Choosing Salt Mix

[Sea Witch]

Which salt mix do you folks recommend and why?

thanks

[Madreefer]

Instant Ocean because it's cheap and the only salt available in my town. My tank is a mixed reef. It works for me.

[TheMikey]

Depends on what's available near me, like Madreefer. I run a nano tank and my LFS only sells salt by the giant $100 buckets which would probably expire by the time I got through half of it. So I go to a dept. pet store and I've used a variety: Instant Ocean, Red Sea Pro, something endorsed by ORA in a silver bag, and right now I'm on Reef Crystals.

[whatcaneyedo]

40% of people on this forum chose Instant Ocean in this poll
Reef Salt Brand
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=52807&highlight=salt
57% chose Instant Ocean in this older poll
What salt do you use?
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=31737&highlight=salt

[fishytime]

just pick one........seriously......you will get all kinds of "this salt is good because of this" and "that salt is bad because I had this problem when I used it"(which 90% of the time, probably had nothing to do with the salt).......FWIW, I use H2Ocean because I like the idea that it is a naturally evaporated salt, not a synthetic.....whether thats a good thing or not, I dont know, but the idea appeals to me

[cathyg_99]

i know some people say the higher brand of salts are better for SPS but if your just staring out or have a mixed reef Instant ocean should be fine, thats all ive used since the start and ive got fantastic growth for 4 months

[intarsiabox]

I've used 5 different brands of salt and can't say any one performed better than the other. None caused algae blooms or killed any of my corals or fish. My current bucket of salt that I just started using is Seachem Reef because it was being sold a few blocks from my house and it was on sale.

[phi delt reefer]

most of the tank of the months on ALL Sites use instant ocean. nothing wrong with it and its hard to beat at $50 for a 200 gallon box.

I personally use the ESV component salt. A little bit of work but the salt comes in 4 base components that you mix. I bought a scale to measure the components out. I can mix and use a batch in ten minutes. Because its broken out into components everything dissolves quick. Not available in Canada though - i drive across the border to pick up a 200 gallon box but on a 50 gallon total volume tank its going to last me a few months :)

[don.ald]

most of the tank of the months on ALL Sites use instant ocean. nothing wrong with it and its hard to beat at $50 for a 200 gallon box.


all true but hardly likely you will find a 200g box for $50. here on the island.:wink:

[Diana]

I agree IO is good, we have also been using Kent lately with good results. A batch of Reefer's Best recently caused major damage to a lot of our tanks
:mad:

[gobytron]

salt is salt.
the rest is just marketing and minor elemental differences easily adjusted.

I use Seachem Reefsalt.
I dont habve to adjust alk or magnesium and it mixes clear within a few hours with no scum on top or unidentifieable objects found.
The price point is also great.

[George]

Some one in RC measures major elements in many brands of salt. here is the link:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1714505

I have been using IO for years because it's widely available in our area (no fear of OOS), and it's the cheapest even with additional elements added (IO is low on Ca).

[lastlight]

I'm happy with my Reef Crystals other than the nasty crap that builds up in my mixing tank.

[gobytron]

I'm happy with my Reef Crystals other than the nasty crap that builds up in my mixing tank.

Why use a more expensive salt that gives you crap like that?

[ponokareefer]

I've used 5 different brands of salt and can't say any one performed better than the other. None caused algae blooms or killed any of my corals or fish. My current bucket of salt that I just started using is Seachem Reef because it was being sold a few blocks from my house and it was on sale.

My experience is about the same as this. I used high end for quite a while, switched to Instant Ocean, then tried a couple of other brands. I'll be sticking with Instant Ocean as none of the other brands seemed to perform any better, Instant Ocean is cheap, and I had to use less additives with Instant Ocean than some of the more expensive brands.

[lastlight]

Why use a more expensive salt that gives you crap like that?

I've just always used RC. Maybe I'm a bit superstitious but I'm hesitant to switch. RC is also nice and high in Ca.

[daniella3d]

I use IO Reef Crystal. I tried red sea and H2O but my zoanthids were not doing well at all and I almost lost them all. I switched back to IO and they all came back to good health.

I used H2O for about a year and always had some brown deposite in the mixing baril. Never had this with IO or IO Reef Crystal. I will stay with IO Reef Crystal as this give me the best results. I have SPS, soft and LPS and all my corals are doing great.

NO matter what salt I was using, I always had to dose, so why buy a very expensive salt like H2O if I still need to dose about the same? no point. I am very happy with IO RC.

I use the BRS 2 part dosing and just got their pumps as well.