Any problems with coralife salt?

[Anonymous]

I was just told that coralife salt sometimes has caused problems with invertibrates? I would be very interested in knowing if others have had such experiences, because I have been using this ignorantly assuming all salts were more or less equal (though not identical in formulation). (It is the cheapest at our LFS).

Thanks in advance.

 

[Anonymous]

Well my experience was I couldn't keep starfish alive no matter what I did, acclimating, etc. I read in the news group that other people had the same problem with Coralife salt, so I switched to Kent and didn't have a problems after that. Later I switched to IO, and still haven't had a problem.

I tend to think most salt mixes are close to the same, I just had a problem with coralife for some reason.

Wayne...

 

[Anonymous]

Instant Ocean.....Kinda like Porsche...

!There is NO substitute!

 

[Anonymous]

Flounder, I'm using Coralife right now and have had no problems as of yet but after all this talk I think I'll head back to IO. I had read that there was no real difference between the major brands but in this case I think I'll go with the majority.

Troy

 

[Anonymous]

coralife salt has a documented magnesium deficiency. IO is the way to go. - mark

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please support AMDA

 

[Anonymous]

Is that the only problem? It might be cheaper just to add some MgCl2.

Anyway, thanks for the advice!

 

[Anonymous]

personally I find reef crystals to be what works best for me... was using tropic marin at one point, then IO now IO reef crystals.. the difference in additional cost is minor compared to the monetary values in our tanks.... I will gladly spend another $10-$15 on a bag of salt if it helps provide a more suitable or healthy environment... just my thoughts... to each his own!!

 

[Anonymous]

Flounder:

Coralife salt has been demonstrated by some to cause significant problems with inverts. Brittle stars, in particular. The legs apparently get ejected during acclimation, or shortly thereafter.

When I had two coralife mh lamps explode, Coralife sent me some freebie bags of salt to placate me, but I never used them for this reason.

Two different tests that I have seen show coralife to have a huge excess of lithium over NSW. This excess is so large (almost 100x) that it simply isn't worth the risk (IMO).

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Randy Holmes-Farley

 

[Anonymous]

I will too. I just naively thought they were all pretty much equivalent in quality if not identical in formulation. I feed my dog the most expensive dog food; I have no objection to getting better salt. This was just the first I had heard of anything being problematic with any of the "name brands." I really appreciate the advice.

 

[Anonymous]

You know, if you used natural salt water it would not be an issue

I do know though that this is discussed every couple of months on the emailing lists, and I suspect the newsgroups as well. I can't help you with this (well, I use NSW) but have a search of the archives for the newsgroups (www.dejanews.com I think) and emailing list (www.reefkeepers.org)

 

[Anonymous]

Ok, you have convinced me. Maybe I will save the salt mix and drink it; the lithium might improve my general mood.

Lithium as I am sure you know is a neurotoxin, so that is probably a good thing to avoid excesses of. I by the way have a brittle star that is thriving, but maybe it could do better.

I might also try natural sea water; I can get it free from a marine lab near here, but haven't because of the inconvienence of transporting it.

 

[Anonymous]

>Ok, you have convinced me. Maybe I will save the salt mix and drink it; the lithium might improve my general mood. <

Actually, many people are using their old bags to melt the ice on their driveways!

- Greg Hiller

 

[Anonymous]

Bummer, I live in California now. Remind me, what is ice? I strolled into work in shorts and a T-shirt today.

I appreciate everyone's advice. DBW: Sorry, I somehow missed the previous discussions, or from what I saw, left with the impression that there wasn't really an inferior one within the major brands.

I scoff at people who buy their dog cheap grocery-store dogfood, so I guess it shouldn't come as that big a surprize that not all salt mixes are created equal.

Ironically, once local store sells it for more than they do IO.