Toxicity of artificial seawater

[Peeley]

i apologize if this was ever posted before, but has everyone seen this article??
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-03/rs/feature/index.htm
There's an eye-opener! I want new salt and a ro/di unit right away....
If you are busy just scroll down to the tables that show relative copper levels.

 

[Brisc0]

I will admit that I find tables 4 and 5 very interesting, however there is a very important detail that some might over look in those tables.

"The data for Instant Ocean and Coralife salts are from Atkinson and Bingman, 1999. The data for Marinemix–Bioassay Formula were provided by the manufacturer. The data for Bio-Sea Marinemix are the average of two samples in the advertising literature from the manufacturer.."

The fact that IO and Coralife (two brands that most on this forum will say they had great luck with over the long haul) is pretty much hammered in the data present and the other two are astoundingly better make me very weary of the validity of this information based on the quotes provided above. The fact that Coralife and IO are the only two objectively analyzed is reason for concern. I have no doubt that had all three mixes been analyzed objectively from a 3rd party you would see some drastic differences in those numbers for Bioassay and Bio-Sea. Thats just MHO regarding lots of experience dealing with the manufactures claims vs. the actual. However, great article and kudos to you!

 

[Brisc0]

Just for some F.Y.I. as I am still uncomfortable with the way in which this information is presented I have posted a question directly to Mr. Shimek on reefcentral. If I am not supposed to link to a different forum I appologize, however I thought it might be benefical to see what his response is to my inquiry.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=2508634#post2508634

There has been no response to a question similar to mine since January which raises more questions to me, however he will hopefully give me some feedback.

 

[Peeley]

True, the manufacturer's numbers are suspect, but the experiment he performed seems to support them.

 

[HoopsGuru]

Well, he answered.

Personally, I don't put a whole lot of stock into this test. If anyone remembers, people jumped on the latest Shimek bandwagon after this test and immediatley changed salt brands. Several months later, some people were having discouraging results. To my knowledge, everything quieted down and hasn't been mentioned much since.

It will be interesting to see if new salt, the Oceanic brand, will have a significant positive impact on synthetic salt brands.

 

[Peeley]

btw thanks for the kudos brisc0 !!

 

[Peeley]

can you buy evaporated sea salt anywhere? also: is distilled water not as good as ro/di water ?

 

[reefrunner69]

can you buy evaporated sea salt anywhere?

The evaporation process alter the chemical composition due to chemical reactions that take place in the salt. Evaporated sea water would not be very good to use for your tank.