Microbe-lift Reef Salt

[jhoff]

Has anyone tried this salt yet It's kinda new..
Sounds like it has all the right stuff.
http://www.microbelift.com/products/home-aquarium/reef-and-marine/reef-salt/

[LifeAquatic]

Havent seen it yet.

[allsps40]

New to me.

[jhoff]

Well guess i will try some and let you guy's know

[jbanks]

Any updates on this salt?

[graha321]

Any luck with this salt?

[jhoff]

Any updates on this salt?

The only company i found that has it want's 130.00 to ship it.I wen't with red sea coral pro....

[Nano sapiens]

I've been using Microbelift for about 10 months and I like. It mixes up much cleaner than the DD Ocean I use to use and my LPS/SPS are doing good.

[Felixc395]

Seems like it's just a salt with some form of carbon additive to help with biological processes. Reminds me of Tropic Marin Bio-Actif, which I believe has a form of carbon in acetate. I love it and works well for me, so this doesn't seem that far off or similar. Hopefully someone will give it a try.

[basser1]

The only company i found that has it want's 130.00 to ship it.I wen't with red sea coral pro....

WOW!!

I just found a 140 gal. bucket for $75 bucks with free shipping!!

http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=22773

[ryanrid]

i mixed a batch on the weekend and will post full params soon.

[layer3switchguy]

Hi,

I just bought a bucket and will report back on my next water change. Hope is a good salt, it wasn't cheap!

[Nanook]

Since this has nothing to do with SPS...

[moved]

[jhoff]

Well i changed salt to microbe lift reef salt here are the parameters..

5gal of RODI water 2 1/2 cups of salt.. salinity 1.025 35ppt. temp 77

Calcium 450
Alkalinity 9.8
Magnesium 1400

Mixes up clear in about 30min (no brown stuff)..This is my 3rd bucket and the Parameters where the same all 3 times.Used Red sea Reef foundation pro test kit (love this kit) It's only been three weeks but so far so good.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...7&pcatid=23957

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Here's a cut and paste of my comments from the OP's other thread:

FWIW, I'm not a fan of some of their claims and/or claimed parameters.

"Uniformly-sized salt granules contain NO added bromide "

Not an advantage, IMO. I would want bromide, but it may not be critical. Most salts these days have it at natural levels, and I'm not sure why they decided to leave it out.

"Formulated for use with calcium reactors."

A totally meaningless claim, IMO.

"Reef Mix Parameters:
Alkalinity 2.90
Boron (ppm) 2.90
Calcium (ppm) 450
Chloride (ppm) 17,000
Copper (ppm) 0.0003
Iodide (ppm) 0.08
Magnesium (ppm) 1,460
Molybdenum (ppm) 0.113
pH @20.3 C 8.45
Potassium (ppm) 308
Sodium (ppm) 9,030
Strontium (ppm) 9.8
Sulfate (ppm) 2,180"


By their own claim is is VERY deficient in potassium. Not a good idea. It is also deficient in boron. Why do so and then point it out to everyone? Not a smart marketing plan.

[xsboost]

I've used their reef salt occasionally due to lack of local options.

Found the Ca and Mg are off the chart on the salifert tests, ~500mg & ~1500mg :headwally: Alk was also a bit low around 120ppm (6.8dkh). Their product support claims my salinity was too high (1.025-1.026) and they recomment 1.023 which will lower levels...oh boy...

It takes hours to mix then a few days later the water storage drum goes cloudy - I'm guessing from the added carbon/organic source causing a bloom :headwally:

[Nano sapiens]

I'm on my second bucket of this salt in 1-1/2 years. Parameter consistency has been very good so far. This salt's calcium, alkalinity and magnesium are high enough that I no longer have to use Kalkwasser (with a 10% water change/week) and only occasionally have to add an alkalinity booster.

Since I have started using this salt my soft corals have done fine, but many of my SPS have faded to a lightened cream color. Its very difficult to positively relate bleaching/fading specifically to a particular salt mix since many other factors can be involved, but I plan to use a different salt when this bucket is finished to see if there is any improvement.

[xsboost]

Sps like consistency, so replacing all your alk and ca with a weekly hit through a water change is not ideal imo. Your sps might be fading due to lack of nutrients or too much light.

[Nano sapiens]

My calcium has hovered around 460-480 mg/l and alk around 3.0 meq/l for over a year with just a 10% water change/week using this salt. I only have small colonies of SPS that I prune regularly and don't allow coralline algae to grow anywhere except on the limited LR.

Nutrients could be lacking since I don't keep any fish, but I have tried 2-3X/week coral feedings with various foods for 2 months straight, but I didn't see much difference in coral colors...just more algae growth.

[Nano sapiens]

Just performed a Ca and ALK test on a week old mixture I had made using this, my second tub of salt (SG of 1.025 at 77 degrees F). Not so good for my mixed reef: CA=520ppm, ALK=3.5meg/l (10dKh). This explains why my tank CA hovers around 480ppm with a 10% weekly WC and why my ALK is low in relation to CA. Maybe cut this batch of Microbe-Lift salt with Instant Ocean to get CA levels down a bit and pre-buffer to get ALK up.

Looking at my records I can see that my first tub of Micro-Lift was better balanced where the CA level in my tank stayed in the 420-440 range and ALK wasn't as low (relatively). The difference from one batch to another is a bit of a surprise, but not unheard of in other salts.