That article is a joke and filled with testing and analytical errors. Try reading these,
they are more real..

The Toxicity of Synthetic Sea Salts and Natural Seawater to the Development of White Sea
Urchin (Lytichinus pictus) Larvae
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/3/aafeature

Inland Reef Aquaria Salt Study Part I
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/11/aafeature1/view

Inland Reef Aquaria Salt Study Part II
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/12/aafeature1/view
--
Boomer

If You See Me Running You Better Catch-Up

Former US Army Bomb Technician (EOD)
Member; IABTI, NATEODA, WEODF, ISEE & IPS

Want to talk chemistry ? The Reef Chemistry Forum
http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/index.php

Want to See More ! The Coral Realm
http://www.coralrealm.com



"Tidepool Geek" wrote in message
oups.com...
: Hi Wayne,
:
: The assertion that Instant Ocean is the best salt seems to run contrary
: to a study published in the March, 2003 issue of Reefkeeping. Here's a
: link to that article:
: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/20...ture/index.php
:
: The article describes a bio-assay experiment comparing several
: different salt mixes (unfortunately Kent wasn't among them) to natural
: salt water by comparing the development of sea urchin larvae in each.
: The article goes into great detail about the methodology, a statistical
: analysis of the results, and certain inferences drawn from a chemical
: analysis of the commercial products.
:
: The bottom line of the testing was that Instant Ocean and Coralife came
: out looking pretty bad, both in terms of urchin development and of the
: levels of undesirable metals in the products.
:
: Of the salts tested, the winner by a pretty fair margin seems to be
: Crystal Seas Marinemix - Bioassay Formula made by Marine Enterprises
: International, Inc. This product's make-up was the closest to NSW and
: it actually had a slightly better urchin development result than did
: NSW.
:
:
: Brackishly yours,
:
: Alex
: