All other salts are double the price of Instant Ocean. Is it really worth it?

[ReeferSamster]

So, a comparison with published methodology and easily verifiable results is a waste of time? That seems silly.

No, his point was that it is a retailer and they have a bias behind the scenes for sales numbers.

Anyway, it is a waste of time, because they aren't even using other prices from amazon. As a consumer you need to check all vendors for the best cost for yourself. They restricted it to BRS prices. As consumers, we have no such limit, we can purchase anywhere for the best price which makes the comparative video useless to us.

 

[ReeferSamster]

Oh my. You realize there's an equation involved right? Where cost is a variable? Like you can plug in whatever price you can buy the salts at and get a cost per gallon? And then compare that cost across retailers?

When they’re running clearance events, which is what they’re doing, you get these price discrepancies simply because of product availability and inventory levels.

Here you go guys. Do the math. Everyday prices. No clearance. No sales. Look at the costs. You can buy Instant Ocean right now for 11.99 per 50 gallon bag. For 200 gallons, that's $47.96. Put it on a no-obligation monthly 'subscription' and save 5% more, it'll be even better.

Current Costs:
$47.96 200 gallons Instant Ocean ( regular IO not Reefcrystals)
$79.99 200 gallons Red Sea Pro
$79.99 200 gallons Red Sea regular
$72 .99 160 Gallons. HW-Marinemix
$87.54 160 gallons Brightwell
$113.90 200 gallons Tropic Marine Pro
$116.59 200 gallons for Tropic Marin "Bio-my butt" version
$69.99 f 100 gallons B-Ionic

 

[Brian_68]

I have been using IO or RC for 20 plus years. I have daily automatic water changes, over 100 gal per month so if I like to throw away $100s every year I would use something else but RC works great the last few years using it exclusively. I wait until it goes on sale on Amazon and stock up on a few boxes usually around $45 or so for the 200 gallon box. I have paid as low as $30 for the 160 bucket on occasion. If you have money to burn feel free, it is not the salt causing the problems.

 

[bruno3047]

No, his point was that it is a retailer and they have a bias behind the scenes for sales numbers.

Anyway, it is a waste of time, because they aren't even using other prices from amazon. As a consumer you need to check all vendors for the best cost for yourself. They restricted it to BRS prices. As consumers, we have no such limit, we can purchase anywhere for the best price which makes the comparative video useless to us.

I shop for salt the same way I shop for everything. I Google it and the current prices for just about every retailer come up automatically.

 

[Jedi1199]

Here is the current price for IORC in the 50g bags.



Edit: The link does not show current pricing. I just ordered 3 boxes on Subscribe and save for $7.25/ea. Thats the cheapest I have ever seen salt listed.

 

[Woodyman]

No, his point was that it is a retailer and they have a bias behind the scenes for sales numbers.

Anyway, it is a waste of time, because they aren't even using other prices from amazon. As a consumer you need to check all vendors for the best cost for yourself. They restricted it to BRS prices. As consumers, we have no such limit, we can purchase anywhere for the best price which makes the comparative video useless to us.

The point I believe he was trying to make was BRS posted the amount of gallons that you actually get out of the packaging when mixing to a SpG of 1.026

Just because salt A says it makes 200 gallons @ 1.022 doesn't mean that it makes 200 gallons at 1.026.

Using the numbers from the referenced video and wherever your cost comparing from will still give you a pretty accurate cost per gallon. You can use Amazon, LFS, brs, etc pricing it doesn't matter as the actual volume per mix will be constant.

For example:
If salt A cost 10 bucks to for a 50 gallon bag, and salt B cost 15 bucks for a 50 gallon bag.

Salt A when mixing to a SpG of 1.026 gives you 40 gallons

Salt B when mixing to a SpG of 1.026 gives you 45 gallons.

Using the math cost/total gallons (at required SpG) will give you the true cost. Which would work out to be $0.25 per gallon for salt A and $0.22 for salt B.

So while A may look cheaper on a cost per gallon for actual use B is the better deal.

 

[CK00020]

Thats interesting, whats your ALK? Mine is good at 8 right after the mix.
Or is my Hanna ALK checker out of calibration...

I had been using pro reef so my alk was like 7.5 but I will slowly increase that so I don’t have to buffer

 

[Woodyman]

The point I believe he was trying to make was BRS posted the amount of gallons that you actually get out of the packaging when mixing to a SpG of 1.026

Just because salt A says it makes 200 gallons @ 1.022 doesn't mean that it makes 200 gallons at 1.026.

Using the numbers from the referenced video and wherever your cost comparing from will still give you a pretty accurate cost per gallon. You can use Amazon, LFS, brs, etc pricing it doesn't matter as the actual volume per mix will be constant.

For example:
If salt A cost 10 bucks to for a 50 gallon bag, and salt B cost 15 bucks for a 50 gallon bag.

Salt A when mixing to a SpG of 1.026 gives you 40 gallons

Salt B when mixing to a SpG of 1.026 gives you 45 gallons.

Using the math gallons/cost will give you the true cost. Which would work out to be $0.25 per gallon for salt A and $0.22 for salt B.

So while A may look cheaper on a cost per gallon for actual use B is the better deal.

Please correct me if this was not your intent @DopamineKata, but this is the point I was understanding from your comment.

 

[bruno3047]

Here is the current price for IORC in the 50g bags.

Chewy was offering the same exact price for the same exact product. I think they ran out. That’s why I think it’s a company-sponsored clearance event. Scroll to the 50 pound package and you’ll see $7.63. Check out the 200 gallon box. A couple of weeks ago I bought this for $36 from Chewy.

INSTANT OCEAN Reef Crystals Reef Salt, 200-gal - Chewy.com

Buy Instant Ocean Reef Crystals Reef Salt, 200-gal at Chewy.com. FREE shipping and the BEST customer service!

www.chewy.com

 

[bruno3047]

It’s the same pattern as Coca-Cola. End of year they clear out all the old inventory, and when they’re done, the new inventory comes to market at a higher price.

 

[ReeferSamster]

The point I believe he was trying to make was BRS posted the amount of gallons that you actually get out of the packaging when mixing to a SpG of 1.026

Just because salt A says it makes 200 gallons @ 1.022 doesn't mean that it makes 200 gallons at 1.026.

I understand. But unless IO claims "50 gallons" but actually only makes 1 gallon, which would make competitive salts more...uh...competitive as a choice. It still would not justify double the price.

The 0.001 or .002 difference up or down is still nowhere near the double price that other competitive salts command.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Reef Crystals was having an end-of-the-year clearance event. Ridiculous prices across-the-board. I picked up four boxes of 200-gallon mix at an average price of around $36. I just googled “reef crystals“ and found this;



I guess the clearance is ongoing.

That's the regular price. Been buying the 160g bucket from Amazon for about 2 years at 39.99

 

[moz71]

Everybody should buy anything else except Instant Ocean reef crystals, So not to raise the price or alter the availability for myself. Lol

 

[bruno3047]

Chewy was offering the same exact price for the same exact product. I think they ran out. That’s why I think it’s a company-sponsored clearance event.

INSTANT OCEAN Reef Crystals Reef Salt, 200-gal - Chewy.com

Buy Instant Ocean Reef Crystals Reef Salt, 200-gal at Chewy.com. FREE shipping and the BEST customer service!

www.chewy.com

That's the regular price. Been buying the 160g bucket from Amazon for about 2 years at 39.99

Wow. That’s amazing. Petco is charging 90 bucks. Chewy is charging $91 plus tax

That's the regular price. Been buying the 160g bucket from Amazon for about 2 years at 39.99

I never noticed that. Probably because I buy the box instead. I have more buckets than I need.

 

[bruno3047]

That's the regular price. Been buying the 160g bucket from Amazon for about 2 years at 39.99

My guess is that you won’t be seeing that price for much longer.

 

[Brian_68]

It’s the same pattern as Coca-Cola. End of year they clear out all the old inventory, and when they’re done, the new inventory comes to market at a higher price.

