Tropic marin pro salt.

[endlessrealm]

I started this hobby 6 months ago. And i was recommended the tropic marin pro salt. Now i tested that salt before, and it gives me 450 calcium, 1315 mag, alk 7.5. I dont know why that company chose that low of alk, but as a newbie i didnt know about it. For 6 months now iv had a hammer, duncans, candy cane. I really do not see a single growth on them. Sure they are happy stable. But i dont see growth at all. Is that possible because the low ALK? Iv been dosing red sea (B) to keel my alk around 7.6 where the salt mixes.

I do understand that stability of alk is more important. But at the same time i want my corals to grow, and fill my tank. Not a single head of my duncan grown yet, and not a single on my hammer i see beside when i bought it the 2 heads. Whats the best recommendation here?

 

[ReeferHD]

tropic marin pro has a lower alk because they are expecting you to dose, thats where the "pro" comes from. stability is much more important. 7.5 alk is still in the acceptable range and can grow corals if your tank is stable, some corals can take a very long time before they find the stability they need to grow, i recommend you wait it out or if you really don't like how low your alk is, you can switch salts but if i were you i'd just do my best to keep parameters stable.

 

[endlessrealm]

tropic marin pro has a lower alk because they are expecting you to dose, thats where the "pro" comes from. stability is much more important. 7.5 alk is still in the acceptable range and can grow corals if your tank is stable, some corals can take a very long time before they find the stability they need to grow, i recommend you wait it out or if you really don't like how low your alk is, you can switch salts but if i were you i'd just do my best to keep parameters stable.

I do understand that 100%. But as a newbie who did not know better and was recommended this salt. Its pain to start dosing and doing calculations. My head is about to explode. Instead of just doing a water change and cover my parameters as i dont have a lot of corals. I have to dose. I had cyano, and dino issues because my nitrate, and phosphate dropped to 0, and now they are going back up slowly without any dosing. But i cant do water changes weekly. So i do them biweekly. And by the time i do them biweekly. My alk is already 7.1 sometimes 6.9.

 

[ReeferHD]

sounds like it might be best to just switch salts then.

 

[endlessrealm]

sounds like it might be best to just switch salts then.

Any recommendation on the salt?

 

[steveschuerger]

If you do decide to change salts I’ll throw my vote in for AquaForest. I’ve noticed my corals perking up in the past month and a half that I’ve started using it.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Any recommendation on the salt?

I use TM pro and dose the all for reef which is not much. What I have is stable numbers and stable PH.
It dissolves quickly and I get an alk of 8.9 with my mix. Assure you are not getting false reading from tests and if its an older bucket, elements may have settled to the bottom off bucket.

 

[jasonrusso]

Any recommendation on the salt?

I've had very good luck with Fritz. It mixes at 8.5 alk which is where I keep my tank.

 

[w8lifts]

Im actually switching to this salt because of how low the Alk is!

 

[bushdoc]

This is very unfortunate that many young reefers ( including myself years ago) are convinced or cajoled that “Pro” salts are the best. They might be, but only for specific situations and type of tanks, for the rest of us something in the middle is arguably best option. If you decide to switch salt, I recommend Red sea blue bucket ( not pro, which has got alk 11-12) or Aquaforest, which I am currently using.

 

[endlessrealm]

This is very unfortunate that many young reefers ( including myself years ago) are convinced or cajoled that “Pro” salts are the best. They might be, but only for specific situations and type of tanks, for the rest of us something in the middle is arguably best option. If you decide to switch salt, I recommend Red sea blue bucket ( not pro, which has got alk 11-12) or Aquaforest, which I am currently using.

Which one is the blue bucket? Isnt the blue bucket mixes at 7.8 dkh?

 

[bushdoc]

Which one is the blue bucket? Isnt the blue bucket mixes at 7.8 dkh?

7.8-8.2 depending on the batch. Aquaforest mixes a bit higher.
For me it is a good point to start.

 

[OfficeReefer]

I do understand that 100%. But as a newbie who did not know better and was recommended this salt. Its pain to start dosing and doing calculations. My head is about to explode. Instead of just doing a water change and cover my parameters as i dont have a lot of corals. I have to dose. I had cyano, and dino issues because my nitrate, and phosphate dropped to 0, and now they are going back up slowly without any dosing. But i cant do water changes weekly. So i do them biweekly. And by the time i do them biweekly. My alk is already 7.1 sometimes 6.9.

