Tropic Marin Syn-Biotic Salt // Your thoughts?

[Nanojoe]

Hey R2R,
Due to availability I may be looking to switching salts.
I was looking at the Syn-Biotic salt and liked what I was reading.
Was wondering what reefers thought of this who are and have been using this salt.
TIA.

 

[dedragon]

same boat lol

Tropic marin syn biotic vs bio actif

I couldnt find much info on the difference between the 2, same levels and has prebiotic bacteria food (idk if that is carbon dosing but probably). Does syn biotic not contain as much carbon dosing as bio actif or are they just the same thing?

www.reef2reef.com

 

[dedragon]

im using it for a tank transfer and then switching back to a salt without bacteria, probiotics or carbon dosing components. Either tm pro, red sea blue, or fritz rpm. If you are having high nutrient issues or starting a new tank i think this can help, but idk what other situations to use it in personally.

 

[Nanojoe]

im using it for a tank transfer and then switching back to a salt without bacteria, probiotics or carbon dosing components. Either tm pro, red sea blue, or fritz rpm. If you are having high nutrient issues or starting a new tank i think this can help, but idk what other situations to use it in personally.

I like the idea of adding more bacteria diversity. I dose bacteria daily. So I figured the synbiotic would be a great salt to use.
I do like your point on using it for a new setup.

 

[dedragon]

I do the same, I dose PNS pro bio and yellow sno at times, but after a few months i found the same results just using brightwell reef snow and tropic marin reef snow (i interchange as brightwell has some carbon dosing too it and i dose phosphates and nitrates to keep them up). Cheaper for me than buying more bacteria and i think the bacterial populations are keeping up due to the reef snow i keep adding.

 

[GlassMunky]

I never saw any noticable differences from using this salt compared to their Pro salt when i was still using TM products.

I no longer trust or use TM tho after their whole Turkish Salt debacle.

 

[dedragon]

I never saw any noticable differences from using this salt compared to their Pro salt when i was still using TM products.

I no longer trust or use TM tho after their whole Turkish Salt debacle.

they are back to using the german factory again https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/syn-biotic-seasalt-tropic-marin.html

 

[GlassMunky]

they are back to using the german factory again https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/syn-biotic-seasalt-tropic-marin.html

Im well aware they are. but that means nothing to me, as i dont trust them as a company anymore.

They refused to admit there was a problem for months before enough people made a fuss about it online here. then after they finally admit there is an issue, they completely avoid any discussion or questions asked about how they can guarantee the german salt is any better, which to me is shady AF.

They keep adamantly saying that ALL ingredients from both plants were sourced from THE SAME pharmaceutical salts but somehow they are able to say FOR SURE that even though they are using the same ingredients that the same thing wont happen even though they still have no idea how the stuff made it through their QC.


If you cant answer these questions, then i dont believe you have any idea whats going on with your factory and i dont trust using your products.


FWIW, i went back to using IO Regular salt (not reef crystals) and saw an immediate and continued improvement in my tanks.

 

[GlassMunky]

they are back to using the german factory again https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/syn-biotic-seasalt-tropic-marin.html

that also has no bearing on this topic at hand which is the Syn-Biotic, which i used regularly for about 3-4 months and never saw any change other than the extra money i spent.

 

[dedragon]

I get that, faith in a company is hard to have when they dont immediately try to fix the issue. If you read through the long thread on the tm turkish salt issue they seem to have found the problem and ceased production at the factory for the moment at least

that also has no bearing on this topic at hand which is the Syn-Biotic, which i used regularly for about 3-4 months and never saw any change other than the extra money i spent.

it does if you tried it when it was being made at the turkish factory, things were messed up then but good that you didnt see any change. The price on brs is actually the same if you check out the 160 gallon box. 200 gallon doesnt make sense as you actually pay more than the 160 but i guess you get a bucket (not really worth it for a bucket imo)

 

[GlassMunky]

I get that, faith in a company is hard to have when they dont immediately try to fix the issue. If you read through the long thread on the tm turkish salt issue they seem to have found the problem and ceased production at the factory for the moment at least

it does if you tried it when it was being made at the turkish factory, things were messed up then but good that you didnt see any change. The price on brs is actually the same if you check out the 160 gallon box. 200 gallon doesnt make sense as you actually pay more than the 160 but i guess you get a bucket (not really worth it for a bucket imo)

you seem to be misunderstanding everything ive said.

So, first off, the synbiotic was NEVER made in turkey, only germany.
Second, im aware they found "Insoluble clays" in the turkish PRO salt but that doesn't tell us ANYTHING!
If BOTH the GERMAN and TURKISH plants used THE SAME ingredients, SOURCED FROM THE SAME PLACE, how can you guarantee that the same thing wont get back past your QC when its already done that in the turkish plant and you didn't realize until your customers complained.

