing. Its only a white 5g bucket

 

[Garf]

Clean r.o water vs red sea b.b i mixed this morning with 2 gallons missing. Its only a white 5g bucket

Never seen that with tropic Marin tbh. I tried Red Sea and my old tank didn’t like it for some reason.

 

[Snyderman3]

I stand corrected. ESV is more expensive so it’s the best.

Don’t be a smart butt

 

[blaxsun]

Clean r.o water vs red sea b.b i mixed this morning with 2 gallons missing. Its only a white 5g bucket

I wouldn't necessarily call it brown, but there's definitely a tint. Maybe because Red Sea salt is more naturally-based?

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

I wouldn't necessarily call it brown, but there's definitely a tint. Maybe because Red Sea salt is more naturally-based?

Yes that is what the reason is..
Its been like that for as long as I've been using it, coming from I.O.R.C that had the same brown, its nothing new, just some dont see it, probably depending on their mixing vessel.

 

[Thor2j]

Here is a picture of my mixing tank. Mix once every 2 weeks. Pump runs automatically 15 minutes a day. These are the new buckets from Germany that brs replaced. Worse then the turkey buckets I used. What is going on....

 

[seaofbytes]

This is total hearsay but it is my understanding that TM salt is pretty middle of the road affordable in Europe. I have no idea or experience to cite but that tells me that it is marketed in Europe as just another salt which does not carry the premium price tag. In the US it is marketed as a premium brand and priced as such. This makes sense if you needed to ship a heavy product across the globe and still sell it at reasonable margins. So what's the deal? Can anyone substantiate this; preferably someone from Europe?

A 25kg bucket of German TM salt will cost you $70-$75 in the Netherlands where I live. Not sure how that compares to the US.

I'm also using TM German salt, whipped up a batch yesterday and just checked...no issues.

 

[IKD]

A 25kg bucket of German TM salt will cost you $70-$75 in the Netherlands where I live. Not sure how that compares to the US.

I'm also using TM German salt, whipped up a batch yesterday and just checked...no issues.

LFS here is selling TM Pro Reef for $115 for a 160g bucket. It used to be $89. That’s now $35 more than Red Sea Blue bucket. I can’t justify the difference anymore without at least trying Red Sea on my tank, especially with multiple reports of Germany-made buckets.

 

[J.D.]

It’s clear some folks are not affected (you). It’s also clear some folks are affected (not you). I was just asking the ‘not you’ crowd that decided to switch salts which one they are switching to.

Redsea blue bucket - My LFS specializes in very high end corals and made the switch, no adverse effects. Based on those results I'm going to give it a try.