Issue No. 4
FALL OUT FROM THE S-15™ REPORT™
The spaghetti hit the fan!
Copyright © 2000 by Aqua Craft®, Inc. All rights reserved.

Gramma loreto Royal gramma or Fairy basslet are the common names for this colorful beauty from the Caribbean. It is readily available and easy to keep. Only one royal gramma should be kept in a tank, as they display territorial aggression towards their own.

Never in the history of salt water aquarium keeping has anything like the S-15™ Report™ been offered. This long overdue document graphically demonstrates that the majority of base marine aquarium products (marine salts) simply do not measure up. They do not measure up to: their package claims, advertising claims, and do not measure up to the scientific standard of natural sea water.

Since marine aquarium keeping became popular, there have been nagging rumors that salt water aquariums were difficult to keep. The reality is that if you were sold a marine salt that was dramatically different than NSW, what else but failure could you expect?

When the S-15™ Report™ was introduced, key information was made available in the form of a simple bar graph. This was printed in Tropical Fish Hobbyist and Marine Fish Monthly magazines. Other US magazines refused to print this.

Within a few months, the bar graph was printed in: Chinese, Japanese and German. Information was also translated into: Italian, French and Spanish.

The S-15™ Report™ took the world of marine aquariums a quantum leap closer to understanding what is required to ensure the investment success of all marine fish keepers. Now interested individuals have the opportunity to make an informed decision regarding the marine salt they select. After all, water quality starts with your water™.

Since the introduction of the S-15™ Report™, the following events have occurred.


1) Aquarium Systems®, manufacturer of Instant Ocean® and Reef Crystals® was the first to complain about the S-15™ Report™. The S-15™ Report™ demonstrated that both products were not representative of their packaging and advertising claims.


When it was revealed that the higher priced Reef Crystals® was similar to the economy Instant Ocean®, Reef Crystals® was no longer heavily promoted.


2) Aquarium Systems®, started producing Kent® Marine Salt. This item is now heavily promoted. Most of the information on the Kent® salt package and advertising is reflective of the old Reef Crystals® marketing program. Preliminary investigation reveals that Kent® Marine Salts is similar to Reef Crystals®, which is similar to Instant Ocean®.

Aquarium Systems® has been sold to an "investment group" that also owns other aquarium and pet product companies.

The Fall issue of MARINE AQUARIST® reported that KENT® Marine Salt was manufactured by Aquarium Systems®. Other information was offered regarding three other new marine salts.

Our office received the following letter from Jack Kent, President of KENT Marine, dated August 1, 1995.


"It has come to our attention that you are making false statements and false inferences about one of our products, Kent Sea Salt, in your Marine Aquarist newsletter. You obviously don't know how the salt is manufactured and are disseminating hear say and conjecture.

We sternly request that you discontinue this practice. We also request that you respond with your clear commitment to do so.

We request that you refrain from evaluating our products in the future. We have noticed your tendency to degrade other manufacturer's products, rather than trying to sell your products on their own merits. We will not stand idly by while you degrade our products.

We hope that this can be resolved without the need for litigation, but we stand ready to defend our products, whatever it takes. We also will respond, in kind, where necessary, so that the public is protected."

Sincerely,
Jack Kent, President

MARINE AQUARIST™ Reply of August 11, 1995

Dear Jack:
...We have reviewed issue #3 of MARINE AQUARIST™ that includes information regarding Kent Marine Salt. We see no evidence that any information was offered that is inaccurate. We did not degrade any other manufacturer's products. It appears that some items are degraded when they were produced. We have the responsibility to describe items for what they are.

If your marine salt is not manufactured by Aquarium Systems®, then it stands to reason the Aquarium Systems® would want to distance themselves from that claim. Therefore if Aquarium Systems® is not manufacturing your marine salt, they would be happy to send you a notarized document to that effect.

If you wish to offer interested dealers and hobbyists accurate information regarding Kent Salt, I suggest the following.

1. Send $5840.00 directly to Anresco Laboratories in San Francisco. Instruct them to procure a minimum of two samples of Kent Salt from sources readily available to the general buying public. I.e. Retail stores and/or mail order supply businesses.
2. Instruct Anresco Laboratories to perform testing in their independent laboratory and send split samples to the University of Missouri, Environmental Trace Substances Research Center, Dept. of Environmental Science & Technology.
3. Ask for test procedures identical to those used to generate the S-15™ Report™.
4. These results can be published in a future issue of MARINE AQUARIST™

This should "clear the air" so only accurate scientific information is offered in MARINE AQUARIST™.

We look forward to receiving your acknowledgement that you are contributing to the betterment of our hobby and industry by providing a scientific foundation for your product claims.

Thank you.
Michael Del Prete

Mr. Jack Kent personally signed for this registered document, article number Z287345175 on August 22, 1995.

To date, we have not received any reply. Nor has any money been sent to commission any testing to support the claims of the Kent® Sea Salt package or advertising.


3) Coralife®, bought out Deep Ocean™. I.e. The salt that scored 23 bought the salt that scored 12 out of 100 with information from the S-15™ Report™. Coralife® is planning to produce marine salts in Mainland China in 2000.




4) Forty Fathoms®, after 20+ years changed their name to Crystal Sea®.


5) Tropic Marin® company changed ownership.


6) Red Sea™ changed their sale personnel.


7) Hans Weigant of hW Marinemix® passed away.


8) Coral Marine™ Scientific Formula™ was created with information from the S-15™ Report™. The manufacturer saw what existing salts were accepted and created what many consider to be the best low cost marine salt.

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