Businesses do that all the time unrelated to old inventory. They want to pump up sales before the end of the year for the year end financial reports.

 

[ReeferSamster]

Everybody should buy anything else except Instant Ocean reef crystals, So not to raise the price or alter the availability for myself. Lol

My goal is for competitors to LOWER their price so that we can actually have a choice. I'm not an IO fanboy. Brand loyalty is stupid in modern day era of Google and global telecommunications for the everyday joe schmoe. At the point of 100% price difference between competitors, with no real proof that "vitamins" do anything or prove that their "pharma" grade stuff actually has real-life results, common sense and my wife, tell me that I really have only one choice but to use regular IO.

I would like a choice, but I would like the other competitive salts to stop ripping us off and treating us like noobs with BS "bio-actiff" stuff.

I don't understand why they would add amino acids or proteins in a salt mix when your skimmer is meant to pull them out of the water. durf.

 

[bruno3047]

Businesses do that all the time unrelated to old inventory. They want to pump up sales before the end of the year for the year end financial reports.

Certainly a possibility

 

[PeterEde]

I mentioned this in another thread, but I would like to actually create a post dedicated to this age old question of the Battle of the Salts.
This is specifically addressing the huge disparity in price compared to all other competitive brands.


Instant ocean regular purple lid (not Reef Crystals) by the 50 gallon bag equivalence to other salts shows half price or even less than half cost of competing salts. We are talking about 40-50 bucks per bucket. for 4 50 gallon bags, it comes out to $45 or so for 200 gallons. And I always hoard some extra when they do have a promotion once every few months where the price is $9.50 per bag. That makes it like $39 for 200 gallons! Put it on subscribe and save every month and you get another 5% off so I stack bags every month until Amazon restricts my purchases per month. Lol

The question is not just about saving just a few dollars. Are the other salts worth double the price of IO?

Is double the price worth for it for the extra alk, calc and mag? Increasing the levels in IO via supplementation still doesn't justify the cost disparity.

What about the BS marketing: Are "vitamins" "amino acids" . Is all that stuff shown scientifically to have efficacy in our tanks? And still the same question: "Is it worth double the cost?"

There are plenty of Tank of the Months in Reef2Reef and more on Reefcentral, through the years which I have seen use Instant Ocean. They can have successful tanks on this salt and still save money.

I think Dr. Randy Holmes Farley even uses Instant Ocean salt. (I'm not sure lately, but that's what he was using many years ago.)
Anyone care to chime in your opinions? Make me switch salt. I'm bored and you know what that means...add a gadget or change something in the tank. I'm actually considering to get a protein skimmer after all these years! I'm testing out a Tunze 9004 on my frag tank to see if I'm not missing anything. Haven't used a skimmer in 20 years.

Was It Randy on BRS who said he'd never use IO again? I maybe wrong.
I've not used it but did see a BRS recently where this comment was made? He did not elaborate as to why.
I am limited to Aquaforest, Redsea, Quantum and TM (struggle to find it)

 

[ReeferSamster]

Was It Randy on BRS who said he'd never use IO again? I maybe wrong

Yes, I think I recall him saying that. Probably because BRS margins weren't good enough with IO.

I admit some BRS videos are very informative, but when it comes to "brand name shootouts" you have to be on your guard. They will promote whoever supports them via sponsorship or gives them the most profit margins.

Thats why we should form a collective! Like a union of reefer consumers! An independent third party committee made up of consumers and release our views and opinions. And I can be the Lord Chief Executive Presidential Prime Minister Chanceller of The Peoples Democratic Reefer Consumer Consortium Group. The Sovereign PDRCCG.

We can do sales strikes! "Lower your prices!" .. "The Aqua Equalizer is a piece of junk!" Protest in front of corporate headquarters of bad companies with signs that have pictures of a scared innocent baby clownfish surrounded by magnets from the Aqua Equalizer. We can all handcuff ourselves to the office door and chant "heck no, We won't Go! heck no, We won't go!" and "Free Willlly!"

LoL.