Done with Reef Crystals
 

My new water is testing at 11+ dKH and the resultant Alk swings when I add to my tank are not cool. The SPS don't react well and the act of doing a water change feels like it kills any momentum I've got with growth.

I'm considering the Aquavitro Salinity. It claims to mix 225g at 1.025 whereas it's a well known fact that a bucket of RC only makes 160G at 1.021. I'm thinking cost-wise it might even be close between the two considering this.

Sound like a good move? Open to other suggestions.

I was happy with Fritz RPM but I'm tired of having to hunt for my salt. I want something readily available.

Actually it's super close before you even factor in the concentrations. If we gave RC the benefit of the doubt and assume it makes 160G (at 1.025 like the Salinity) we get:

225g/$110 = $0.49/gallon
160g/$70 = $0.44/gallon

Factor in the large amount you need to adjust for to bring the RC to 1.025 and it's easily more expensive. Just using prices from Pisces for my comparison.

You may want to look into Aquaforest salt. I really liked it but found it hard to get where I am. Just recently a store started carrying it and I will be switching the minute I'm out of RC.

I never liked that aquavitro salt. It is so touchy to mix. It's very dry, so dry it burns if it gets on your hands and this will cause it precipitate very easily if mixed in correctly.

I liked the Fritz salt in established tanks but it isnt any good for people starting out (unless they fixed the high alk issue).

You best bet is to not worry about how much salt actually comes in a bucket or the cost. Find a salt that mixes the closest to the parameters in your tank and use that. Or change your parameters to match the salt.

I have the same complaint you do with IO Regular

If you can get your hands on it;
I've used Red Sea Blue Bucket and the listed parameters were true in 2 buckets.
Here the cost is about 0.50 before tax for their claimed 175g bucket.
But @ 38.2grams/litre for 35ppt, math tells me the bucket will only yield 152g
So actual cost is around 0.57/g, based on their mixing instructions

Only reason I recommend it is because of their parameters @ 35ppt
No shock to your tank, just your wallet.

https://www.redseafish.com/red-sea-salts/red-sea-salt/

I second mseepman, AF reef salt is great and every batch is tested with results viewable online.

Thanks for the feedback guys. Avoiding alk spikes def trumps savings. I'll look into your recommendations. Who sells blue bucket and AF in town? I only recall seeing red seas other 'pro' salt before.

As there are many people using any of the salts available successfully, while others using the same salts have problems, it leads me to think the problems lie somewhere OTHER than the salt. If it was the salt, most people using that specific salt would have problems.

I have also used all of the above listed salts. The best i've found to mix and the happiest my tanks were, was with Fritz and Red Sea Blue Bucket. Red Sea also hits the parameters that i'm striving for right on the button.

AF - It's just ok, but I saw a noticeable decline in my tank after using it for a couple of months. Switched over to Red sea, and everything looked happy again. It also dosn't mix the best. Water stays cloudy for a while and the bucket lid rip[s your fingers to shreds.

Red Sea Blue Bucket - Mixes well, great parameters for LPS/SPS and now comes in a screw top bucket! (What I use Currently) - And Wai's in Calgary always has it, as well as other stores.

AV Salinity - Great bucket! But mixes poorly and burns your hands. The water also got crazy hot right after dumping in a large amount. Results in the tank were decent though. Corals seemed to like it. More on the expensive side.

Fritz - Crappy box, no bucket, can't ever find it in Calgary, but mixes awesome (crystal clear in seconds) and tank really seemed to like it. I used this on my old tank through 2 X 200 gallon boxes and corals seemed very happy.

IO and/or RC - Used this early in my reefing days and found the parameters to bounce all over the place, so I had to test them and adjust in my mixing barrels before adding it to the tank. The bucket lids also rip your fingers to shreds.

All in all, i'd say try out Red Sea Blue Bucket. Wai's in town always carries it.

I switched to good old Kent approx 1 year ago and have had great results since, never will go back to IO, that being said I don't grow SPS.

To be fair I'm not complaining about anything other than the incredibly high Alk in the mix... and not every bucket I've had mixed super high to boot. I'd like consistency and parameters that match my own as closely as possible. The goal is stability and large swings (especially with Alk) aren't good. At least my corals tell me they aren't good. If I ran my tank at 11 dKH RC would be perfect most times I've mixed it.

I think I'll give it a shot thanks =)

To me salt is salt, however they are not created equal. That is the same sentiment why I switched to the Redsea Blue Bucket due to the high Alk of IO.

I agree with Greg, I never have to deal with the Alk swing during water changes and what's advertised on the bucket is what I get each time. I maintain my Alk Around 7.7 and 8.0.

I've been using this for more than a year now. My acro dominated tank is a testament to that.

Noticed canadacorals sells Tropic Marin and the Fritz salts. A lot of reefers now like the tropic Marin and their various additives as well in the USA. As for fritz, some reefers swear by them as well. They are suppliers to the large public aquariums the claim....and produce in limited product lines to be consistent with the chemistry.

Picked up a bucket of the Red Sea Blue bucket today. I'll be sneaking a bit of my Reef Crystals into my next few water changes to use the rest of it up. If the parameters are consistently as advertised on the bucket I'll be very happy.

I think you'll be very happy with the Red Sea Blue Buckets. I can't attest to consistency throughout buckets, just that when I used portions of the bucket it was true, and over the use of the whole bucket again it was true when I checked my records.

I can't afford it regularly, but when I did use a couple buckets it was Exactly as advertised.

In my case, I found it best to use when filling a new tank, or when performing a large WC.

However, watch out for the Red Sea Coral Pro salt if you decided to step up and buy this salte; it is great for accelerated growth but for ongoing water changes, it might do some weird undesired consistencies.