hmmm a lot of good responses, i have no beef with instant ocean its a good salt but i need to see some growth in my tank and i have been through some forums and h2ocean seems a favourite among many

oh btw whatcanyedo thanks for the link, i knew about it but wasnt able to find it last night

i just switched over to aquavitro salinity because a friend recommended it and i saw it on sale at pices (**** ain't cheap). it stinks when its dry and takes a bit longer to dissolve but so far everything's responding nicely.
Love the lid because i always have moisture issues

I like this salt. I was using it. But the last 2 times I went for salt they were out of it. I stuck with seachem though

hey man i know, instant ocean stinks too but like you said the lid thing i really like that with instant ocean

I use half IO and half Brightwell (or Reefer's Best when I can pick it up on sale).
THe Seachem was one of the worst I've tried - it mixed poorly and had scum on the water during mixing, but I may have just had a bad bucket. H2Ocean was slightly better, but for the cost, I prefer Brightwell.

Kelly

The bottom line is if you have large tank and you do a lot of water changes go Instant Ocean, if you tank is less then 100 Gal go with the good brand like D-D .
It lasts me a year on my 65 gal water change every week 5%.

I've had good success with both IO and reef crystals in my full sps tank. I stocked up on reef crystals at the big als boxing day sale so will be using that for the next year. I can't justify buying the expensive salts when I get good results from the low priced options.

Sure there is a bit of a film on the top of the water when I mix a fresh batch but it really doesn't bother me. I just skim it off before adding the water to the tank.