Instant Ocean vs. NeoMarine Salt Mix
 

My LFS sells two brands of salt. They sell Instant Ocean as the basic salt mix and Brightwell NeoMarine as the 'premium' salt mix.

I've seen countless, beautiful SPS tanks on ReefCentral where the salt used is Instant Ocean (not even Reef Crystals), but almost no one has mentioned Brightwell NeoMarine.

I currently use NeoMarine, but am thinking of moving to Instant Ocean. Not because of cost, but because I've seen much better results on ReefCentral from Instant Ocean.

Does anyone have any feedback on IO vs. NeoMarine?

only input I can give is that I have only used NeoMarine so far, all my fish and corals seem very happy in the tank and it mixes quickly giving a nice clear saltwater mix quickly. I dont have experience with others but will keep an eye on your thread as I am also curious....as I get to the bottom of this bucket of Neo I am considering going to Red Sea or Instant ocean next time as I can find those at most LFS.

I won't say that Brightwell isn't a fine mix, but Chris Brightwell always comes up with hilarious copy in his ads. I'll point out one here from Neomarine web site:

http://brightwellaquatics.com/products/neomarine.php


First line of the ad:

"Extensively-researched and tested over a multi-year period, with a formulation based on
current understanding of Marine Chemistry and Marine Biology as they pertain to the
husbandry of all marine aquaria."


Sounds GREAT!

But wait for the second line:

"Precision-formulated to replicate the natural seawater ratios of every major element, as well as all non-conservative minor and trace elements."

Huh?

Did he do years of work to make the best possible mix, or did he just look it up in a table of ions in seawater and match it?

Anyway, perhaps only chemists find this funny, but I couldn't resist.

I use ordinary IO. :)

It's personal preference...

Go with the cheapest name brand, imo instant ocean is great but use reef crystals for a reef tank... There a huge top selling company for a reason and reef crystals replicates nsw pretty well for the best price

Hi Randy -

I know this is an old thread, but this thread came up when I googled Neomarine.

I have been debating on trying this salt.

When Brightwell says: "Extensively-researched and tested over a multi-year period, with a formulation based on
current understanding of Marine Chemistry and Marine Biology as they pertain to the
husbandry of all marine aquaria."


I believe what this is saying is - they researched and tested THEIR particular salt mix over a muti-year period, meaning that they tested in a real world aquarium scenario before they released to the masses.

I don't think they are saying it took years to figure out what is in ocean water.

What are your thoughts?

Im giving it a try after having instant ocean mix up over 11 dkh. Several times.

Vivid in LA uses Brightwell and their tank is amazing. If it can be consistent I'm going to stick with it.