Tropic marin pro salt.

[OfficeReefer]

Lou was correct earlier, the pro likely has nothing to do with dosing and I would be curious why that term was chosen. Personally, I would think the Pro is actually the "classic" and the "pro" maybe should be renamed "original" or something.

@endlessrealm when I first got into the hobby about 15 years or so ago, I didn't have but one or so decent LFS near me and most were retail Petco and the like. The first salt I was sold was Instant Oceans and later Reef Crystals. I did know that Reef Crystals had a target for higher alkalinity. I did not know better about salt overall though and rarely came here to R2R as other forums were more popular then. To me, salt was salt - different than pool salt and table salt.

After many years and tanks, I eventually learned that not all salt is equal. The main differences I have seen are:

1. Price (obviously)
2. Size (obviously)
3. Target parameters (these are the Alk, Ca, Mg and so on)
4. Consistency
5. Clarity
6. Storage
7. Company (supply chain)

There are several posts on the R2R forums and a few BRSTV Investigates about testing salt for some of the above. At least from the BRS perspective, Tropic Marin salts did best across the board. While I am a fan of this salt and products from Deutschland, everything made me pause when I wasn't able to locate salt both online and in multiple LFS stores. It's also important to know how this salt tests out new because there are plenty of threads where people with established tanks killed corals from changing salts, many times without realizing what the base target parameters will mix and store at.

As for dosing, your corals will use up elements in the water. There are tanks on R2R that have never had water changes in a long time and people are just dosing to maintain but usually are a two part or balling method, not everything that is sold by Brightwell or RedSea. I liken most of this to the pool industry and additives, as most cause problems that they also sell solutions solve. Many additives you add to your tank are not required and many on this forum, probably did just fine in the hobby before all these additives existed. Even if you are never adding corals to your tank and its a FOWLR, the coralline algae itself will consume elements and you'll observe a drop in alkalinity. Keeping this consistent is where the dosing comes in, as the ocean would not have this issue.

 

[brandon429]

curious what makes a person think their parameter measure was accurate each time they're ran

the alk was tested low, and we believe that test kit?

when i read test kit comparison threads, and results are wildly different between brands, I think of all the reaction moves reefers make based on those guesses.

 

[endlessrealm]

curious what makes a person think their parameter measure was accurate each time they're ran

the alk was tested low, and we believe that test kit?

when i read test kit comparison threads, and results are wildly different between brands, I think of all the reaction moves reefers make based on those guesses.

Because i have trident, hanna, and salifret. And they all measure very closely to each others considering the testing error. I dont rely on 1 kit. But yes i prefer hanna.

 

[brandon429]

ok Ill buy that measure

 

[Lou Ekus]

Lou was correct earlier, the pro likely has nothing to do with dosing and I would be curious why that term was chosen. Personally, I would think the Pro is actually the "classic" and the "pro" maybe should be renamed "original" or something.

This is becasue the "Classic" version came way before the Pro Reef version. the Pro Reef version was developed back in the day, when aquarists in Germany wanted a salt mix from Tropic Marin with an alklainity closer to natural sea water, rather than the existing "Classic" which was up at 9-10 dkH. I don't know the specific reason that the term "Pro" was used. but my guess is that this request, for lower alkalinity, was comming largely from more exprienced aquarists and researchers. But that is just a guess!

 

[mrbiggs1986]

I switched from instant ocean to tropic Marin reef pro. I maintain a dkh of 9.5 and when I do whatever changes I add sodium bicarbonate to bring the dkh up to 9.5. I like this salt and won’t be switching back.

 

[Kasrift]

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

Agree with this. I've run TM Pro since I started my tank in oct 2021. I have all of the corals you listed and they grow new heads all the time. I try to keep my alk at 7.5-7.7. I dose AFR as well with some added mag. Nothing wrong with that alk level.

 

[mike550]

This is a really interesting thread, and perhaps I could get some guidance here. I think it’s fair to say that everyone has their favorite salts but as a new reefer of 2+ years I’ve always followed the mantra of Alk should be 8.5-ish and it seems that most places where I buy fish / coral run Alk around there.

So if Im looking for salts wouldn’t I want one that’s close to 8.5?

 

[Alexander1312]

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.

I did switch to Tropic Marin Pro from Coral Pro to have actually lower alkalinity, and due to its known high quality/purity. However, what is your response on the high iron values this salt produces, based on the various forums, potentially further fueling dinos once they are in the tank? I have just had my recent ICP coming back and my iron was 7 ug/l (vs. recommended 0), and I do not want to switch salts again, but because I do have dinos, I might need to. Would be interested in your response to the iron concerns. Thank you!

