Microbe-Lift Reef Salt is coming out on the market within the next six months aimed at offering quality, pharmaceutical-grade ingredients with all the major, minor, and trace elements required by our reef inhabitants. Microbe-Lift and its parent company, Ecological Laboratories, is well known in the pond and water treatment industries and has been branching out into all aspects of home aquaria in the last few years. With other companies also launching “premium” salts recently, Microbe-Lift is entering a crowded market but one where pricing and results coupled with its loyal user base from the pond and freshwater side may be able to set it apart from other products in the market.
The company opted not to use any evaporated seawater ingredients to bring a high degree of purity to its product, instead using only pharmaceutical-grade ingredients. Extra care is being taken to make sure the salts are ground to a similar mesh size to help keep separation and stratification to a minimum. One thing absent from Microbe-Lift Reef Salt is bromide. Despite it being a powerful oxidizer, improper levels can be devastating to both fish and coral.
When mixed up at a specific gravity of 1.025 (32.35 ppt salinity) the Reef Salt has 450 ppm of calcium, 1,460 ppm of magnesium, an alkalinity of 2.9 meq/L at a pH of 8.45. The salt mixes up at about the same ratio of your typical salt mix with 1/2 cup per gallon of water. If you have a fish only setup or don’t want all the bells and whistles of a blended reef salt, the company is also introducing Sea Salt. The main parameters are the same except with lower levels of calcium (350 ppm) and magnesium (1,100 ppm).
Microbe-Lift is planning on bringing the salt to market by January 2011. No pricing has been set yet but their other products on the market are affordable and fit into similar pricing to other comparable products. As soon as we find out the pricing and product availability, we will make sure to pass it on.
