Icecoldoutline February 16, 2012 Share February 16, 2012 Has anybody used this stuff long term?... Pros? Cons? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F&Fmgr February 16, 2012 Share February 16, 2012 its a good salt pros: cheap, high levels when mixed to 1.025( their instructions have you mixing it to 1.023 which is where it gets the label of being low alk salt) cons: no water conditioners like IO and RC so it has to bbe used with 0 tds water. takes a lil longer to dissolve than salts that have an anticaking agent. I use it in the store. I sub with IO on occasion. Sean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Country February 16, 2012 Share February 16, 2012 I used it for awhile, was getting nice colors from my corals and didn't have any problems. Went to get a new box and the LFS had a box of regular Crystal Sea, told me it was the same, I should have known better. After a couple water changes with the regular Crystal Sea the colors in my SPS started to suffer and I had a algae explosion in my tank. Might have just been a coinsidence, I don't know. I got scared with in and returned to using Instant Ocean which I knew I could trust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icecoldoutline February 17, 2012 Author Share February 17, 2012 Sorry to hear about your experience. I've heard rumor that the regular crystal sea mix has been discontinued. I'm sure now that there is good reason for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Country February 17, 2012 Share February 17, 2012 Sorry to hear about your experience. I've heard rumor that the regular crystal sea mix has been discontinued. I'm sure now that there is good reason for that. My problems weren't long ago in the past, they were about 6 months ago. The crystal sea the store sold me didn't say Bio-Assay on the box and was a blue box instead of the yellow box the bio-assay comes in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AQUACO February 17, 2012 Share February 17, 2012 Love it.... However, I remember having a bit of diatom algea while using it...anyone else experience this.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F&Fmgr February 17, 2012 Share February 17, 2012 Love it.... However, I remember having a bit of diatom algea while using it...anyone else experience this.. I did experience this, then i started using chloramine specific filters in my ro prefilter and that was the end of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AQUACO February 17, 2012 Share February 17, 2012 I did experience this, then i started using chloramine specific filters in my ro prefilter and that was the end of that. Had that covered and then some.... but once switching to Reef Crystal and Breaking the Budget the diatoms went away. Id like to give it another try sometime. Easy to get get and a local supply too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k February 17, 2012 Share February 17, 2012 I think with all the hype that surrounds salt mixes, there's simply no argument to use anything other than I/O. It's been around the longest, has the most financial stability, and is used by major institutions worldwide. If you maintain a pristine reeftank and then start to have issues, it's hard to pinpoint the salt as being the cause of the issues. I've used I/O for nearly 20 years and have yet to experience an issue that is directly related to the salt brand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icecoldoutline February 18, 2012 Author Share February 18, 2012 I think with all the hype that surrounds salt mixes, there's simply no argument to use anything other than I/O. It's been around the longest, has the most financial stability, and is used by major institutions worldwide. If you maintain a pristine reeftank and then start to have issues, it's hard to pinpoint the salt as being the cause of the issues. I've used I/O for nearly 20 years and have yet to experience an issue that is directly related to the salt brand. Variety is the spice of life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k February 18, 2012 Share February 18, 2012 Variety is the spice of life. I agree when it comes to fish and corals. Salt doesn't fit in that category. Stick with the standard (I/O) and work upward from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icecoldoutline February 18, 2012 Author Share February 18, 2012 I agree when it comes to fish and corals. Salt doesn't fit in that category. Stick with the standard (I/O) and work upward from there. I appreciate your opinion on instant ocean. If you haven't used Bioassay and are just encouraging me to use instant ocean than that doesn't help answer my original question. If you have used Crystal Sea Bioassay please offer me feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k February 18, 2012 Share February 18, 2012 I appreciate your opinion on instant ocean. If you haven't used Bioassay and are just encouraging me to use instant ocean than that doesn't help answer my original question. If you have used Crystal Sea Bioassay please offer me feedback. I actually have used bio-Assay because Sean at AQUACO used to push it, but I didn't notice any