MAGDRL Mom
Critters
Anthony, I originally started this thread with a poll on HRRC (Hampton Roads Reef Club) as information gathering for putting together data to present to LFS with the ultimate goal of forming a buyers co-op. Since salt is something that is used constantly by the retailers and consumers, I figured this would be a good place to start in a bulk buy to present to wholesalers in a bid for pricing.
What type of salt do you use for your marine aquarium(s)?
Instant Ocean [ 14 ] ** [66.67%]
Reef Crystals [ 6 ] ** [28.57%]
Marinemix [ 0 ] ** [0.00%]
Tropic Marin [ 0 ] ** [0.00%]
"Crystal Sea [ 0 ] ** [0.00%]
Deep Ocean [ 0 ] ** [0.00%]
Red Sea [ 0 ] ** [0.00%]
Coralife [ 1 ] ** [4.76%]
Kent Sea Salt [ 0 ] ** [0.00%]
Marine Environment (2 part) [ 0 ] ** [0.00%]
When buying salt, what is most important to you?
Price [ 3 ] ** [14.29%]
Quality [ 14 ] ** [66.67%]
Ease of use [ 0 ] ** [0.00%]
Availability [ 1 ] ** [4.76%]
Other [ 3 ] ** [14.29%]
When buying salt do you ....
buy only what you need at the time? [ 3 ] ** [14.29%]
buy a larger quantity to get a better price? [ 12 ] ** [57.14%]
wish you could buy in even larger quantity to get an even better price? [ 6 ] ** [28.57%]
Total Votes: 21
One of our club members came across this disturbing article...
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-03/...ature/index.php
"...One disturbing section from the article (after testing was performed) reads:
"These data are unequivocal and quite disturbing. They show that water mixed from some artificial salt water mixes is significantly more toxic to developing sea urchin embryos, and by inference to other organisms, than is the water made from salts sold by other manufacturers. It would be more acceptable, I think, if all salts were equally toxic. That would mean that no manufacturer had figured out how to make a decent salt mix, and if that were the case, then hobbyists would just have to learn to live with it. Or rather they would learn which species of potential reef aquarium animals were more tolerant of such abuse and could survive in it. However, that is not the situation. The situation is that waters made from some salts tested are much less harsh and have significantly better sea urchin larval survival than do others. At least the water samples with poor larval survival still have some survival, but by comparison with the number of embryos growing in the water from the other salts, the mortality of sea urchin embryos in water made from Instant Ocean is about 90%, and in water made from Coralife salt the mortality rate is about 80%. Animal response to toxins is a biological function, and is distributed with a "normal" statistical distribution, so the larvae seen in the waters made from these two salts are the hardiest of the hardy survivors. It highly likely that mortality effects are not limited to larvae and are much more widespread through the reef aquarium hobby. There is no particular reason to assume that reef aquaria are particularly more benign than natural areas where similar bioassays, and other tests such as chemical analyses, have shown other toxic materials to be present..."
What are your thoughts on this?
I have come to the conclusion that reefing is a lot like medicine, it is not an exact science and I have been in the medical field long enough to know that tests and trials performed in controlled environments aren't always the best reference. BUT..there has to be a point of reference. Based on my own personal (limited) experience, I have chosen you for the reef and chemistry and Kelly Jedlicki for the fish.:razz:
What type of salt do you use for your marine aquarium(s)?
Instant Ocean [ 14 ] ** [66.67%]
Reef Crystals [ 6 ] ** [28.57%]
Marinemix [ 0 ] ** [0.00%]
Tropic Marin [ 0 ] ** [0.00%]
"Crystal Sea [ 0 ] ** [0.00%]
Deep Ocean [ 0 ] ** [0.00%]
Red Sea [ 0 ] ** [0.00%]
Coralife [ 1 ] ** [4.76%]
Kent Sea Salt [ 0 ] ** [0.00%]
Marine Environment (2 part) [ 0 ] ** [0.00%]
When buying salt, what is most important to you?
Price [ 3 ] ** [14.29%]
Quality [ 14 ] ** [66.67%]
Ease of use [ 0 ] ** [0.00%]
Availability [ 1 ] ** [4.76%]
Other [ 3 ] ** [14.29%]
When buying salt do you ....
buy only what you need at the time? [ 3 ] ** [14.29%]
buy a larger quantity to get a better price? [ 12 ] ** [57.14%]
wish you could buy in even larger quantity to get an even better price? [ 6 ] ** [28.57%]
Total Votes: 21
One of our club members came across this disturbing article...
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-03/...ature/index.php
"...One disturbing section from the article (after testing was performed) reads:
"These data are unequivocal and quite disturbing. They show that water mixed from some artificial salt water mixes is significantly more toxic to developing sea urchin embryos, and by inference to other organisms, than is the water made from salts sold by other manufacturers. It would be more acceptable, I think, if all salts were equally toxic. That would mean that no manufacturer had figured out how to make a decent salt mix, and if that were the case, then hobbyists would just have to learn to live with it. Or rather they would learn which species of potential reef aquarium animals were more tolerant of such abuse and could survive in it. However, that is not the situation. The situation is that waters made from some salts tested are much less harsh and have significantly better sea urchin larval survival than do others. At least the water samples with poor larval survival still have some survival, but by comparison with the number of embryos growing in the water from the other salts, the mortality of sea urchin embryos in water made from Instant Ocean is about 90%, and in water made from Coralife salt the mortality rate is about 80%. Animal response to toxins is a biological function, and is distributed with a "normal" statistical distribution, so the larvae seen in the waters made from these two salts are the hardiest of the hardy survivors. It highly likely that mortality effects are not limited to larvae and are much more widespread through the reef aquarium hobby. There is no particular reason to assume that reef aquaria are particularly more benign than natural areas where similar bioassays, and other tests such as chemical analyses, have shown other toxic materials to be present..."
What are your thoughts on this?
I have come to the conclusion that reefing is a lot like medicine, it is not an exact science and I have been in the medical field long enough to know that tests and trials performed in controlled environments aren't always the best reference. BUT..there has to be a point of reference. Based on my own personal (limited) experience, I have chosen you for the reef and chemistry and Kelly Jedlicki for the fish.:razz:
