Toms opinion on instant ocean

[jeffnewt]

When I was in the fish store a few days back, tom, one of the main guys there, gave me quite a statement on instant ocean. paraphrased as falows:

instant ocean is actually a low quality salt, all the trace elements are actually contaniments. The consistency is terrible and you never know what you are getting

I asked him where exactly this information came from, and he stated that there was a scientific study in the 80s and they compared like 10 salts. I asked him if it might be possible that information to be a little old to be accurate as of today, and he said no instant ocean rep has ever come by to tell him diffrent(not sure what that means).

He only sells "marine environment", and some "cheaper" grades of that, without the bottle of tace elements.

I actually bought some of this marine environment when I was in there, because I was totally out of salt.

Who has info or stats on IO, or perhaps knows of this study, or other studies lke this? I was under the impression that instant ocean was not the no.1 (but very good compared to other crappy mixes) salt you can buy, but very consistant.

 

[Scooterman]

IO was the first seller of salt mix over 35 years ago, sold mostly commercially, time has proven their success & yes as any manufactured they all have some issues.

 

[danno14]

Opinions are generally free, and you may get what youpay for

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20764&highlight=salt+study

 

[russellaqua]

As a retailer and aquaculturist I can honestly say that I've grown all types of coral using IO salt mix, in highly packed conditions in some cases, without any issues at all. It's what I recommend to my customers. It's cheaper than Reef Crystals and I've seen great results with it.

 

[jeffnewt]

how known is "marine environment"? have you heard of it?

 

[mfinn]

I remember that salt study. I think I read that marine environment paid for that study.


IO is one of the best sellers and best overall salt mixs, so it is the biggest target for lesser (know?) brands.

 

[MC Lighting]

well if its that bad then Iw ould think there would be a lot of us IO users with poor tanks and no growth anyone that is relying on a study done in the 80's is not worth listening to in my honest opinion as times chagne companies change and I would certainly think in 20+ years Instant ocean has formulated thier salts to increase reliability and consistancy maybe not perfect but I am sure that it is a far cry from something 20+ years ago.

 

[Dr. Dee]

I remember that salt study. I think I read that marine environment paid for that study.


IO is one of the best sellers and best overall salt mixs, so it is the biggest target for lesser (know?) brands.

I agree, I remember that salt study also they had a chart that showed all of the salts and marine environment was on the top because it was in a box of thier salt. As for the little bottle it made my ORP go up for a day only but Reef Crystals all the time and as for IO thats good salt to me too,Marine environment was cool back in the old day's.

 

[barrierreefcf]

I love the "contaminants" in my I/O. Must be what is making our SPS grow/color so well

 

[logiktest]

Tom's opinion sounds like a bunch of bologna.

In my limited experience, I could not speak to the quality of I/O, but I can tell you what I like about it:

It is one of the most commonly available salts around the U.S., meaning that if I unexpectedly run out of salt I can go just about anywhere to get more. What this means to me is that I don't have to change brands, routines, or chemistry in my tank. I know its available, and I know how it performs consistently, helping to keep up my systems stability. I will not have to wonder "whats going to happen to my tank now that I'm changing salt brands?".

 

[jeffnewt]

I used the Marine environment for my water change today. It really didn't dissolve as well as instant ocean. Even with a mag drive 7 mixing it. I also noticed much larger particales then what I am used to seeing.

 

[DonW]

Well you know what they say about opinions. If its the study that I'm thinking of, it wasnt from the 80's it was from 2002 or 2003 by Dr. Ron. He concluded that IO was toxic.

Don

 

[jeffnewt]

Speaking of salt- Does anyone use the NSW from the seattle aquarium? Some guy that came over to get frags was doing that. Seems like so much work and high risk.

 

[landyn2004]

I have used IO and i liked it never had any problems. I now use tropic marin and for the extra money i dont really see to much of a diff just that TM dissovles faster.

 

[TWallace]

I used Instant Ocean for years with no issues, other than low calcium/magnesium. I switched to Reef Crystals about 5 months ago and am happy so far. I don't have to supplement calcium as much. Reef Crystals seems to only be a lot more expensive at LFS. At DrsFostersmith the price it's only $2.50 more for Reef Crystals when buying 5 gallon buckets. Plus they have pretty low shipping rates despite the weight of the salt.

 

[DonW]

Speaking of salt- Does anyone use the NSW from the seattle aquarium? Some guy that came over to get frags was doing that. Seems like so much work and high risk.

For some reason its a little low on salt, ca and mg which sort of makes it not worth the work, especially for those of us down south.

Don