Fauna Marin Professional Salt

[Canadianeh]

Anyone has any experience with Fauna Marin Professional Salt? How are they compare to Aquaforest Reef salt?

 

[Nighthawk26]

I am using it right now. I am on my 3rd box, and just bought 3 more. It mixes VERY well, is super clean, and has come up as per box specs so far.

I cannot compare at all, except by applying some common sense when I look at the price of the Aquaforest SHIPPED, I do not believe for one second this stuff is coming from anywhere other than China. Sure has some nice packaging, and good marketing behind it however.

 

[Canadianeh]

I am using it right now. I am on my 3rd box, and just bought 3 more. It mixes VERY well, is super clean, and has come up as per box specs so far.

I cannot compare at all, except by applying some common sense when I look at the price of the Aquaforest SHIPPED, I do not believe for one second this stuff is coming from anywhere other than China. Sure has some nice packaging, and good marketing behind it however.

You can't saybthe same thing about Fauna Marin? Why?

 

[Nighthawk26]

I am not actually sure what you are asking here? I can only assume you are asking why I say that about AF and not FM? If so, I sort of already said why. Look around what salt costs to ship. Then consider how much of that cost is built into the price of AF salt. When you see AF salt at a store it's the same price. So you are suggesting massive money is being lost by online sellers selling? Or more likely that the salt is $30 bucks a box at most. Then consider the costs of shipping heavy pallet items like that from EUROPE. There goes that $30 bucks. So now the salt is 0? Just using some common sense when factoring in what I know domestic shipping costs are, and what costs are to get something like this from Europe to Canada.

 

[Canadianeh]

I am not actually sure what you are asking here? I can only assume you are asking why I say that about AF and not FM? If so, I sort of already said why. Look around what salt costs to ship. Then consider how much of that cost is built into the price of AF salt. When you see AF salt at a store it's the same price. So you are suggesting massive money is being lost by online sellers selling? Or more likely that the salt is $30 bucks a box at most. Then consider the costs of shipping heavy pallet items like that from EUROPE. There goes that $30 bucks. So now the salt is 0? Just using some common sense when factoring in what I know domestic shipping costs are, and what costs are to get something like this from Europe to Canada.

Sorry if I wasn't being clear. I was looking for other reason (if there is any) why you choose FM over AF. I know that if you get it from US or any other non Canadian stores you will pay so much for a bucket of AF salt. Not to mention the availability of the salt.
But, if you get it from Amazon.ca and it is in stock, why you would choose FM over AF. I am being a devil advocate to steer the discussion away from price and availability only.

What I was trying to find out was in term of quality and reliability, is FM is superior than AF?

Trust me. I went with FM because how hard it is to get AF in Canada.

 

[TORX]

There is a HUGE difference in Aquaforest salt and Fauna Marin Professional Salt. I think tha tis what you are comparing @Nighthawk26. If you want a fair comparison on cost, you should compare similar levels of the brands. Compare Aquaforest Reef Salt to Fauna Marin Professional Salt.

Basic Aquaforest Salt is only recommended for fish and some soft corals. So basically it is only good for fish and mushrooms. Not good if you plan on having a reef tank. That is why it is only $44 shipped

When you compare the 2 equal salts, the price evens out.

 

[Canadianeh]

There is a HUGE difference in Aquaforest salt and Fauna Marin Professional Salt. I think tha tis what you are comparing @Nighthawk26. First off, if you want a fair comparison on cost, you should compare similar levels of the brands. Compare Aquaforest Reef Salt to Fauna Marin Professional Salt.

Basic Aquaforest Salt is only recommended for fish and some soft corals. So basically it is only good for fish and mushrooms. Not good if you plan on having a reef tank. That is why it is only $44 shipped

When you compare the 2 equal salts, the price evens out.

Again sorry for not being clear. I mean AF reef salt vs FM professional salt.

 

[TORX]

Again sorry for not being clear. I mean AF reef salt vs FM professional salt.

It does say reef salt in the title, but I think he found the incorrect one on Amazon. AF reef salt and FM Pro are about the same cost.

