Crystal Sea Bio-Assay
 

Just posing a question here but how many would be interested in trying this salt ? ... I have looked around here in Calgary and cant find it anywhere ( maybe not looking in the right places :smile: )

I have emailed the manufacturer and also Dr Mac ... so far 28.50 US for 150 G box + shipping ( $37 - $50 / box ) from Dr Mac.
http://www.drmaccorals.com/sys-tmpl/door/
If there is interest then maybe a group order as I have asked about that also and just waiting for return email

Cheers

Not much cheeper than IO when you factor in shipping and brokerage.. possable more expensive. that suck as everyone was using it as it is presumed to be good and 1/2 the price of IO.

Steve

The idea was not " necessarily " if it was cheaper ( same as IO would be fine too or even a bit more ) but the apparent closeness to NSW in chemical content was my motivation to try it. Just looking to see if there is any interest out there in trying it out

Cheers

Steve (Rasta), have you read the threads on Reef Central ?

Be sure to read the imbedded threads as well.

I have actually ... there is quite a debate going on but from a hobbyist point of view as far as I can tell ( not sure if some of them have a alterior motive ) ... is there any portion of a thread in particular that you would like to point me to ?

There are also threads on survival rates going up with seahorse fry using this salt so hence the curiosity

Cheers

if it is cheaper than IO or kent for the same quantity, i might be interested. except IO comes with cheesy fake plants, so we'll see :razz: :rolleyes: anyone got a freshwater or species tank that could use a little decoration?

Nope, nothing in particular Rasta. Just wanted to make sure you (and or others reading this)had read all of that. :smile:

I've used Kent for four years now, and it has treated me very well. Mixes clean and clear every time, and goes in at Ca of 420.

I'm still very interested in the results of the RDO (reefs.org) salt tests (if they ever get done :rolleyes: ) but myself, personally would be very cautious about changing salt mixes without some measure of experience from users in the long term.

And the cost of the salt would be the LAST thing I would take into consideration.

JMO.

Interestingly, all of a sudden, I have swarms of mysid shrimps gliding around my tank now. They're so cool hovering/gliding millimeters above the sand like the land speeders in Star Wars hovering across the desert. Not saying that the new salt is responsible but coincidental at least.

I have done three water changes over the last few months with Crystal Sea and I won''t be doing a fourth. Since using this salt I have noticed a thin layer of brown diatoms on the sandbed, corals closing for hours after the change, cloudy water even after mixing for 4 days, both pieces of my pocillapora have turned a light yellow from a rich golden color, and also the CS needs to be chiseled from it's brick-like form that it came in.

Price was not an issue for me, instead I was attracted to the closeness to NSW. At the end of this month I will be switching back to IO, after almost 6 years of using this saltmix I never experienced the problems that I have had over the last few months with CS. I am going to wait for some long term studies before I think about switching over to Crystal Sea.

cheers, Rich :smile:

one thing that stopped me from trying it is the unprofesional mannor in which this test was done, I was rather shocked that all the samples except the two Crystal Sea were actual test results but the the info for the Crystal Sea products was taken from the package, and the salt was not even tested. Plus there were a lot of other varibles that were not tested for or even mentioned. To me this look like something done quickly to meet a deadline.

Steve