Leaving Red Sea Salt

[Neo Jeo]

Hello, Reefers!

I have been using Red Sea Salt for 6 months now coming from Reef Crystals. Why I left Reef Crystals was due to the high ALK and trying to keep my tank stable when doing water changes.

Since I started using Red Sea Salt many of my corals have been declining and I got an outbreak of red slime algae. Could the coral declining be the issue of Red Sea? Maybe or maybe not. Could the red slime be because of it? Maybe or maybe not but I did some research and found people that start Red Sea salt seem to have red slime outbreaks.

I was speaking on the phone with a CEO of another salt manufacture. He enlightened me on Red Seas salt harvesting process. He said it's the worst and cheapest way to get salt. It's left out in the desert for months and who knows what contaminants get into the salt. Also, the salt is made for many other things and Red Sea purchases it from them Dirt Cheap. Then turns around and charges a premium. In his opinion, it's one of the worst salts and they are just good at marketing. Now as he sells other salts I was a bit skeptical.

After I did some DD. I found where they manufacture the salt. It's near the red sea and it's left to dry out. It's also subcontracted and Red Sea buys let's say leftovers. After looking into this it seems he's right. I will be discontinuing using Red Sea Salt.

This is not to bash Red Sea salt or say it's bad salt. I'm just looking to go another route.

I keep my alk around 8-8.5 and my calc around 400. Do you think Tropic Marin Pro Reef Salt would be a good one to get? If I do the non-pro then the alk is 9-10 but the non pro is in the 7 so I guess its what way I want my alk to swing? Do I just buffer it before the change or do the change and then adjust?

Thanks

 

[Duffer]

i was using Red sea also and switched last month to Tropic Marin pro. I can say that i'm real pleased so far. The parameters so far with Tropic is 8 alk, 420 cal and 1320 mag which meets my needs. The salt mixes clear,no residue.

 

[WVNed]

Over the past year I have used IO, RC, Fritz, Tropic Marin and Red Sea.
I bought Red Sea to set up the new tank. I bought enough to make about 800 gallons of water.
I should have lots of red slime.

 

[Neo Jeo]

Over the past year I have used IO, RC, Fritz, Tropic Marin and Red Sea.
I bought Red Sea to set up the new tank. I bought enough to make about 800 gallons of water.
I should have lots of red slime.

I have seen when people switch the red slime shows up. Not everyone, but it seems like a pattern. Glad it's working out for you

 

[Neo Jeo]

i was using Red sea also and switched last month to Tropic Marin pro. I can say that i'm real pleased so far. The parameters so far with Tropic is 8 alk, 420 cal and 1320 mag which meets my needs. The salt mixes clear,no residue.

I keep my alk at 8 now. The pro says its around 7 so good to know you showing around 8. If I do the non-pro then im up to 9-10dkh and I think that will cause to much of a swing.

 

[aarbutina]

I didn't know about the manufacturing practices that were used to generate Red Sea salt, but I also am in the process of switching from Red Sea Blue Bucket to Trop Marine Pro. A lot of my switch has to do with the series of videos that BRS did on salt mix parameters and storage, but I have also had questions in the back of my mind on the quality of the Red Sea salt itself. Knowing more about the manufacturing practices makes me feel more confident in my choice to switch.

 

[siggy]

I was speaking on the phone with a CEO of another salt manufacture. He enlightened me on Red Seas salt harvesting process. He said it's the worst and cheapest way to get salt. It's left out in the desert for months and who knows what contaminants get into the salt. Also, the salt is made for many other things and Red Sea purchases it from them Dirt Cheap. Then turns around and charges a premium. In his opinion, it's one of the worst salts and they are just good at marketing. Now as he sells other salts I was a bit skeptical.

One sales man will always bash the others product and promote theirs, Its reefer-d to as a PITCH I have used about 8-10 buckets of coral pro in 2.5 years and have never experienced red slime. Now that I am dosing, corals are not happy with the elevated elements so I tried blu b. and seen no improvement so now I am looking for a new salt. Note: FWIW Mixing containers are spotless using redsea salt

 

[Neo Jeo]

One sales man will always bash the others product and promote theirs, Its reefer-d to as a PITCH I have used about 8-10 buckets of coral pro in 2.5 years and have never experienced red slime. Now that I am dosing, corals are not happy with the elevated elements so I tried blu b. and seen no improvement so now I am looking for a new salt. Note: FWIW Mixing containers are spotless using redsea salt

My mixing containers are full of yellow crap at the bottom after using red sea...

