Being Cheap in the Saltwater Tank World

Everybody likes to save a dollar, but keeping a saltwater tank is a hobby where it never pays to be cheap.

Here’s an example of a common place people try to cut corners: The use of grocery store items as supplements in place of buying name brand supplements.

Money saved…a couple of dollars.

Potential disaster to your tank = immeasureable.

When you stop to think about it, you spend LOTS of money on corals and fish for your tank. Why would you risk the investment you have in your tank to save a couple of dollars?

Grocery store items such as epson salts (a Mg booster) and picking lime (a kalk substitute) aren’t pure. They may contain lots of other compounds that we don’t know about and aren’t listed on the bottle. So when you dose the salts or the lime, you are dosing the unknown compounds as well. The result = potential for tank crashes, bleaching corals, etc.

Name brand supplements are often pharmaceutical grade pure so you can know when you are dosing the supplements, you are JUST dosing the supplement. No unknown compounds to wreak havoc on your tank.

Your tank is an investment. Don’t try to cut corners to save some money. Instead, treat the tank as the investment its worth and it will pay you back in folds.

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