anybody switched from Red Sea Coral Pr salt to Tropic Marine?

[kissman]

Just as the title says has anybody switched from Red Sea Coral Pro Salt to Tropic Marine Bioactif Salt? I was thinking of making the switch for 2 reasons. Reasson one is seems there have been a lot of issues with Red Sea latley being cloudy, high alk, etc.. I have not had this issue but I don't want it either. The second reason is I have just wanted to try it. So I was looking to see if anybody had any results after switching?

 

[Dr. Reef]

i have never had any issues with red sea coral pro but i have switched to red sea regular due to high alk reasons but i have never tried tropic marine. maybe someone else can chime in.

 

[MarcWeaver]

I switched from Red Sea Coral Pro to Tropic Marin Pro Reef. I didn't really notice anything except for the speed that TMPR mixes up is much faster. Water is clear within an hour. With the red sea even the next day it was still cloudy for me. I switched mainly for the lower alk, though.

 

[RyanSweatt2004]

I would research TM salts before switching. I used TM pro reef for about 6 years. Decided to pay the extra money on top of the already expensive salt to try the TM bio actif. Used it for the duration of one 200 gal mix bucket. My tank had very low nitrates and phosphates and just weeks after switching, I started seeing cyano creeping in. I tested for everything. Bought a bigger Reef octopus SRO skimmer and increased my internal flow and GPH turnover rate. I was even doing 15-20% water changes to keep it under control. It wasn't until I ditched the TM bio actif to go back to the TM pro reef that the cyano went away. Now for the last year I've had issues with the TM pro reef as well. Very low ALk had my soft corals so stressed to the point they had stopped growing and extending polyps. I was measuring the ALK in my saltwater mixing tub with both red sea and salifert test kits. The TM pro was ranging from 4.5 DKH all the way up to 11.8 DKH at .025 salinity 24 hours after mixing. The DKH of TM was all over the place. I almost made the switch to Red Sea Coral Pro but there was enough bad reviews about it that I wasn't going to bother. On the contrary though. I had read more than I had expected about the newly raised levels of calcium and mag in regular old instant Ocean salt. I figured what the hell. For only $44 for a 200 mix box of IO from Foster and Smiths with free shipping on orders over $49. Why not, I might as well give it a shot. My corals were already stressed anyway. So now after a good few months of using IO salt, things are on the mend again. The alk has been steady around 10-11 DKH. I've seen enough of a difference in how my corals have responded to not look back at TM salts again. Not saying that many people and stores don't or haven't had good luck with TM salts. Just saying it was no longer working for my tank. I'm done paying $100 for One bucket of salt. Hope my experience helps.

 

[kissman]

Intresting reading thanks. I havent used IO since i switched from FOWLR. I have been using RSCP for about 2 years with no problems. Just kinda wanted to see if TM was worth the extra money maybe i will just stay with Red Sea. If it aint broke dont fix it

 

[yvr]

I've been using TM Bio Actif for a little over a year and have really noticed improved colouration in my SPS corals, my Hydnophora colony which I have had for 3 years has gone from a dull/pale green to an intense fluorescent green and I've noticed some really intense colours appearing in my clams. So I am really happy with what I have seen so far.

 

[Nicodemus85]

I have made the switch from Red Sea to TM (Not for any specific reason, we were just out of Red Sea and had a lot of TM waiting in the back) and have noticed less of a bump in TA and less cloudiness. I think this all has to do with TM mixing faster and having a lower TA. After a week, the TA was the same as it was when I was using Red Sea, so I think that mixing rates are the difference here. How much volume are we talking here in your tank? My experiences are from an LFS, so 1000+ gallons

 

[rcmania]

I had been buying my water from MLS but now i have been making my own water. When i was buying water, i never had a issue with Calcium and alk. Now that a make it, i have been using TM. I have had to dose alk and a little calcium to bring them both up. Im almost out of TM and was looking to buy salt. In fact i was thinking of switching to RSCP.

