Whats wrong wit IO

[marco333]

I have just read many posts about something bad in the instant ocean salt mix. I just bought a new box of IO, and was about to do a water change, but im going to wait because im not sure if thier is anything wrong with it. Ive searched but cant find what Thomas712 found wrong with it. Can you please tell me before i mix my salt?
THnax

 

[krowleey]

Instant Ocean® is the quintessential definition of symbolism over substance. It relies on a past reputation when salt water keeping was less sophisticated. The product package misrepresents the contents.

 

[fishman830]

supposedly, some mixes are real bad

 

[melissa v.]

But i use IO And have not had any problems with it, (even with a new bag)
Melissa V.

 

[thefishfreak03]

I used to only use IO until I hear about this so now i use red sea which i think is great.

 

[nicky1.8t]

i only use io

 

[jmesmcm]

I also only use IO. I tried reef crytals once and hated it, it mixed up extremely cloudy and never seemed to mix clear the way IO does. Ended up throwing it out as I did not want to put the cloudy water in my tank.

 

[indiglo007]

Originally Posted by JmesMcM
I also only use IO. I tried reef crytals once and hated it, it mixed up extremely cloudy and never seemed to mix clear the way IO does. Ended up throwing it out as I did not want to put the cloudy water in my tank.
Sorry :thinking: to hear you had a bad experience with the Reef Crystals. When it comes to synthetic sea salt you may have had a bad batch if somehow the bag had a puncture and some foreign substance got in the bag or just plain old bad bag of synthetic salt. I have read in several threads on the internet that the best is Crystal Sea MarineMix. I personally have used IO since 1987 when I had SWFOL and it was fine, but now that I have a reef tank I used Reef Crystals to start my tank and RO only never tap water and continue to use for water changes and it mixes clear. The Reef Crystals were developed for use in sophisticated reef aquariums. I use a 5 gal bucket I bought new for this purpose and a 200 watt Visi-Therm Stealth Heater to match temp of my tank I use a Coralife Digital Thermometer, along with a Maxi-Jet 1200 Powerhead pump with aeration tube and run it for an hour before putting in tank. It always mixes clear every single time.
I hope this helps. :happyfish

 

[rcbruce]

I don't know what the fuss is all about. I use I/O and have no complaints about mixing, or anything else. I really believe some of this is getting blown up out of proportion...........IMO

 

[mrdc]

I used IO for about 8 months and then seitched to Reef Crystals since it is supposed to be formulated more for reefs. I have no complaints.

 

[acrylic51]

The nail was hit on the head several times.......Just a bunch of hype or misinformation on some peoples part......Nothing wrong with IO....Every salt brand goes through this and certain brands will do better on different systems than others........Alot of the problems could just be attributed to quality control.....It's not unheard of a bad batch of salt mix.......Oceanic went through a similar situation a while back, and there are people that love the salt and tanks do very well on it.....I think this topic is a preference.......Reef Crystals here, never had any issues with it dissolving or cloudy......Seachem on the other hand....you'd buy a bucket and hard as a rock and wouldn't dissolve and you'd buy another and was great, but still hard to dissolve IMO, went back to Reef Crystals, and have been trying the Tropic Marin Pro with nothing, but good results......

 

[alyssia]

I have always used IO w/no problems.