Issue No. 3
Sea Scope™ or SMOKE SCREEN?
Copyright © 2000 by Aqua Craft®, Inc. All rights reserved.


Reef Aquarium With Clownfish

This 60 gallon reef tank with purple tang (Acanthurus xanthopterus) and royal gramma (Gramma loreto) along with numerous delicate hard and soft corals now thrives in 100% Marine Environment® dual phase formula™. The tank was originally set up with Instant Ocean® brand marine salts. The owner in Taiwan had difficulty maintaining proper pH. The corals never blossomed and the fish did not exhibit rich dramatic life like colors, until she switched to MARINE ENVIRONMENT®. After two 25% water changes using Marine Environment® dual phase formula™, the tank "came alive". "No other changes were made". The aquarium uses a simple trickle filter with two gallons of Super BI OX®. The aquarium is lit with six fluorescent lamps. A 25% water change is made every month with Marine Environment® dual phase formula™. No other additives are used.
It is not the normal intention of MARINE AQUARIST™ to debate other publications. However, we feel it necessary to offer an accurate answer to Sea Scope™ Vol. II.

SMOKE SCREEN: Mr. Frakes, the author of "Sea Salt Assay: A Closer Look" offers uninformed and misleading information regarding an independent laboratory assay of 15 marine salts.

Certainly thousands, perhaps millions, of mis-marked, misshapen clownfish were raised at Instant Ocean® Hatcheries. But not in I.O. exclusively and the facility ultimately ceased operations. I.e. SMOKE SCREEN.

Mr. Frank Hoff, then director of I.O. Hatcheries indicated that "Spawning occurs either naturally or semi-naturally (hormone induced)." Aquarium News Page 16, Oct. 1976. If the fish did not spawn he added hormones. This in not part of commercially available Instant Ocean. I.e. SMOKE SCREEN.

HALF A FORMULA: Sea Scope™ tells readers that Mr. Perrin of Tropiquarium in Detroit is successfully breeding corals in Instant Ocean®. This is not the case. Mr. Perrin obtains a concentrated salt mix then adds common salt or sodium chloride, (approximately 55% of his formula) he gets locally. (Personal communication ). Another SMOKE SCREEN.

Changing the grade or quality of the majority of a salt mix can create a formula that may not make the same Instant Ocean® available to dealers or consumers.

CLAIMS: Aquarium Systems® claims Instant Ocean® has earned a reputation for superior quality. This claim cannot be tested but has been frequently rebutted.

In Sea Scope™ Vol. 7 appears "Table 1 a comparative analysis for four commercial brands of sea salts mixed to the same specific gravity". This advertisement indicates that only I.O. is similar to NSW and does not list test results for sulfate (a major element) or bromide (a minor element). This is an "unsigned report" with no indication of what SG the salts were mixed to. It gives no mention of the missing test results for the major and minor elements that were not shown in the "report". This is a prime example of a SMOKE SCREEN.

FACT: The information for the S-15™ Report™ was produced by Anresco Laboratory (a third party independent lab. Dr. Eisenberg Director) with the majority of testing done at the University of Missouri, a US Government prime contract testing laboratory and funded by Global Scientific Publications. There are no "claims" in this report, positive or negative, only statements of quantifiable facts.

Mr. Frake's allegation that there is no scientific validation is untrue, like many of other statements made. Only Global Scientific Publications™ has been willing to spend the money to do the testing. The entire content of the S-15™ Report™ is now available at www.aquacraft.net.

If their is contradictory evidence available, we ask Mr. Frakes to publish this evidence along with the name of the laboratory that will stand behind that evidence, the name of the responsible person who over sees the testing and the name of the funding organization.

CONFUSION: Sea Scope™ has liberally used the word confusion in the 1990's when describing assays and packaging of various marine salts. Anresco Lab. and a US Government prime contract testing laboratory are not confused. We ask, who in fact, is confused?

Be skeptical of Sea Scope™ or other publications that offer test results or information that do not indicate the name of the laboratory used or the person responsible for the test results. It is very easy for anyone to make negative comments on test results that they did not contribute to.




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