Any feedback on hW Marinemix Plus BioElements salt mix?

[apu701]

hey, i recently read an article about salt mixes. they compared a few to natural saltwater and in their test it said that certain mixes were greatly better than others.

hW Marinemix Plus BioElements was one of the good ones in the test. they compared how urchin eggs were able to survive as well as other properties. Drsfostersmith has them on their site..

i know it has been talked about in RC with long threads. i am just curious to see if anyone uses them and have any experience to share about them? i did read a few pages but to go through the hundreds of threads is time i cant really spend. Im sure many have probly read by now so im wondering what are the current thoughts bout this.

sorry i dont have a link, im sure i could find it again if anyone wants...

 

[seldin]

Re: Any feedback on hW Marinemix Plus BioElements salt mix?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10955939#post10955939 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by apu701
hey, i recently read an article about salt mixes. they compared a few to natural saltwater and in their test it said that certain mixes were greatly better than others. [snip]

i am just curious to see if anyone uses them and have any experience to share about them?

I have been reading some of these posts. Here is what I gathered.

The concept is that in a sense "salt is not salt". It seems that some differences are these:

- Some mixes cloud the water when first mixing them in tank, so it is recommended that wait until the water clears up.

- The interesting part for me, is that some mixes contain more or less of trace elements like calcium. So that some people like "instant ocean" where they add their own calcium. While others, like the extra trace elements, because corals can deplete these trace elements.

So the concept is that some salt mixes add trace elements in quantities that will either "enable you to not have add other nutrients", while others may add trace elements that are too much for your tank.

I was going to use Instant Ocean, because it does not cloud the bucket when I place the water in it. However, I thought Reef Crystals adds more calcium that I was looking for, for my coraline to grow.

PS. Drs. Foster and Smith is having a Red tag sale so, this stuff is on sale.

Does anyone know, if the vendors for fish, are deeply discounting their stuff for "black friday" (Thanksgiving day).


Hope this helps...

 

[apu701]

ya, the calcium is one of the reason why i figured oceanic might be better bc it had a lot.

the main thing with this other salt is that it seems to have different properties that mimic natural saltwater more closly. if that study was done right, and that many people have read it, im curious as to why people are still using Instant ocean, as this was found to be horrible compared to the others.

there are plenty of posts also about how people try to switch to the better salts and even with a small water change they ended up losing alot of livestock. (maybe the difference in the content of the two mixes affected the chemistry of the water in an unknown way? would it have been better to start from this salt mix from day 1?

so i guess people havent been using these mixes huh?

 

[seldin]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10962777#post10962777 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by apu701
the calcium is one of the reason why i figured oceanic might be better bc it had a lot.

the main thing with this other salt is that it seems to have different properties that mimic natural saltwater more closly. [snip]

im curious as to why people are still using Instant ocean, as this was found to be horrible compared to the others.

Apu701,

I think Instant Ocean is the one that touts "to not cloud the water". I have been using Reef Crystals that does cloud the water until mixed well.

As far why people may use 1 brand over others, could just be "advertising", price, etc.

I have been wanting more Calcium in the mix. However, if you want calcium around 440, even Reef Crystals seems low. So you still have to supplement.

So for me, I have been now looking for a salt mix with more trace elements that will lessen what I need to add.

Hope this helps.

 

[Neurotech]

I did a little archival research into what recent TOTM's were using. I was surprised that some did not even specifiy. Overall, I see less concern with the water and changes than with good skimming an calcium levels. Here is what I got:

Tank of the month salt mixes

Jan 2007 Preis Aquaristik
Feb 2007 unspecified
March 2007 unspecified
April 2007 natural sea water
May 2007 unspecified (btw, only changed water once in past two years)
June 2007 ReefCrystals
July 2007 Tropic Marin Pro Reef
August 2007 mixture of 60% Tropic Marine and 40% Oceanic Sept 2007 Tropic Marin
Oct 2007 unspecified

I think that looking at successful tanks that have some longevity is the best way to make choices, but you need to look at every element in context of the other parameters for that tank. I would like to see (and maybe someday I would have the time haha) a table that lists all the parameters/equipment/etc for each TOTM. Its actually a piece of research that would be helpful in the long run.

 

[TandN]

im interested in this also I was thinking of switching from reef crystals to hW