Calling On Tropic Marine For Help!!!

Tony Thompson

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I have recently cleaned my saltwater mixing container and not had the issue again in 3 weeks since.

Curious why you think it’s bacterial and shouldn’t there be something we could use to offset it?
Hi Peter, I did not want to go into to fine a detail as its a forum, however in my store I professionally quarantine all my animals. I have very strict protocols in place to eliminate as much as possible possible transfer or build up of bacterial pathogens (vibrio etc.) in the salt water I use for my animals. I have not witnessed the brown covering in the bio secure vats I use for my animals water. Only in the VATS I use for pre mixed sale.

I also notice a bio film build up on the vats that are not sterile and a smell that would make me think, bacterial or chemical reaction / bacterial.

I am in no way suggesting that my conclusion is related to all of the cases discussed so far. I just wanted to add a little more anecdotal information in an attempt to find a possible cause for the reaction some are noticing.

I would also like to point out that I only use Reef Pro because it meets my particular needs. I am in no way trying to promote the brand. Also I try to get my customers to stick to one brand and not keep blaming salt brands for their problems. In my experience salt mixes are all equally good at maintaining a healthy environment for the animals. Also I can pick my salt up from the warehouse, 2 hours drive so always have it available.
 

JCOLE

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I don't have much to add to this conversation as I do not use TMPR anymore. See below for a thread I started in 2020 about what looked like mold/bacteria in my mixing station while using TMPR. I have not seen this again after switching salts.

Thread 'Is this mold/rust in my salt mixing barrel?' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/is-this-mold-rust-in-my-salt-mixing-barrel.727368/

I didn't post this to say one salt is better than the other. Just an observation for what I went through and never really had a definite answer for it.
 

DHill6

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I have one box made in Turkey. I’ll definitely check the newly mixed water before using it. The new packaging is ridiculous, trying to fall out the bottom of the box and the bag seal, doesn’t mean that salt was sealed in a cardboard box.
 

J1a

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Not a TM salt user, but looking at this discussions, could the situation be that some bacteria survive on the wall of the mixing containers, or even metabolising a tiny bit of it? That would be consistent with the observations after cleaning.

If this is what happened, then perhaps the material of container used also plays apart?

Again, I'm just throwing out some ideas, really have no experience with the new or the old tm salt.
 

chipchipbro

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You figured it out! I will no longer be buying TMP unless there is someway I can be sure it’s the German Version!

2093BC3B-75E5-4052-9E79-CC8D11C929B7.jpeg
the fun thing is.. this one is produced in Turkey under the authority of Tropic Marin in SWITZERLAND and then theres a phone number from GERMANY :D

Tax Paradise Switzerland is calling...
 

DHill6

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I’m not willing to risk using the box made in Turkey. I have other smaller buckets I’ll continue to use until they’re gone.
 

DHill6

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I’m going to give the Turkey box a go, it may be fine. If not I’ll be contacting TM via their form and BRS.
 

DHill6

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Well, I’m not using this box. It had a chalk smell to it where previous buckets, boxes did not. It also mixed up with a brown tinge where the others did not.
 

Tony Thompson

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If this is what happened, then perhaps the material of container used also plays apart?

The build up is on the pump and the pipework as well as the container.

Not sure the material the tank is made from makes any difference. But I can give the technical details below if it helps. @Hans-Werner ,Technical info on my water tanks is as follows.

Enduramaxx’s Potable Drinking Water Tank – WRAS Approved, constructed from the MDPE polyethene which is UV stabilised. This tank is a one piece, seamless, rotationally moulded tank . Made in the UK.

Frohes Neues Jahr, to our German cousins across the channel.
 

Duffer

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The build up is on the pump and the pipework as well as the container.

Not sure the material the tank is made from makes any difference. But I can give the technical details below if it helps. @Hans-Werner ,Technical info on my water tanks is as follows.

Enduramaxx’s Potable Drinking Water Tank – WRAS Approved, constructed from the MDPE polyethene which is UV stabilised. This tank is a one piece, seamless, rotationally moulded tank . Made in the UK.

Frohes Neues Jahr, to our German cousins across the channel.
Go to the following link…we are trying to get folks to post to this thread as Hans and Lou are responding

 

Hans-Werner

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Not sure the material the tank is made from makes any difference. But I can give the technical details below if it helps. @Hans-Werner ,Technical info on my water tanks is as follows.
Thank you for the further details, Tony! Since the manganese most likely is precipitated by bacteria, materials that are preferred by bacteria for settlement will show more precipitate. To my knowledge bacteria prefer nonpolar materials. PE and other plastics are such nonpolar materials.

Since in the microworld other physical principles like Reynolds numbers are also important, current and flow may also determine where most manganese precipitates.
Frohes Neues Jahr, to our German cousins across the channel.
Thank you, we wish you a Happy New Year across the channel too! :)
 

tharbin

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Well now I'm in a quandary...

When I started reefing again I chose TM Pro Reef because I used the original TM (I think it is now called Classic) for years and trusted TM. I tried many salts over the years but TM and IO were the only ones I stuck with for any length of time.

I am down to about 10 gallons of my old Tropic Marine 32 gallon boxes (from the German plant) and decided I had better check out the 100 gallon box I bought from BRS in December since it is from the Turkish plant. Rather than just mix it up I had my wife (a QA Engineer by profession) smell and look at the two salts side by side. Long story short, the color is the same in both boxes but the texture of the German salt is like a powdered sugar whereas the texture of the Turkish salt is like powdered laundry detergent and they smell entirely different. She describes the smell of the German salt as fresh and clean whereas the Turkish salt smells dank and gross, rather like the salt left behind on a beach. The only sticker I can find on the box says 212852.

I was going to go ahead and mix up a couple of gallons of the new salt and test parameters but decided against it. In fact, my wife will not let me put it in our tank no matter how it tests. I really can't test everything and I can't afford to be sending salt mixes off for ICP tests.

I guess I'm just going to eat the cost of this salt as I can't afford to take a chance with losing my livestock. I don't have much but I'm on a fixed income and starting over would be cost prohibitive.

Sorry to say that Tropic Marin has lost me as a customer.
 

Lou Ekus

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Well now I'm in a quandary...

When I started reefing again I chose TM Pro Reef because I used the original TM (I think it is now called Classic) for years and trusted TM. I tried many salts over the years but TM and IO were the only ones I stuck with for any length of time.

I am down to about 10 gallons of my old Tropic Marine 32 gallon boxes (from the German plant) and decided I had better check out the 100 gallon box I bought from BRS in December since it is from the Turkish plant. Rather than just mix it up I had my wife (a QA Engineer by profession) smell and look at the two salts side by side. Long story short, the color is the same in both boxes but the texture of the German salt is like a powdered sugar whereas the texture of the Turkish salt is like powdered laundry detergent and they smell entirely different. She describes the smell of the German salt as fresh and clean whereas the Turkish salt smells dank and gross, rather like the salt left behind on a beach. The only sticker I can find on the box says 212852.

I was going to go ahead and mix up a couple of gallons of the new salt and test parameters but decided against it. In fact, my wife will not let me put it in our tank no matter how it tests. I really can't test everything and I can't afford to be sending salt mixes off for ICP tests.

I guess I'm just going to eat the cost of this salt as I can't afford to take a chance with losing my livestock. I don't have much but I'm on a fixed income and starting over would be cost prohibitive.

Sorry to say that Tropic Marin has lost me as a customer.
I'm sorry that we are loosing you as a customer. May I ask if there is any way we could get you to fill out this short form? It would be a great help in our attempt to diagnose what is going on:
Tropic Marin Salt Questionnaire

THANK YOU!
 
OP
OP
PeterC99

PeterC99

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Well now I'm in a quandary...

When I started reefing again I chose TM Pro Reef because I used the original TM (I think it is now called Classic) for years and trusted TM. I tried many salts over the years but TM and IO were the only ones I stuck with for any length of time.