Both of which are more then Instant Ocean Reef Crystals though. Especially if you buy it during Big Al's boxing day sale where the 200 gallon mix bucket is $40 or so plus a $10 mail in rebate that you get back in USD. I buy 6 at once to get me through the year.

 

[Nighthawk26]

Up until not too long ago it was just as hard if not harder to get AF. Not sure how one would see AF being hard to get. Go to Amazon, it's usually available, and get it delivered right to your door.

Having not used either salt, there is nothing other than those sorts of "facts" that would have a person try one thing over another. I was coming off Red Sea Coral pro which I found difficult to mix, and DIRTY, and wanted lower ALK out of the box. So FM fit that bill from all I had found so give it a shot. If you email FM, you will possibly get the founder/owner of the company reply to you, and for me he actually called me. FROM GERMANY, and spent a great deal of time on the phone with me. He clearly has a MASSIVE passion, and is hardcore European in the mentality of Form over function so to speak. He absolutely refuses to put any money into his business that does not improve the product. I get my salt in a box with a sticker on it. There is no massive marketing campaign. No people who clearly plug the product who are surely getting kick backs. Just a quality product with no flash.

Couple that with my skepticism of AF and their marketing machine, then it also leads me to not believe everything AF claims. There are certainly a lot of fan boys, but time will tell. Look on some of the Euro sites. Why are there not a FLOOD of people using it over there when it COMES from there?

Bottom line, you have so many choices, sometimes it's the small things that lean you one way over another.

 

[Nighthawk26]

@TORX I did not see your post until he quoted you. Yes, I misread. The brand in general I am still skeptical about. My points still remain the same, but the numbers based on that still do no line up. Not saying I would never try it, but I certainly want to see a lot more from it other than the forum hype.

 

[Canadianeh]

Appreciated your opinion guys! Like I said, I already went with FM Professional Salt just because of the availability and personal recommendation by Darren from Bigshowfrags.

Amazon.ca only have AF reef salt sometime. Now they don't have it. GTA dealers don't have no AF reef salt.

 

[Canadianeh]

I just want to say that Fauna Marin Prof Salt is very easy to work with and mix and clear up so fast under 30 minutes. I got 1.026 SPG on the first mix each first time. I am using Milwaukee digital refractrometer which is very easy to work with.

 

[Canadianeh]

@Nighthawk26 I don't know why but this is the second time I mixed a batch to do my first water change and the alkalinity is very low. I got only 4.65 dkh. The manufacture spec is over 8 dkh. I followed some members advice to shake and stir up the salt before mixing it into water to make sure they are completely miced and I still get a very low Alkalinity. The first time I mixed a batch to start my cycling, it was also super low.
This is my parameters from a freshly made batch
Alk 4.65 dkh or 1.66 mEq/L
Ph 8.0
Calcium 488 ppm
Salinity 1.026
Temp 78 F
I am using Exact Idip test kit

Any idea why??

 

[Nighthawk26]

@Nighthawk26 I don't know why but this is the second time I mixed a batch to do my first water change and the alkalinity is very low. I got only 4.65 dkh. The manufacture spec is over 8 dkh. I followed some members advice to shake and stir up the salt before mixing it into water to make sure they are completely miced and I still get a very low Alkalinity. The first time I mixed a batch to start my cycling, it was also super low.
This is my parameters from a freshly made batch
Alk 4.65 dkh or 1.66 mEq/L
Ph 8.0
Calcium 488 ppm
Salinity 1.026
Temp 78 F
I am using Exact Idip test kit

Any idea why??

I am only on my 4th box, so I am by no means an expert, but I have not changed any of my dosing, and I am still consistent with all parameters. For sure when I first get the box, I take the bad out, and literally roll it around for a fair amount of time to try to get everything consistent. Beyond that, my only troubleshooting thought would be perhaps test is faulty? Have you tested the tank water against that sample of new water? Does that show an accurate 7-8 or so? Or did you not try? If you tried that and are sure the test strips for the idip are ok, then I would ensure you followed a similar mixing practice when the bag was new. If you did that to, my advice would be to contact Darren and see what he has to say. Or contact Claude at FM direct.

