I often think about this stuff myself. I never get any residue in my mixing containers, and even if one did, could it just be a bit of dust? You know the dust that falls into your tank all day long?
I have only sold stuff I have used. In fact I have spend the better part of 5 months getting rid of corals that are all the size of basketballs (some bigger) getting ready for a move. So obviously you don't need expensive stuff to get good results.
I always get food grade stuff, so I think it is a grade above anything that will be used for driveway salt. I can't say that it is as good as the high dollar stuff sold by companies. If I could get 2 lbs of BrandXX calcium for $8, I would buy it in a flash, but I can't.
I do know that I have used brand name kalk in the past, and my non-brand name stuff had less residual. So just because there are expensive "reef" products out there, doesn't mean they are any better, but could actually be worse.
But in all reality, I do believe that some of the reputable manufacturers actually make good products, with good R&D in it, and that there trace elements may in fact help a bit.
How much difference do they make? Are the trace elements needed? Would more water changes (cheaper then using their balling method) offset the need for these trace elements? I don't know.
I would actually like to have 2 identical tanks running for a minimum of 2 years, and see which method works best
I wish I could add more, but I really don't know of any credible info to share.
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