I am impressed!!!

meshwheel

meshwheel

New member
Hi everyone,
I just wanted to throw out a plug for BrightWell Aquatics NeoMarine Salt!
I have been using it for about a month now and I can honestly say I love it!
For my 34 gallon Max nano reef with all SPS corals it is a perfect match!!!!
What do I like about it:
1. All levels test out spot on! Calcium, KH, Mag are spot on! MAKE SURE YOU MIX THE SALT IN THE BUCKET BEFORE TAKING OUT THE PORTION TO MAKE YOUR WATER. THERE ARE DIFFERENT GRANULAR SIZES THAT WILL SETTLE OUT!!!!
This is very important for my small tank!
2. It mixes superbly!!!! WOW!!!! The best mixing salt I have ever used! Hands down! Even in cooler fresh water! Dump it in, shake and it is dissolved!!!!
3. It seems to take less salt to make the same amount of water!!!!!! Hmmmm, less buffer or additives in there so more salt?
4. I like the bucket! It's heavy duty!!! SO HEAVY DUTY IT KEEPS AIR OUT AND NO BAG NEEDED IN THE BUCKET!
That is awesome!!! No more fumbling around with that darn bag, and not getting it closed up enough and getting chunky salt!!!!
5. I like thing made in the USA TOO!!!!!!
What have been your guys experience with the salt??
 
Respectfully, here's some questions to spur a little critical thinking...

Calcium, alk, etc. "spot on" at what salinity? What's "spot on", NSW levels or something different? Why is it important that it dissolves immediately? Do you age your water? Is the price is in line with the rest of Brightwell's product line - high?
 
Only 4 posts and a non-sequitur glowing recommendation? Yeah, I'd call this spam if I were a mod here.
 
not the place for this ... read the <a href="http://www.reefcentral.com/index.php/user-agreement">User Agreement</a> again


ReefGeezer, what would you "THINK" spot on is?????? What is this forum all about? If i must answer. Natural seawater values. Better????????? You answered your own question actually.......
Nope, do not work for Brightwell Aquatics. Never have. I am a hobbyist of 30 years. Just started trying their products. Always thought it was a fancy label and nothing more!
Comparing it to a multitude of other brands. I used RedSea Coral Pro for the past few years. Very high alkalinity. High or low calcium and magnesium everywhere.........usually low however.
Then, always "Dirt" at the bottom of the container after mixxed.
Nowhere did I say it was THE BEST. Just wanted other peoples experience with it and comments..................shesh.....
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thank you Debi!
Here's a few pics of my tank:
IMG_3157.jpg

IMG_3156.jpg

IMG_3153.jpg

DSC02666.jpg

All these corals are in a 34 gallon nano reef. RedSea Max tank! All grown from small frags. All attatched to my rocks and coloring up nicely.......................
I thinking of trying the "Fancy label, Over priced, super hyped up, Brightwell "Coral Snow" next............
 
It's just salt, not much different if at all than the others,imo. Glad you like it meshwheel. If it works for you keep using it. Some of the Brightwell marketing is a bit over the top for my taste, though.
 
Hello,
so what are the values you got, KH, CA++, MG, and salinity ? care to post them ? have you tested for K+ ?

thank you :)
 
Glad it's working out for you. I just switched out from Brightwell to ESV, and will gladly give the 1.5 buckets I have left away for free. Be careful with the Brightwell, it gets extremely hot once in contact with water. I was told that it may contain Kalkwasser, but as I never dealt with Kalk, I can't confirm. For giggles, I measured the temperature and it hit around 140 degrees.

For the record, I switched salts right before Thanksgiving due to SPS STNing. My parameters were spot on, but couldn't figure out what was causing it. Even swapped out a 75 diode DIY LED system back to MH, and still to no avail. Till a friend suggested I try a different salt. Too early to tell, but crossing fingers.
 
I didn't mean anything by my questions. It is not uncommon to ask questions to elicit discussion and spur critical thinking. This type of thinking is valuable as it makes us question things we might normally accept without too much thought. Unfortunately, the "critical" part (as in criticism) of this thinking process that makes it work also makes it seem like a challenge.

I have not used Brightwell salt. So, I suppose it seemed I was attacking you, particularly when read along with those posts implying that you may have other motives for starting the thread. That's not what I intended and apologize.

I have used many of Brightwell's products, and found them to be no better/worse than many other brands to include Seachem and Kent, but maybe a little more expensive in many cases. I would liketo expolre if NWS levels in salt mixes are over rated, but I'll do do in a different thread as that is not the subject of this one.
 
