After over a decade of using the very popular, cheap brand, I ran into issues of inconsistencies…THAT MATTERED. I won’t use the brand name here, for risk of a lawsuit for defamation, or labile. These huge corporations can be ruthless.
Most are aware that it’s the cheapest for a reason, but 9 times out of 10, it’s “fine.” the reef version is much worse with inconsistent parameters, on top of the long long times required for it to mix clear, both versions leave nasty residue from the mysterious clay like anti-caking agents used.
I then used Aqua forest Reef salt mix, and it was an improvement. No real complaints other than an issue fairly unique to me. Even with keeping the bag closed up well, the salt was like a super magnet for ambient moisture and clumped up badly. This is likely due to the salt containing a very low level of moisture in it. Not usually a bad thing, but with a coral farm, you have high humidity, and thus, this salt mix wasn’t what I needed. As the frugal penny pincher I am, I started looking at Alternatives, such as full DIY, but getting all of the trace minerals, and calculating chemical compatibility, and ionic balance led me to look at ESV. While ESV has been around 1995, and Their salt mix formulated in 2006, ESV B-Ionic salt mix is often overlooked in the hobby. Among all of the Glitz and Glam, ESV does very little advertising, and most would never see any promotion of ESV. How can they still be in business, and thriving? Because a good product sells itself. Many professionals exclusively use ESV salt mix.
Andrew Sandler at Polo Reef, Reef Systems Coral Farms Inc. uses the salt mix and 2 Part exclusively!
Joe Yaiullo, the Curator and Co-Founder of the Long Island Aquarium & Exhibition Center also uses ESV salt mix and other Products And there are many more examples of thriving systems which only trust ESV to produce the best artificial seawater.
Esv does not have elevated Lithium like many cheap brands. High Lithium hasn’t really been proven to be detrimental without a doubt, but it is definitely not beneficial to have lithium elevated much higher than Natural Seawater. Due to the nature of even lab grade chemical manufacturing, each component can have some contamination. Bob has spent countless time to test and try different sources and types of compounds, so that any contamination is Non-issues. One example, a freshly mixed batch of ESV B-ionic synthetic seawtaer test via ICP-OES, will look nearly perfect compared to natural seawater, other than elevated Manganese. Many tanks are deficient ion Manganese, and Manganese is utilized by coral, algae, invertebrates, bacteria, etc. rapidly. In just a day or 2, that elevated manganese will test as 0ppm or below detection limits. I also do a bit of “Off-label” use of ESV B-Ionic. That’s the beauty of a 4 part mix. When you supplement with soda ash and calcium chloride, (2 Part,) Sodium and Chloride levels can begin to rise, and impact the Ionic balance.
After receiving results from ICP-OES testing, if Sodium and Chloride are elevated, I will calculate how much water to change, and how much sodium chloride to omit from the new seawater mix. This is “guess and check,’ and by “feel.” and the other 3 parts will need to be adjusted up to reach a final salinity of 35PPT.
This is NOT what ESV salt mix is designed for, and it not an official recommended practice by ESV.
This may sound like a lot of messing around, but doing that, I can run a calculator for a few minutes, and change less water, to make a bigger effect toward the elevated sodium chloride. I am not Anti-Water change, but there or environmental impacts to changing excessive water. Sodium and chloride being dumped into the sewer and ending up in ground water in excess over time could negatively impact soil health. Plus, I get to save a little money will smaller, more effective water changes.
For smaller aquariums with lower demands of calcium and alkalinity, ESV B-Ionic Calcium Buffer System will avoid the problem. Unlike 1 part dosing by other brands, there is no addition on Organic Carbon, which is a bit of a hot topic.
This in NOT a sponsored AD for ESV. I pay full price for Products from ESV, and get a pallet at a time. The commercial offerings allow for locally sourcing the 2 dry salt components, which brings the cost down for me immensely over any other alternative brand of salt mix. This is even more cost effectively than the “Leading Brand.”
While I do recommend most Hobbyists use ESV B-Ionic Calcium Buffer system, I do not use it personally. That is only due to the shear scale of dosing I need. My SPS system uses 7.77DKH/DAY (Nov2025) in other words, around 10 POUNDS of Soda Ash each month! That would be nearly 9 gallons of each A and B components of B-Ionic! I don’t want to have to pass that cost onto customers. It makes little difference to customers whether I am dosing with the best 2 part system in the world, or simply, “driveway salts.”
I do want to test out B-Ionic 2 part first hand on my display tank which is a low demand, soft coral system. I do not normally recommend products I have not used personally, and extensively, but everything from ESV is a winning product if it’s claimed effects seem to match your needs.
Many hobbyist and professionals have their favorite salt mix brands, but from my extensive research, and looking at the Track record of ESV, the chances of ever getting a “bad batch” are about the same as me getting bit by a shark in Minnesota. Many online influencers are sponsored by these salt mix companies, so you can take that into account when you are hearing elsewhere how great they are. That doesn’t mean they are bad at all! I’ll just re-iterate, Good products sell themselves.