Brightwell Aquatics Salt

oh dang, $36?? Thats a total low blow.
My Oceanic salt is $13.99 for 50 gallon.

 

I have used Birghtwell's other products and have always been happy. But, I also use whatever salt is on sale. You will be dosing no matter what salt you get.
Also, are these levels done by independent testing or is this info directly from BA? There is always a big difference in what a company claims and what is actually in the bucket regarding salt

 

I use the standard Red Sea...
Last time I tested it the levels were 416, 10 and 1300 for Ca, alk and Mg respectively.
When I tested the RSCP a couple years ago now it was 450 12 and 1300ish for the same params respectively.

I agree with Pack you will dose no matter what unless your tank is all softies. My SPS are not even all that big yet and I add a gallon of two part every month!!

 

Good info all. I figured I will probably have to dose no matter what. I wonder how the trace elements between the different brands compare though, and if I may get better growth rates by switching to either Brightwells, Red Sea, etc.

Dr. Frag, what makes you use the standard Red Sea vs. the coral pro?

 

Bought a 50 gallon bag of Neo Marine salt. Will do some mix tests and see where levels are at and see how my tank responds.

Note - at my LFS the 50 gallon bag was $24.

 

Mixed 15 gallons of this new salt this morning.

First impressions -

I have always used Instant Ocean. Compared to IO, this salt is extremely fine and powdery, and dry. It also smells strange; kind of a mildly pungent, bitter, chemical kind of odor. The smell gets stronger when you mix the salt. I am contacting Brightwell today to see if this is normal.

I am very happy with how fast it dissolves. It is dissolved the instant it hits the water. Checked with refractometer and I'm spot on 1.025, I'll do tests this afternoon with the new water before I do the water change.

 

I spoke with Brightwell Aquatics this morning, and the lady had to speak with a few folks - got a callback within 15 minutes. Apparently, the smell is normal, and is due to the anhydrous magnesium chloride and will dissipate. I'll see how it smells when I get home.