reef crystals is a scam!!
- Thread starter jayb12
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graveyardworm
Premium Member
How are you measuring the salinity? Check on the bucket and see what they use for salinity reference. Usually its lower than 1.025 which would help to explain a bit, but to only get 100g out of a 160g bucket is quite a bit off.
The ordinary proportion is 1/2 cup of salt mix per gallon; to mix 100 gallons of salt water would take 50 cups of salt. That is a fair amount of salt. If each cup of salt weighs 10 oz, (I'm figuring the average weight of plain table salt, just for a ballpark) 50 cups of salt weighs a very ballpark 500 oz, or somewhere over 31 lbs. I can about lift a salt bucket, which puts its average weight somewhere near 50 lbs. That would mean it should be able to, indeed, mix about 160 gallons of saltwater. Do crosscheck your refractometer. Miscalibration can do a major fatal lot of damage and cost you hundreds of dollars. Be sure of that instrument, above all things.
jayb12
New member
i used reef crystals years ago and i swear it was measured to 1.025 at 160 gal bucket.
now i see where my extra salt is going.
however, yes i think reef crystals now is a scam more then ever. they boast a bucket will net 160 gallons, but who on earth runs a reef tank at 1.021!!!
small print is shady shady!
now i see where my extra salt is going.
however, yes i think reef crystals now is a scam more then ever. they boast a bucket will net 160 gallons, but who on earth runs a reef tank at 1.021!!!
small print is shady shady!
lougotzz
New member
no....a scam would be they tell you it makes 160 gallons with a SG of 1.025 The box tells you clearly that it makes a sg of 1.021. Im looking at the box now, its pretty much right in front of my face.
Octoshark
Marine Biology Student
Jeff
Premium Member
True but the fact that it's called "Reef" Crystals, not "Fish Only" Crystals tells me that they think natural "Reefs" have a specific gravity of 1.021 or they have found a way to rip us off. Either way, I don't like their salt for other reasons. I've always said the best thing about Reef Crystals is the bucket it comes in.
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jayb12
New member
my thoughts exactly. dont call if reef crystals and say it makes 160 gallons for your reef tank when it clearly will not.
so in reality. making a bucket of this stuff roughly only gets you 100 gallons of actual 1.025 reef water.
that to me is a shady marketing ploy.
jayb12
New member
show me a reef that runs on 1.021 water like they suggest.
graveyardworm
Premium Member
FWIW most of the salt manufacturers list their SG specs at below what we consider proper reef salinity. Its not a scam its a conspiracy. :uzi:
lol, thats true
Shady? Yes...
Scam? No...
its been a long industry standard and they dont change it for good reason.
If tommorow all the 5g buckets of reef crystals had and were advertised 100g salt mix for $45 while everybody else is still usng the widely accepted standard and has 150 or 160g stamped and advertised on their bucket reef crystal would instantly start losing sales especially from new hobbyist walking into a store not knowing its just like everybody else. then there would be that group of current users who cant rationalize and feel like they've been getting deceived all this time like when ford dropped their then 225hp V8s to 215 with no changes due to different SAE standards and some people just cant get it.
Yogre
Cheesehead Reefer
I've always had to use more than 1/2 cup to get 1.026 salinity with Reef Crystals... usually about 0.6 cups per gallon.
I doubt they believe that reefs run at 1.021, I think they just want to make more money from us. :rollface: Irritates me, I do like truth in advertising, but that seems to be a bit of a rarity these days.
I'm thinking of changing salts, mostly because of the vitamin issue; no way to know what they degrade into when in a storage tank.
P.S. as stanalee said above, they're not going to change their labeling practice if everyone else does it, no one is going to take a self-inflicted head wound in these economic times.
I doubt they believe that reefs run at 1.021, I think they just want to make more money from us. :rollface: Irritates me, I do like truth in advertising, but that seems to be a bit of a rarity these days.
I'm thinking of changing salts, mostly because of the vitamin issue; no way to know what they degrade into when in a storage tank.
P.S. as stanalee said above, they're not going to change their labeling practice if everyone else does it, no one is going to take a self-inflicted head wound in these economic times.
graveyardworm
Premium Member
You may find that change is coming. Some of the newer brands I believe are labeling their salts to mix at 1.025-1.026. Perhaps someone using the Brightwell or other newer stuff can chime in to verify.
Okay went to the basement to see what can come up with various salts.
New IO 200g box 60lbs - the label says " Recommended Specific Gravity Range: 1.020 - 1.024 at 77F
Note: 1.5lbs of Instant Ocean is formulated to create 5 gallons of saltwater at a specific gravity of 1.022."
I can verify that I get roughly 180g's @ 1.025
Older 150g box 43lbs 8 oz - the label says " Fill aquarium with water at 75F (28C). Add sufficient Crystal Seas Marinemix to bring hydrometer reading to 1.021 to 1.025. About 1lb of Crystal Sea makes 4 gallons."
This box is roughly 1.5 to 2 years old, and I dont recall how much it mixed at 1.025.
Older Bucket Tropic Marin Pro Reef, not sure how much the bucket weighed, the labels says 55 lb for ca. 200g US gallons. I'm assuming the bucket weighed 55lb, and claims to make 200g's
Mixing instructions: " At a temperature of 73-77F/23 - 25C, the specific gravity of the salt water should range from 1.022 - 1.025.
All three are pretty vague.
Okay went to the basement to see what can come up with various salts.
New IO 200g box 60lbs - the label says " Recommended Specific Gravity Range: 1.020 - 1.024 at 77F
Note: 1.5lbs of Instant Ocean is formulated to create 5 gallons of saltwater at a specific gravity of 1.022."
I can verify that I get roughly 180g's @ 1.025
Older 150g box 43lbs 8 oz - the label says " Fill aquarium with water at 75F (28C). Add sufficient Crystal Seas Marinemix to bring hydrometer reading to 1.021 to 1.025. About 1lb of Crystal Sea makes 4 gallons."
This box is roughly 1.5 to 2 years old, and I dont recall how much it mixed at 1.025.
Older Bucket Tropic Marin Pro Reef, not sure how much the bucket weighed, the labels says 55 lb for ca. 200g US gallons. I'm assuming the bucket weighed 55lb, and claims to make 200g's
Mixing instructions: " At a temperature of 73-77F/23 - 25C, the specific gravity of the salt water should range from 1.022 - 1.025.
All three are pretty vague.
almost every other "reef" salt uses the same standard as their regular salt so if your going to be mad at the standard be mad at the standard and stop isolating reef crystals.
and for all of you talking about getting ripped off oh please (I'm sure you are but it has nothing to do with specific gravity). you are paying for the amount of salt received not a specific gravity hence at DFS a 5g bucket of reef crystals is $2 more than a 5g bucket of IO. what are you suggestng a 35% decrease in the price of reef crystals because you need to mix it at 1.025 even though you are getting the exact same amount of (fortified) product?
and for all of you talking about getting ripped off oh please (I'm sure you are but it has nothing to do with specific gravity). you are paying for the amount of salt received not a specific gravity hence at DFS a 5g bucket of reef crystals is $2 more than a 5g bucket of IO. what are you suggestng a 35% decrease in the price of reef crystals because you need to mix it at 1.025 even though you are getting the exact same amount of (fortified) product?
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