TROPIC MARIN.....BACK TO NORMAL YET???????

[topjimmy]

As a long time TM classic user I was pretty disappointed to find issues with an entire pallet of the classic German salt I got a couple years ago now, just before the "you know what " hit the proverbial fan over there. Still sitting on 20 + buckets I don't think I'll ever use. but that's the past. Not going to re-debate or revive that whole thing here. the purpose of this thread is not to rehash or bash TM. losses were cut. Moved on. stuff happens.

Anyway, I switched brands and got a pallet of Red Sea, that is down to about 5 bags left now. As a life long fan of the TM salt I'd love to go back to it. just wondering if things are back to "normal"? as in, no oily film on the surface or weird floaties or any other issues that were associated with the breakdown a couple years ago.

What is the consensus out there?

I switched to HW marine mix since TM was impossible to get. Been happy with it.

 

[Neoma369]

As a long time TM classic user I was pretty disappointed to find issues with an entire pallet of the classic German salt I got a couple years ago now, just before the "you know what " hit the proverbial fan over there. Still sitting on 20 + buckets I don't think I'll ever use. but that's the past. Not going to re-debate or revive that whole thing here. the purpose of this thread is not to rehash or bash TM. losses were cut. Moved on. stuff happens.

Anyway, I switched brands and got a pallet of Red Sea, that is down to about 5 bags left now. As a life long fan of the TM salt I'd love to go back to it. just wondering if things are back to "normal"? as in, no oily film on the surface or weird floaties or any other issues that were associated with the breakdown a couple years ago.

What is the consensus out there?

Welp, I recently got a container of all for reef and though the cal & mag got back to where they should be-by following the directions-I found my Alk was DOUBLED!?! thats just 2023

 

[rtparty]

Welp, I recently got a container of all for reef and though the cal & mag got back to where they should be-by following the directions-I found my Alk was DOUBLED!?! thats just 2023

All for Reef is not designed for raising elements in any serious manner. You’re also supposed to dose based on YOUR tank’s requirements, not the directions on the bottle. Were you changing your dosages based on your alkalinity readings or just blindly dosing?

 

[areefer01]

All for Reef is not designed for raising elements in any serious manner. You’re also supposed to dose based on YOUR tank’s requirements, not the directions on the bottle. Were you changing your dosages based on your alkalinity readings or just blindly dosing?

I don't understand why some hobbyist don't read the instructions before use... As you noted Tropic Marin recommends to adjust the systems Cal, Alk, and Mag to hobbyist desired levels first.

Stuff is pretty darn simple to use.

 

[robanister]

The 3 buckets of tm I just got were really dirty. Brown stuff in mixing bin. Filtered before used in tank. Going back to AF.

 

[Neoma369]

All for Reef is not designed for raising elements in any serious manner. You’re also supposed to dose based on YOUR tank’s requirements, not the directions on the bottle. Were you changing your dosages based on your alkalinity readings or just blindly dosing?

just trying to get my calcium and mag up, the alk was at 8 but I didn't expect it to hit 22 just to get cal to400!
and mad to 1200

 

[Neoma369]

I don't understand why some hobbyist don't read the instructions before use... As you noted Tropic Marin recommends to adjust the systems Cal, Alk, and Mag to hobbyist desired levels first.

Stuff is pretty darn simple to use.

 

[Neoma369]

Gee whiz!! Thanks!! It never occurred to me that it has instructions, I just sprinkle it in and the fish come and eat it

 

[Gregg @ ADP]

As a long time TM classic user I was pretty disappointed to find issues with an entire pallet of the classic German salt I got a couple years ago now, just before the "you know what " hit the proverbial fan over there. Still sitting on 20 + buckets I don't think I'll ever use. but that's the past. Not going to re-debate or revive that whole thing here. the purpose of this thread is not to rehash or bash TM. losses were cut. Moved on. stuff happens.

Anyway, I switched brands and got a pallet of Red Sea, that is down to about 5 bags left now. As a life long fan of the TM salt I'd love to go back to it. just wondering if things are back to "normal"? as in, no oily film on the surface or weird floaties or any other issues that were associated with the breakdown a couple years ago.

What is the consensus out there?

I wanted to revisit this storyline.

We have been sitting on about 4 pallets of Turkish TMP 200g buckets for a while and decided to start seeing if it was usable. We would not use it on our client tanks, but if it’s usable in our systems…well, as you know, 4 pallets is a lot of salt.

Was the issue ever confirmed? I read some old stuff that talked about clay, then there were some allusions to it being ammonium. I actually started using some in my classroom aquarium, and have not noticed any issues with either odor, mixing dirty, or any adverse reactions from any of the coral in that tank.

Is it possible that it was just a bad batch that went out? Back when I was young and dumb (as opposed to old and dumb, as I am now), I regularly added Kent Reef Carbon to client tanks. They had a contaminated batch go out, and it wiped out most inverts in 6 client tanks that received it over the course of 3 days. That was pretty definitive contamination, but at the same time, overall they didn’t have quality issues…they just had a contaminated batch go out and I was unlucky enough to get some of it.

