Combisan re-packaged

[simonh]

I'm sure you all remember the threads about a year ago regarding CombiSan. Well...

A few weeks ago on the shelves of the LFS I noticed that CombiSan has been re-packaged over here in Europe. Previously it was the TLF bottle, now Aquarium System in France is bottling it and selling it under the name Reef Evoloution - CombiSan by Peter Wilkens. I only opened up a bottle to take a visual look and it looked more yellow, no idea if anything else has changed (except the analysis been removed from the packaging)! Just wondered if this had happened in the USA too ?

 

[randy holmes-farley]

Simon:

You have a conductivity probe, right? Can you drop it in the bottle and see what you get? I'd like to see if the contents are different than what's being sold in the US.

Does anyone recall the conductivity that we got on the bottles here in the US last year? Anyone have a bottle now that can do this? Matt? And is it yellow in the US? I can't really recall whether mine was yellow or not.

Thanks

 

[simonh]

Randy,

I've been offline a few days but will try do this next week. I have the old bottle I tested last year at 1.2mS IIRC. I will check both and post the figures back to you.

 

[simonh]

Randy,

I just did a quick check. I got a conductivity of 1.5 mS/cm on the old bottle which was the TLF stuff, it was totally clear. On the new Aquarium Systems packaged I got a conductivity around 6.8 mS/cm, it is a dark yellow colour. This is a conductivity calibrates at 53mS for saltwater so these may not be exact but hope that gives some indication of the differences.

HTH.
-Simon

[ October 28, 2001: Message edited by: simonh ]</p>

 

[Anonymous]

Very Interesting.

The new product you describe sounds EXACTLY like "Reef Solution" from Ecosystem Aquarium (yes, the Miracle Mud company).

First, Reef Solution is dark yellow - I think it's the only dark yellow trace element mix we've seen.

Second, Ecosystem has some sort of connection with Aquarium Systems:
<ul type="square">[*]Several of the early articles about MM first appeared in Sea Scope, Aquarium Systems' publication.[*]Aquarium Systems' Instant Ocean salt is endorsed on the Ecosystems web site.[*]Several articles advocating the use of MM have been written by Tom Frakes, who works for Aquarium Systems.
[/list]

So their trace element product being distributed by AqSys makes perfect sense.

How Wilkens and the Combi-San name are associated with it is a mystery. Maybe they're just licensing the name?

 

[simonh]

On the box of the new product it says "Reef Evoloution Combisan - developed by Peter Wilkens". No analysis appears and the decription of the product is much shorter as it appears in 6 different languages. Maybe Peter has sold the European bottling rights to Aquarium Systems France so our supplies no longer come via TLF who maybe have US rights ?

Would the iron in the amounts which were supposed to be in the original product (1115ppm) cause the product to be a yellowy colour or the organic extracts ?

-Simon

[ October 28, 2001: Message edited by: simonh ]</p>

 

[randy holmes-farley]

It is interesting, to say the least, that two products called Combisan have widely different compositions.

 

[AF Founder]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by simonh:
<strong>On the box of the new product it says "Reef Evoloution Combisan - developed by Peter Wilkens". No analysis appears and the decription of the product is much shorter as it appears in 6 different languages. Maybe Peter has sold the European bottling rights to Aquarium Systems France so our supplies no longer come via TLF who maybe have US rights ?

Would the iron in the amounts which were supposed to be in the original product (1115ppm) cause the product to be a yellowy colour or the organic extracts ?

-Simon

[ October 28, 2001: Message edited by: simonh ]</strong><hr></blockquote>

Simon,
What you guessed is correct. Wilkens spent a week with me last year at my home on Cape Cod and told me that he sold the rights to Aquarium Systems in France, and that they are manufacturing what his formulae demands. What happened to the TLF's formulation is still a mystery -- Peter refused to discuss it, but clearly was very annoyed by the situation, and its implications regarding his reputation. IMO, Wilken's is the father of reef keeping, writing about the necessity for calcium supplementation (the use of limewater) and protein skimming in 1968 in a book entitled "The Saltwater Aquarium for Tropical Marine Invertebrates. This book was translated into English in 1973.
Terry

 

[Greg Hiller]

Randy,

FWIW, I recall that the 'old' Combisan from TLF that I purchased about 3-4 years ago was water-white. That's why I was so surprised that when I made my own version of the stuff it was quite dark brown due to all the iron.

- Greg Hiller

 

[AF Founder]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Greg Hiller:
<strong>Randy,

FWIW, I recall that the 'old' Combisan from TLF that I purchased about 3-4 years ago was water-white. That's why I was so surprised that when I made my own version of the stuff it was quite dark brown due to all the iron.

- Greg Hiller</strong><hr></blockquote>

Greg,
When it first came out in the USA it was yellow/brown. The iron was removed because reef keepers where complaining about excessive algae growth from its use. I don't know who made that decision.
Terry