I would just change to their Classic salt which is set higher. The reason you were likely recommended it is that its both profitable to LFS and generally consistent batch salt, which mixes fast with little or no residue.

But yes, one must dose and unless you are going to keep a ton of corals and have a larger tank, water changes may be just fine for you. They were all I needed with my nano tanks.

 

[mike550]

@endlessrealm I feel your pain. I started with TM Pro because that’s what the LFS suggested. Long story short, Ive now learned that besides the notion that you need to adjust the hardness and other parameters to your liking, you don’t really need a salt like this until you’re working with SPS. I switched to Instant Ocean Reef Crystals since I’m running a mixed reef with softies and LPS.

 

[rtparty]

What is wrong with 7.5dkh? That is not the reason for "slow growth". Changing salts is not going to fix that problem.

I have run my tanks around 7 to 7.5dkh for more than 15 years. You know, where natural sea water runs

 

[endlessrealm]

What is wrong with 7.5dkh? That is not the reason for "slow growth". Changing salts is not going to fix that problem.

I have run my tanks around 7 to 7.5dkh for more than 15 years. You know, where natural sea water runs

Nothing wrong with 7.5 dkh. I just do biweekly water changes because of my low nutrients sometimes i do water changes in 3 weeks. So my dkh is low 6s.

 

[rtparty]

Nothing wrong with 7.5 dkh. I just do biweekly water changes because of my low nutrients sometimes i do water changes in 3 weeks. So my dkh is low 6s.

You will have to dose no matter what salt you use

 

[Lou Ekus]

The "Pro" in Tropic Marin Pro Reef has NOTHING to do with having to dose! I'm not sure where that piece of information comes from. In fact, in ANY reef system, that is doing well, thriving and growing, you WILL need to dose certain components to keep your parameters in check. That is only not the case if you maybe have a very small nano system, and are doing large (like 80%-100%) water changes every week. Different companies recommend different parameters as optimum. Tropic Marin takes it's lessons from nature (and research). Natural sea water is approximately 6.5 dkH. THAT is the reason that the Pro Reef salt is targeting a 7-8 dkH. If you want to maintain a higher alkalinity than that, I recommend you switch to the Tropic Marin Classic salt mix. That will be closer to 9-10 dkH.
There are many reasons that you may not be seeing good coral growth. MANY! I am always available to chat by phone in our office if you would like to have a conversation about your system and why you might not be seeing the growth that you want. However, in the end, when your system is doing well and growing, you WILL need to be dosing to maintain your vital parameters.

 

[endlessrealm]

The "Pro" in Tropic Marin Pro Reef has NOTHING to do with having to dose! I'm not sure where that piece of information comes from. In fact, in ANY reef system, that is doing well, thriving and growing, you WILL need to dose certain components to keep your parameters in check. That is only not the case if you maybe have a very small nano system, and are doing large (like 80%-100%) water changes every week. Different companies recommend different parameters as optimum. Tropic Marin takes it's lessons from nature (and research). Natural sea water is approximately 6.5 dkH. THAT is the reason that the Pro Reef salt is targeting a 7-8 dkH. If you want to maintain a higher alkalinity than that, I recommend you switch to the Tropic Marin Classic salt mix. That will be closer to 9-10 dkH.
There are many reasons that you may not be seeing good coral growth. MANY! I am always available to chat by phone in our office if you would like to have a conversation about your system and why you might not be seeing the growth that you want. However, in the end, when your system is doing well and growing, you WILL need to be dosing to maintain your vital parameters.

Alright thanks for the clarification.

Im really really happy with the salt. It mixes well, and its very clean. And as far as availability everyone have it.

But just everyone telling me how my alk is low, and should be higher, and how alk of 9 grows more corals. My tank is 6 months old. It went through hell for the past few months. And now everything is finally happy. But if you are telling me that alk of 7s grows the same. Obviously you know better. I'am a newbie, and still learning.

 

[Crabby48]

You don’t have to dose it higher. If you’re dosing to hold all at 7.5 it’s not the salt but consumption. Also tropic Marin clearly states what parameters the salt is so again it’s not the salt.