I’m going to start playing with it. If it was ammonium, I’m not going to worry about it, b/c I wouldn’t be doing big water changes. I’ll test and see if there is any ammonia.

I would love to be able to use all this salt for something.

 

[twiatr2001]

I switched recently to Fauna Marin and am very happy with the results, was using Red Sea Coral Pro before and was getting too high of an alk spike on water changes. Plus I saw that Fauna Marin has more tace elements in it. There was a rumor that Tropic Marin was purchased by Fauna Marin, has anyone else heard this?

 

[areefer01]

I wanted to revisit this storyline.

We have been sitting on about 4 pallets of Turkish TMP 200g buckets for a while and decided to start seeing if it was usable. We would not use it on our client tanks, but if it’s usable in our systems…well, as you know, 4 pallets is a lot of salt.

Was the issue ever confirmed? I read some old stuff that talked about clay, then there were some allusions to it being ammonium. I actually started using some in my classroom aquarium, and have not noticed any issues with either odor, mixing dirty, or any adverse reactions from any of the coral in that tank.

Is it possible that it was just a bad batch that went out? Back when I was young and dumb (as opposed to old and dumb, as I am now), I regularly added Kent Reef Carbon to client tanks. They had a contaminated batch go out, and it wiped out most inverts in 6 client tanks that received it over the course of 3 days. That was pretty definitive contamination, but at the same time, overall they didn’t have quality issues…they just had a contaminated batch go out and I was unlucky enough to get some of it.

I’m going to start playing with it. If it was ammonium, I’m not going to worry about it, b/c I wouldn’t be doing big water changes. I’ll test and see if there is any ammonia.

I would love to be able to use all this salt for something.

Curious why you didn't return the salt for a refund or product from Germany?

For the record I used a complete bucket of salt from Turkey unbeknownst to me at the time. Mixed clear never had any troubles. I passed a picture of my bucket and lot number to Tropic Marin once this started gaining traction. This was in my 210 gallon mixed reef and my experience based on the bucket I had. Purchased from BRS.

I still use Tropic Marin Pro Reef salt

 

[robanister]

Last batch 6 months ago. I had was high ph and also I filter my water it was brown in 100 micron filter... high clay content assume. Switch back to af reef!
8.0 to 8.4 alk always. Ans a icp to know. Come on TM get with the times!

 

[Gregg @ ADP]

Curious why you didn't return the salt for a refund or product from Germany?

For the record I used a complete bucket of salt from Turkey unbeknownst to me at the time. Mixed clear never had any troubles. I passed a picture of my bucket and lot number to Tropic Marin once this started gaining traction. This was in my 210 gallon mixed reef and my experience based on the bucket I had. Purchased from BRS.

I still use Tropic Marin Pro Reef salt

I’m not really sure how we ended up with it. My partner handles all that stuff. I believe it was given to us by our online partner to use at our own risk if we wanted to. The one stipulation I know of is that we are not to resell it under any circumstances.

Like your experience, the salt from Turkey that I have used has been free of problems and I have not seen any adverse effects on the animals. I don’t know what their manufacture and packaging processes are, but I’m inclined to think a bad batch went out (and who knows how much salt that could have been), but that not all Turkey TMP salt is contaminated.

If that’s the case, and we have 4 pallets of good salt, that’s great news for us in terms of being able to use it on our systems and not having to buy salt for awhile.

I’ll post an update tomorrow when I can mix some up and test it.

 

[Homewrecker]

I've been using it for about 5 months now and I'm happy

 

[Battlecorals Verified Sponsor]

For what it's worth I switched to Fauna Marin about a year ago now and have been super happy with the results. will be sticking with this salt for sure.

 

[jackson6745]

For what it's worth I switched to Fauna Marin about a year ago now and have been super happy with the results. will be sticking with this salt for sure.

Hey Adam, what made you change from Red Sea blue bucket?

 

[james frantz]

I don’t know? Thing’s floating around and oil slicks….. sounds like our seas! Lol. following.

I have had no problem with tm and I buy it at my local petco

 

[Battlecorals Verified Sponsor]

Hey Adam, what made you change from Red Sea blue bucket?

Good question! I didn’t have any issues at
with the Red Sea, I had gone throught two pallets when I started looking to get another, and I wasn’t able to get a wholesale anymore for whatever reason so I made the switch.

 

[twiatr2001]

That's too bad for red sea, Adam, I switched from black bucket to fauna, I'm about a bucket and a quarter in and love how everything looks, my Gonis love the elevated levels of Manganese as opposed to red sea.

 

[Battlecorals Verified Sponsor]

That's too bad for red sea, Adam, I switched from black bucket to fauna, I'm about a bucket and a quarter in and love how everything looks, my Gonis love the elevated levels of Manganese as opposed to red sea.

yeah, I hear ya so far I’ve been really happy with the Fauna Marin. No complaints whatsoever. In fact, I’m just about ready to pick up another pallet. I’m a little bummed out that they don’t come with a free ICP test anymore, but I guess that was kind of a promotional perk.