 

[Canadianeh]

I am only on my 4th box, so I am by no means an expert, but I have not changed any of my dosing, and I am still consistent with all parameters. For sure when I first get the box, I take the bad out, and literally roll it around for a fair amount of time to try to get everything consistent. Beyond that, my only troubleshooting thought would be perhaps test is faulty? Have you tested the tank water against that sample of new water? Does that show an accurate 7-8 or so? Or did you not try? If you tried that and are sure the test strips for the idip are ok, then I would ensure you followed a similar mixing practice when the bag was new. If you did that to, my advice would be to contact Darren and see what he has to say. Or contact Claude at FM direct.

I tested the alkalinity of the tank water at the first few days after I started the cycle and I got between 4-5 dKh. So it is the same result. I will test the water tank tonight since it has been 24 hours passed and see what it is.
Before I made the mix last night, I took the whole bag of salt out, and mix the salt around with my hand. I gave it pretty good mix.
Maybe I am going to bring the water to Big Als and see what's their test result. They use API kit

 

[Cliff]

Yes I would recommend a different test kit before you go to crazy LOL

 

[Canadianeh]

Subject of the test is 10 gallons of freshly made seawater with 1.027 salinity using Fauna Marin Professional Salt after 24 hours period mixing.
LFS test results
PH 8.2
Alkalinity 7 dkh
Calcium 360 ppm
No Magnesium test was performed. Not sure why, and I didn't ask
Red Sea Pro test kit results
PH 8.2
Alkalinity 9.1 dkh(not sure why it is much higher. I tested twice and asked second opinion on the color results)
Calcium 445 ppm
Magnesium 1600 ppm (again this is much higher. Performed the test twice with same result)
Exact Idip 570nm test kit results
PH 8.3
Alkalinity 7.12 dkh
Calcium 420 ppm
Magnesium 1131.93 ppm (it says on the screen "1131.93 ppm (as Mg +2). I don't know what "Mg +2" means)

I also test the Fauna Marin reference solution using Idip and Red Sea Pro. Here are the results:
Idip results
Alkalinity 5.5-5.94 dkh (on the bottle of reference solution says 6.6 dkh)
Calcium 296 ppm (on the bottle says 422 mg/l)
Magnesium 1029 ppm as Mg+2 (on the bottle says 1315 mg/l)
Red Sea Pro results
Alkalinity 7 dkh (on the bottle says 6.6 dkh)
Calcium 405 ppm (on the bottle says 422 mg/l)
Magnesium 1440 ppm (the bottle says 1315 mg/l)

Fauna Marin specs:
Chemical composition/Chemische Zusammensetzung
Magnesium: 1.250 - 1.340 mg/l
Calcium: 410 - 440 mg/l
Pottassium / Kalium: 380 - 400 mg/l
Natrium: 10.300 - 10.700 mg/l
Chloride: 19.100 – 19.800 mg/l
Sulphate / Sulfat: 2650 – 2750 mg/l
Alkalinität in dKH: 8,0–8,5°
pH-Wert: 8,0–8,4
Strontium: 7,0–9,0 mg/l

The Idip is picking Calcium and Alk number much closer to the Fauna Marin Professional salt specs. I don't know if this is due to Idip application software upgrade or something else. I don't roll the salt bucket each time I make a new mix. The Alk number is still under the manufacture's specs.

Let me know if you have any question.

 

[Nighthawk26]

Frustrating. I would bet using your same methods with various other salts it would be all over the map the same way. The only kits I can cross check are Hanna and Salifert for alk, and I can say they were almost spot on. Including The reference solution.

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

 

[Canadianeh]

It is very frustrating! Especially for perfectionist like me.

Which lead me to the next question. From salinity, PH, Alk, Cal, and magnesium, which one of these allow one to shoot for a ball park instead of being obsessed (for the lack of better word) with one or two perfect numbers?