Marine Enviornment Salts

[hazyeyedj]

I don't want to get into the ugly which salt is better discussion as that is not the point of my post, there are enough of those threads out there.

What I would like to know is has anybody out there actually used the Marine Envoirnment Salts in their tanks. I see that it did score the highest of all synthetic salts in the S-15 report and also see that it is a 2 part mix. How is this 2 part system for actual ease of use. I see that they sell in 3 different packaging sizes, is it easy to measure out the mixture in 1 - 5 gallon amounts? I typically mix 15-30 gallons up at a time depending on which of my two tanks I am doing a water change on.

I also see that they state you should do a 25% water change every 4 - 6 weeks for optimal results, now I typically do a 20 - 25% water change every week, would it still be ok to do weekly changes, I would be happy to do bi-weekly if I can keep my nitrates and phosphates in check.

The other question is does anybody know of any LFS around that carry the ME? I would prefer to pick it up locally than try and ship it the first time around anyways.

Thank you for any info that you may have, and again this is not a which salt is better thread just a thread on pratical exerience using this specific brand of salt.

-Jason

 

[Boomer]

You have that right

Marine Envoirnment Salts

There is really nothing really wrong with this salt, it is just the guy that owns the company who is a &*^%$#$^ and his line of BS, which is &*&+$^*

 

[kahunakatz]

I used this salt many years ago. I wish I remembered the other brands that I used, but I will say that my tank never looked worse then when I used Marine Environment. I successfully kept SPS with the salt I was using before, I think IO or Reef Crystals.

I won Marine Environment in a contest and once I used it for a while I had a personal worst for tanks. I was unable to get the pH above 7.9.

After I did several water changes with another salt, my tanks inhabitants got their good health back and my pH went back up to 8.3.

Hope this experience helps,
Barry
(800) 764-0884
(425) 761-6303

 

[Boomer]

What you have experienced Barry has happen with almost any or all salts to somebody. Me, I tell people to just stick with or use IO

 

[Brenden]

I had the PH problem with Oceanic. I now use IO. I would rather suppliment the CA than constantly buffer.

 

[hazyeyedj]

I appreciate the feedback, I am staying with IO especially after buying 5 more buckets when I was at Shark Reef last weekend, great deal! Thanks again Eric.

And thank you Boommer, Brenden and Barry for the feed back, it was good meeting you last weekend Barry, I hope to see you at the July meeting!

-Jason

 

[olsaltybastard]

I have used two salts from Aquacraft - first I started with their BioSea formula and went on to using the Marine Environment formula.

Since the topic is the ME brand, I will stick to that. You can mix it in 5 gallon batches with no problems, but the little bottle that it comes with (maybe 2 ounces) is going to have to be measured a bit carefully to get the same amount in every batch. Here is the rub: The salt dissolves very quickly - probably faster than any other you may find. Calcium reads 460 and carbonate hardness measures.....2!! Yes, that's two dKH not 2 meg/l. This is using a Salifert test kit which of course, Aquacraft states does not work with their salts. I am no chemist, but Dr. Farley is and has stated that carbonate hardness is carbonate hardness. Since I trust the good Dr. to give expert advice, I wound up having to use baked baking soda to get the dKH up to 9 or so. I have gone through 3-50 gallon bags of ME and have recently made the switch to Tropic Marin Pro Reef as I have also added a calcium reactor to my setup.

I haven't had any issues with using ME; no algae outbreaks or unexplained coral deaths etc... I am not slamming this salt saying that it is junk, but I have made a decision to no longer use it anymore.

 

[hazyeyedj]

Thank you for the feedback olsaltybastard.

 

[burning2nd]

i use "marine tropic" Brand, i havent had any problems (that werent my fault)