I am down to about 10 gallons of my old Tropic Marine 32 gallon boxes (from the German plant) and decided I had better check out the 100 gallon box I bought from BRS in December since it is from the Turkish plant. Rather than just mix it up I had my wife (a QA Engineer by profession) smell and look at the two salts side by side. Long story short, the color is the same in both boxes but the texture of the German salt is like a powdered sugar whereas the texture of the Turkish salt is like powdered laundry detergent and they smell entirely different. She describes the smell of the German salt as fresh and clean whereas the Turkish salt smells dank and gross, rather like the salt left behind on a beach. The only sticker I can find on the box says 212852.

I was going to go ahead and mix up a couple of gallons of the new salt and test parameters but decided against it. In fact, my wife will not let me put it in our tank no matter how it tests. I really can't test everything and I can't afford to be sending salt mixes off for ICP tests.

I guess I'm just going to eat the cost of this salt as I can't afford to take a chance with losing my livestock. I don't have much but I'm on a fixed income and starting over would be cost prohibitive.

Sorry to say that Tropic Marin has lost me as a customer.
Don’t give up too quickly. I recently, thoroughly cleaned out my saltwater mixing container. I have not been able to replicate getting the residue using TM Pro from Turkey.

Also - do you add baking soda to raise Alk when you mix your TM Pro saltwater? I’m testing that now to see if that could be the issue.
 

tharbin

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I'm sorry that we are loosing you as a customer. May I ask if there is any way we could get you to fill out this short form? It would be a great help in our attempt to diagnose what is going on:
Tropic Marin Salt Questionnaire

THANK YOU!
Of course I will Lou. I've always liked and respected Tropic Marin. Once whatever is going on is found I will probably be back.
 

tharbin

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Don’t give up too quickly. I recently, thoroughly cleaned out my saltwater mixing container. I have not been able to replicate getting the residue using TM Pro from Turkey.

Also - do you add baking soda to raise Alk when you mix your TM Pro saltwater? I’m testing that now to see if that could be the issue.
Peter, no I don't add anything. My tank is still young and simple so no dosing at all except some phyto and aminos by hand occasionally.

I didn't even mix the salt as the smell and texture were clearly different from the TM I had been using. I just have API test kits and one Salifert (buying better kits as funds allow) so my testing would be fairly useless.
 

Mjl714

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Don’t give up too quickly. I recently, thoroughly cleaned out my saltwater mixing container. I have not been able to replicate getting the residue using TM Pro from Turkey.

Also - do you add baking soda to raise Alk when you mix your TM Pro saltwater? I’m testing that now to see if that could be the issue.
and how did you thoroughly clean your mixing container?
 

hsosa

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Well now I'm in a quandary...

When I started reefing again I chose TM Pro Reef because I used the original TM (I think it is now called Classic) for years and trusted TM. I tried many salts over the years but TM and IO were the only ones I stuck with for any length of time.

I am down to about 10 gallons of my old Tropic Marine 32 gallon boxes (from the German plant) and decided I had better check out the 100 gallon box I bought from BRS in December since it is from the Turkish plant. Rather than just mix it up I had my wife (a QA Engineer by profession) smell and look at the two salts side by side. Long story short, the color is the same in both boxes but the texture of the German salt is like a powdered sugar whereas the texture of the Turkish salt is like powdered laundry detergent and they smell entirely different. She describes the smell of the German salt as fresh and clean whereas the Turkish salt smells dank and gross, rather like the salt left behind on a beach. The only sticker I can find on the box says 212852.

I was going to go ahead and mix up a couple of gallons of the new salt and test parameters but decided against it. In fact, my wife will not let me put it in our tank no matter how it tests. I really can't test everything and I can't afford to be sending salt mixes off for ICP tests.

I guess I'm just going to eat the cost of this salt as I can't afford to take a chance with losing my livestock. I don't have much but I'm on a fixed income and starting over would be cost prohibitive.

Sorry to say that Tropic Marin has lost me as a customer.
yo the TM turkey box that I mixed yesterday is exactly how you described it does have a citrus smell to me like a cleaning solvent. im just going to do the same thing and eat the cost of the salt and I thought I got a deal bunk man. I posted my lot number on a different thread here .no one answered if the lot number was bad or not . here is the lot number 213253. I hope this helps another reefer out . I know I could just be imagining this but I have alot of cash in my corals and a $50 bag salt can wipe me out no go man . sorry TM
 

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