Reefgeezer,
Hey no problem. I suppose I am at fault here as well. Just everyone basically accused me of being a liar/impersonator of a brightwell employee.......??. People are so quick to judge. MYSELF INCLUDED!!!!
I too apologize if I lashed out at you or anyone else!
I, in particular like the salt because it has been for me very close to natural seawater in terms of KH(in the 7 range w/ test kit), Calcium was in the 450 range and Mag. was in the 1300 range. This at 35 pt salinity level or 1.025. Ph was 8.2-8.3 as well.
Not sure on potassium, but I do add a health food store for human consumption potassium supplement! A big bottle for 5.95!
My make up salt water for water changes is made up at least 48 hours before using for my water change.
When trying to grow about a 30 gallon box of water full of SPS corals, this really helps as levels can quickly get out of whack when doing a water change with new synthetic seawater that has a KH of say 15 and the tank water is 8!!!!!!
My corals do not slime up at all after my water change! Nothing!
The heating up of the brightwells salt is from the magnesium content.
It should not be a issue, as it quickly cools back down. I like the salt, and will continue to use it for now!
MANY small changes cannot be seen until ULNS levels are reached. Until you go this route, it is hard to understand.
GTSI, have you been using a PAR meter when you swapped out lights??? Do this happen after switching over to LEDs?
Personally, I love my metal halide and will continue to use it w/ my Ice Cap ballast........
PS, I am not going to give you EXACT values, as I believe there is a slight margin in all the reagent test kits.
However, Brightwells Neo salt is by far the closest I have used as of yet. If I had a 120 gallon tank, it may not need to be that close for sure. However, it certainly does not hurt by any means......
 
GTSI said:
Glad it's working out for you. I just switched out from Brightwell to ESV, and will gladly give the 1.5 buckets I have left away for free. Be careful with the Brightwell, it gets extremely hot once in contact with water. I was told that it may contain Kalkwasser, but as I never dealt with Kalk, I can't confirm. For giggles, I measured the temperature and it hit around 140 degrees.

For the record, I switched salts right before Thanksgiving due to SPS STNing. My parameters were spot on, but couldn't figure out what was causing it. Even swapped out a 75 diode DIY LED system back to MH, and still to no avail. Till a friend suggested I try a different salt. Too early to tell, but crossing fingers.
Click to expand...

I'll take the free buckets! I have been using BWs for a little over a year now (switch from Reef Crystals) and I really like it. Mixes fast and clean, no residue and most importantly all of my corals respond very well to it. I do not test every batch nor am a huge tester but the tests that I have done have put everything within an acceptable range at 1.025 both in the new mix water and in my DT.
 
Reefgeezer,
You know, I could not get other salts to dissolve after days of letting it set/mixing! I know this was obviously calcium/carbonate that just could not dissolve any further as the water was just saturated with it.
And the RedSea salt I was always left with "dirt" in the bottom of the bucket. It worked, and I liked it. I am just really in a fine tuning phase with my nitrates and phosphates at zero in my tank.
All my corals started out as frags, and I convert over to SPS about 12 months ago. So the system is young.
I also loaded my rear chambers back up with biobeads for extra filtration capacity. I still get yelled out that my wet/dry bio balls/beads is going to cause nitrates to high heaven!!!!LOL
Having biobeads totally submerged in a chamber is NOT a wet/dry filter! Not even close!!!
I punched a hole in teh top of my biobead bag and attatched a zip tie to it! I can plunge it from the top of the rear compartment now like a zeo reactor and feed my acros bacteria and detritus at least once a day
 
Also, I have pondered the thought that many companies use the bicarbonate as a "filler" to save money in other areas. Hence the pile of it at the bottom of your new water container.
NOT SAYING THIS IS TRUE, BUT IF IT IS, BRIGHTWELLS IS WORTH THE EXTRA MONEY IN MY OPINION.
We are gauging how much salt we use by the salinity level. More fillers, the more salt needs to be used to make the same amount of seawater at a specified salinity.
 
I am glad it works for you but you only have a 34 gallon nano and you previously used bags of salt. Some of us deal with 800 gallon systems and we use buckets of salt all the time. It would not be economical to get your salt. Frankly speaking, I would just use natural seawater in that small size tank and be done with it. You would still need additives and brightwell has good ones.

Any salt mixes well with a mag drive.
 
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