difference in water quality in the long run. I only used 1 box. It's hard to compare salt mixes because of the huge amount of variables involved. If you really want to make a comparison, then you need to set up 2 identical tanks side by side and use 2 different mixes and log the results. This also takes a great deal of time- like a year or more. So it's hard to believe when people say, "I switched from salt brand B to Salt brand A and I noticed better polyp extension, yadda, yadda, yadda. It's nearly impossible to say that the result was directly related to the different salt brand. I'd recommend that you use 1 brand of salt and stick with it until someone can show you proof positve that by switching to another brand of salt will yield better results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnybv February 18, 2012 Share February 18, 2012 I had a VERY bad experience about 8 years ago with the salt, and due to the way the company handled my need for help I will not ever endorse, carry or use it. Basically it crashed my personal tank with a simple water change as I tried to change from RC. If you want the whole story come in and I would be happy to share it with you. Lets just say I used the rest of the box to salt the ice on my driveway........ John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AQUACO February 19, 2012 Share February 19, 2012 I had a VERY bad experience about 8 years ago with the salt, and due to the way the company handled my need for help I will not ever endorse, carry or use it. Basically it crashed my personal tank with a simple water change as I tried to change from RC. If you want the whole story come in and I would be happy to share it with you. Lets just say I used the rest of the box to salt the ice on my driveway........ John I remember hearing about this... Was it the Bio-Assay Formula? I know the "Crystal Sea" has some sort of de-chlorinator in the mix. I can see why that would cause an issue in a reef aquarium,,,,,used it to melt ice on your driveway....Lol that the 2nd time you made me spit soda today...lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnybv February 19, 2012 Share February 19, 2012 I remember hearing about this... Was it the Bio-Assay Formula? I know the "Crystal Sea" has some sort of de-chlorinator in the mix. I can see why that would cause an issue in a reef aquarium,,,,,used it to melt ice on your driveway....Lol that the 2nd time you made me spit soda today...lol it was so long ago I dont remember what it was, but I think it was the bio assy, and I think the formula quickly changed after that disaster. After hours on the phone and finally getting someone to talk to me, because they were afraid of a law suit I think, what they came up with was that beacuse I was using RC, a "synthetic salt" with cheleating agents in it, which the CS did not have, all the heavy metals that were bound up by the agents in the RC were released into my water and killed my tank. Now, I still dont know what to believe, and some of the answers that I was getting from them were obviously riduculas and probably would have made the normal person go away. I wanted to know what happend chemically that caused my tank to basically turn inside out in 12 hours, and they couldnt / wouldnt help me decipher it. SOO what I said above is what I eventually walked away with as the answer from them, dont know if its anywhere near what really happened but, thats their story and they are sticking to it. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AQUACO February 19, 2012 Share February 19, 2012 it was so long ago I dont remember what it was, but I think it was the bio assy, and I think the formula quickly changed after that disaster. After hours on the phone and finally getting someone to talk to me, because they were afraid of a law suit I think, what they came up with was that beacuse I was using RC, a "synthetic salt" with cheleating agents in it, which the CS did not have, all the heavy metals that were bound up by the agents in the RC were released into my water and killed my tank. Now, I still dont know what to believe, and some of the answers that I was getting from them were obviously riduculas and probably would have made the normal person go away. I wanted to know what happend chemically that caused my tank to basically turn inside out in 12 hours, and they couldnt / wouldnt help me decipher it. SOO what I said above is what I eventually walked away with as the answer from them, dont know if its anywhere near what really happened but, thats their story and they are sticking to it. John Did it at least melt the ice on your drive way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k February 19, 2012 Share February 19, 2012 As luck will have it, we are firing up a 600g cube and the salt on site is Bio-Assay. We'll be using it on this tank and I can post results as I se them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnybv February 20, 2012 Share February 20, 2012 Did it at least melt the ice on your drive way? Yea it did a great job melting ice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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