 

[reeflovin]

I never had issues with Red Coral salt being more cloudy than any other salt mix. I always mix and aerate for a day in a rubbermaid container

I've gone from saltmix to saltmix and never had any issues. I just bought whatever was on sale at that time

 

[erosenlieb]

I have also been on the hunt for the BEST salt ive asked all local LFS

The problem with that is out of the 5 or so i have asked they all
have different answers none of them say they use TM bio-actif
i was really leaning hard towards that salt as i only have to do
5 gallon water changes

After asking tons of people and surfing many different web pages
and forums

What i will say is you will never get a clear answer because
you will never get 5 people to say the same thing about the
same salt all of them have just as many negative reviews as
they do positive

 

[MarcWeaver]

I agree with you on that. Over the years I have used Reef Crystals, Instant Ocean, Coralife, Tropic Marin Pro Reef, Tropic Marin Regular, and Red Sea Coral Pro. I never noticed any appreciable difference between any of them, other that the levels of alk, calcium, and magnesium. Anything bad that happened with my tank was MY fault, not the salt. It's easy for some people to blame a salt mix when sometimes the problem is something else. I did hear lots of negative reviews about BioActif, though. Mostly cyano issues and there were some bad batches of Tropic Marin Pro Reef which had caking issues and low alk. All salt should be rolled around or otherwise mixed before usage because it can settle during long term storage or shipment before you buy it. That may explain some of the variances of alk in the same bucket.

 

[fcmatt]

I have a small 28 gallon bow tank that is all acro and monti.
This tank has been running for a couple of years now.

I started the tank using IO for the most part. The regular salt and also the
reef crystal version. While I had all the normal issues everyone has with tank
maintenance I found that I could correct any issue and my tank was pretty
darn nice. I have so much growth in such a small tank it is crazy just to maintain
the alk/cal/mag with my doser.

My tank only has 3 small fish. 2 clowns and 1 yellow assessor. I have one red
bubble tip anemone as well as a hosting anemone crab. I no longer have any
shrimp or other crabs. I also have one sand sifting star that has been with me
a long time in a small tank which is interesting to note. Yes I have snails.

Well one day I thought I would be smart and buy a full bucket of TM Bio Actif.
I am almost done with the bucket and my tank is a total mess with bubble
algae that I cannot control. I never had this problem previously and while I
was using the bucket of salt I thought I could correct the issue by doing
water changes more often, less feeding, changing my gfo more often, hand
removal of the algae, tried a different bulb combo, making sure the skimmer is
running optimally, etc... Not all at once but trying something every month to
see what happens. And let me tell you.. a full bucket lasts a long time on a
28 gallon tank! So I had plenty of time to attempt to fix this issue that seems
to have started when I totally switched to TM Bio-Actif and my IO ran out.
I mixed the two for a while there to ease into it and adjusted the specs
accordingly.

NO LUCK. I am not a rookie to salt water tanks, coral, or fish either. Been at
this for years now (sigh.. i am getting older now days). I have used a lot
of different salts and have learned how to slowly correct bad conditions in
a SW tank.

I am going to blame this condition on the salt. Yes, I hate to blame just one
thing but in my case I have eliminated so many other things it is the only
thing left yet to change. Sadly I am at the point it might have to be totally
redone now but I will try a box of IO again to see what I can do over the next
5-8 months before I rip it apart/redo. The corals are so large that it is difficult
to get my hand in most areas of the tank. I do not have a problem with other
algae. I only have to clean the glass on my tank once a week if that. Some
areas of the glass I can no longer clean due to corals growing so close and
the glass never becomes covered in algae to the point of being ugly. A change of
GFO knocks it all off for a couple of weeks anyway.

So what are the positives of the salt? I can grow acros and montis with it like
nobody's business. But I can say the same for cheaper salts too. My current
acro colors are only OK. Some are better then others. But definitely not great.
I am the type of person who does not switch out a coral just because the
color does not work out. I have no problem growing an acro that has a brown
base but blue tips. It was a 1 inch frag that is now 6+ inches tall.

So i logged in just to post this. I have not posted in a while. I would not
recommend TM Bio Actif to anyone. It is a waste of money and cheaper salts
can perform just as well. Don't fall for the marketing. Spend the saved money
on a better skimmer, larger tank, or what have you.

And before anyone asks.. yes I test my water with Hanna phosphorus checker,
Hanna Alk checker, TM Ca/Mag test kit, Salifert Alk test kit, LaMotte Alk test
kit, Elos Phosphate test kit, blah blah blah. I always have two kits for each
important parameter and sometimes more depending on my mood/age of tank/
dealing with an issue. All my stats are good/stable.

This is just my opinion and I am sure others out there have gone through a
bucket of TM Bio Actif with no problems.