 

[dedragon]

hard to say but this seems like more of a personal issue between you and a company. There are a lot of places things could go wrong along the way when making a factory in a different country with a different regulations and qc team and I do not claim to know everything about salt manufacturing.
I am sure IO has changed over the many years of operating and its always had some parameter fluctuations and precipitate or floating particles in it as well but people continue to use it (though the price is amazing).

I did not realize syn biotic was always made in the german factory but that is good info to know.

 

[Viva'sReef]

you seem to be misunderstanding everything ive said.

So, first off, the synbiotic was NEVER made in turkey, only germany.
Second, im aware they found "Insoluble clays" in the turkish PRO salt but that doesn't tell us ANYTHING!
If BOTH the GERMAN and TURKISH plants used THE SAME ingredients, SOURCED FROM THE SAME PLACE, how can you guarantee that the same thing wont get back past your QC when its already done that in the turkish plant and you didn't realize until your customers complained.

I've commented several times that my German made TM Classic had the same issues as the Turkish TM Pro. Insoluable "crap" in my newly mixed saltwater. Rapid health decline/death of coral right after multiple water changes with the German TM Classic. They threw the Turkish plant under the bus as a means to satisfy the people who wanted answers/blood and to take the heat off of the German factory. They continue to maintain the idea that they are made using the same exact material from the same sources/vendors. IMO, that statement contradicts the one that points directly to Turkey.

Immediatly after changing salts to RedSea Blue my tank rebounded almost overnight. Strange coincidence? I think NOT.

 

[dedragon]

very interesting, most people reported the oily surface or particles but not nearly the same issues in tank decline. That raises a red flag

 

[dedragon]

hopefully the syn biotic box BRS sells is just very old stock, i will check the production date when i receive it to let the OP know if they are concerned about the new salt stock

 

[Viva'sReef]

very interesting, most people reported the oily surface or particles but not nearly the same issues in tank decline. That raises a red flag

I was doing 15-20% water changes every 2 weeks. That was working fine until the new buckets of TM Classic. The bad buckets I had were ordered in April/May of 2021 when the shortage was a problem so I ordered as soon as they became available knowing I would not need them for months. I just kept using the TM Classic buckets I had at the time, which lasted me until the beginning of 2022. It all went downhill from there.

Call me old school but when your tank started to look like crap 20 years ago you do a water change. I implied that thinking to what was going on, so another water change and then another now only a few days to a week apart. Mind you I have a full Controller suite, Alkatronic, testing all params methodicially and graphing/loigging everything in ReefTrace. Nothing seemed out of place. ICP test results also came back good with just lower Iodine (add 0.51ml for 3 days) and lowish Manganese (add 1.62ml for 1 day)

I think some of it has to do with the size of water changes in a given system. From what I've learned so far, those doing small daily automatic water changes or weekly water changes of 10% or less had much less or no problems at all.
Shoot, some of them continue to use the Turkish salt with no ill effects.

 

[sneekapeek]

I’ve used this salt for about 5-6 buckets. I liked it and helped reduce nutrients. The only drawback I saw was the price and driving nutrients too low over time. If you run a dirty tank or have a dsb over ten years old, id use it in a heartbeat.

 

[areefer01]

you seem to be misunderstanding everything ive said.

So, first off, the synbiotic was NEVER made in turkey, only germany.
Second, im aware they found "Insoluble clays" in the turkish PRO salt but that doesn't tell us ANYTHING!
If BOTH the GERMAN and TURKISH plants used THE SAME ingredients, SOURCED FROM THE SAME PLACE, how can you guarantee that the same thing wont get back past your QC when its already done that in the turkish plant and you didn't realize until your customers complained.

I wonder why people who used their full bucket of Pro Reef that was made in Turkey didn't have any issues /shrug

OP - due to availability issues of Pro Reef in my area I had to make a similar decision. Syn Biotic or Bio Actif or another brand (Instant Ocean - standard). I ended up going with Bio Actif and didn't notice any difference other than my phosphate levels went down a bit. Corals (soft, lps, and sps) didn't seem to care one way or another.

I can't speak for Syn Biotic but one suggestion is to check to see how long you have to use it vs. longer term storage. Bio Actif you have to use it within 24 or so hours after mixing. It is not meant for long term storage. Also it mixes up somewhat cloudy but clears relatively quick.

If you decide to consider other brands / manufactures of salt only other thing I'd recommend is to find one that matches your water parameters. Less shock or change or modifications (by manually dosing).

 

[dedragon]

i am actually using it right now and havent noticed any decline in corals from the tank transfer. Im sure stirring up everything brought up nitrate and phosphate so the synbiotic probably just helped bring it back to regular levels, but nothing is out of normal range