 

[Neo Jeo]

I didn't know about the manufacturing practices that were used to generate Red Sea salt, but I also am in the process of switching from Red Sea Blue Bucket to Trop Marine Pro. A lot of my switch has to do with the series of videos that BRS did on salt mix parameters and storage, but I have also had questions in the back of my mind on the quality of the Red Sea salt itself. Knowing more about the manufacturing practices makes me feel more confident in my choice to switch.

I been texting a buddy of mine that has an amazing sps tank. Just amazing. I seen he was using Tropic Marin Pro. I just reach out to him and he said he stopped doing water changes 8 months ago bc when using that salt he got RTN after a water changes. The trace elements are to high in his opinion and others he has talked to. So it seems he does not like that salt now. He switched to Red Sea Blue Bucket and has been doing water changes every 3 weeks and is happy.

So I guess it's all WHO KNOWS? Or What you want to use.

 

[WVNed]

I got similar results between Red sea and Tropic Marin. I bought the Red Sea to get the new tank going because it is cheaper. The others I mentioned did thing I didn't like.
My tank now has Tropic Marin in it. I usually end up going back to it.
Shrug.

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

Switching back to tropic Marin pro after my Red Sea blue bucket is finished myself. In my experience this salt mixes the fastest., clearest , with very good major elements included.

 

[siggy]

y mixing containers are full of yellow crap at the bottom after using red sea...

some one stashed peeps in your tanks

 

[Neo Jeo]

some one stashed peeps in your tanks

LOL!

 

[Adalius]

I bought Red Sea salt. Then I won a bucket of Tropic Marin from a BRS contest. So I used the Tropic first (I had less of it). My 55 gallon mixing tub was crystal clear, no precipitate at all. Well now I'm running the red sea for the first 55 gallon batch since the Tropic is gone, and there's all sorts of precipitate at the bottom of the bin now after just mixing one batch. I'll probably finish this salt off and go back to Tropic afterwards. Plus BRS did that salt study and the cost per gallon of saltwater is almost negligible between brands so its not like it's saving me money.

 

[Potatohead]

An employee of another brand bashed another brand, I am shocked to hear that.

Red Sea salt may be good and it may not be good. What I do know is it has been around forever and there are a metric ton of nice tanks that use it. D&D H2Ocean also is produced in the same facility and is used in arguably the nicest home reef tank in the world.

 

[Oldreefer44]

Have used several of what are considered to be the top brands and in the end have seen very little difference. Have used RS for a couple of years with no issues. IMO there are so many other factors that it would be difficult to isolate a salt mix as the direct source of problems.

 

[jent]

It was my understanding that many salts are produced from dehydrating ocean water like red sea does. I know there are some exceptions like hw-marine (unsure about tropic pro). In any case I am pretty confident that many successful tanks have been built on red sea, instant ocean / reef crystals (the ones I personally know use this method). I personally believe red sea is a pretty quality salt, but also would be the first to claim it's one of many easily available quality salts out there.

 

[pirate2876]

I use TMP and get the residual brown stuff in my mixing containers but, that doesn't seem to harm anything. I've tried them all and get the best results with TMP.

 

[MTBake]

Sea salt for the kitchen is dehydrated seawater that sits in vats. Sometimes outside, sometimes in a warehouse, depends where it's made. It's just how salt is produced from seawater. This fact alone would not steer me from one brand of salt over another.

That said, I used Red Sea for years without issue. I switched to Tropic Marin 15 months ago because my ICP tests showed practically no iodine with the Red Sea blue bucket. It still runs low with the TM but not nearly as low as the RSBB.

 

[Adalius]

I bought Red Sea salt. Then I won a bucket of Tropic Marin from a BRS contest. So I used the Tropic first (I had less of it). My 55 gallon mixing tub was crystal clear, no precipitate at all. Well now I'm running the red sea for the first 55 gallon batch since the Tropic is gone, and there's all sorts of precipitate at the bottom of the bin now after just mixing one batch. I'll probably finish this salt off and go back to Tropic afterwards. Plus BRS did that salt study and the cost per gallon of saltwater is almost negligible between brands so its not like it's saving me money.

I should be clear, I haven't had any issue with Red Sea salt in the past, performance wise. The precipitate is just a maintenance thing (I'll have to clean my holding tank out more often). I'm lazy so if I can get almost no precipitate for the same price, eh, easy choice. But certainly has no impact on performance, I've used RS in the past without issue, and since I always did it in small batches (since I had nanos then) I never really noticed the precipitate until now.