 

[Lou Ekus]

I did switch to Tropic Marin Pro from Coral Pro to have actually lower alkalinity, and due to its known high quality/purity. However, what is your response on the high iron values this salt produces, based on the various forums, potentially further fueling dinos once they are in the tank? I have just had my recent ICP coming back and my iron was 7 ug/l (vs. recommended 0), and I do not want to switch salts again, but because I do have dinos, I might need to. Would be interested in your response to the iron concerns. Thank you!

Hi @Alexander1312 There are a couple of important factors when looking at iron concentrations. The most important is that iron alone won't cause a dino issue. There must be other imbalances in the systems parameters to foster that growth. By the way, if you call me in the office I can try to help you figure out what those factors might be in your system and help you get that resolved.

Secondly, iron is utilized very quickly by bacterial metabolism in your system. So it is quite unusual to see much iron showing up in the system itself. When you do see iron showing up, it is usually in the freshly made water change water. Is the ICP test you are referencing in system water, or water change water?

Lastly, there are two different types of anti-clumping agents used in sea salt production. Whenever the iron based one is used, you will see that iron in the freshly made salt water (this is the case with Tropic Marin and many other salts as well) But it is metabolized so quickly in the tank system, that it does not show when testing the system water.

 

[Kasrift]

This is a really interesting thread, and perhaps I could get some guidance here. I think it’s fair to say that everyone has their favorite salts but as a new reefer of 2+ years I’ve always followed the mantra of Alk should be 8.5-ish and it seems that most places where I buy fish / coral run Alk around there.

So if Im looking for salts wouldn’t I want one that’s close to 8.5?

There is definitely nothing wrong with 8.5 or the thought process that you are trying to match where you buy from. I'm similar in my thoughts which is why I try to run 7.5. I'm down the road from AquaSD and they bring in mostly Aquacultured or wild corals and keep things near natural sea water levels. I'm close enough that if I buy something, I don't necessarily need to temp float and since I aim for their parameters I could probably just dip, inspect and then plop a coral in.

 

[Alexander1312]

Hi @Alexander1312 There are a couple of important factors when looking at iron concentrations. The most important is that iron alone won't cause a dino issue. There must be other imbalances in the systems parameters to foster that growth. By the way, if you call me in the office I can try to help you figure out what those factors might be in your system and help you get that resolved.

Secondly, iron is utilized very quickly by bacterial metabolism in your system. So it is quite unusual to see much iron showing up in the system itself. When you do see iron showing up, it is usually in the freshly made water change water. Is the ICP test you are referencing in system water, or water change water?

Lastly, there are two different types of anti-clumping agents used in sea salt production. Whenever the iron based one is used, you will see that iron in the freshly made salt water (this is the case with Tropic Marin and many other salts as well) But it is metabolized so quickly in the tank system, that it does not show when testing the system water.

Thank you @Lou Ekus , much appreciated. I just wanted to emphasize that I did not mean to say that the potentially higher iron in the Tropic Marin Pro is the cause for my Dino issues, the cause were too low nutrients and lack of biodiversity in my tank, and there have been some painful lessons learned here that take months for me to correct.

However, you are certainly familiar with one of the most popular facebook groups on this topic who are making a claim that higher irons further fuel existing Dino issues, and that folks had tested this salt and others and found TM to have higher iron, and they advise using Red Sea Blue despite its lower quality while fighting Dinos (only).

Since I am investing a significant time and effort on applying all recommended practices to treat prorocentrums, I did not want this to be partially offset by the iron concerns, if you understand where I am coming from.

Similarly, I also do not want to change the salt as it does seem much more clear/clean than Red Sea Coral PRO, and also does not have the Alk issues and I can dose Kalkwasser which is key for me to keep my PH somewhat in acceptable ranges.

And to answer your question: I did use my tank water only for the ICP, but in all honesty I do not know if this was immediately before or after a 15% water change. Based on your feedback where there is more iron in the freshly mixed water, it could be that the amount I had shown in the ICP came from the sample taken immediately after the water change - this would be a great explanation and I will make sure I test the water through ICP next month before the water change.

Thanks again for your feeback, much appreciated.

 

[JeanRocareef]

Si uso el all for Reef ya no es necesario usar los elementos ? Por lo que he leído ya viene en el frasco ,solo es necesario algo de yodo y potasio que opinan?

If I use All-for-Reef is it no longer necessary to use other elements? From what I've read, it already comes in the bottle. The only thing necessary is some iodine and potassium, what do you guys think?