Reef Salt Brand

[Myka]

I'm in the same boat as you Anthony. Here's my thinking:

I use IO, and when I do water changes I dose my fresh saltwater before adding it to the tank to 440 cal, 11 dKH alk (IO is 11 dKH on its own), and 1360 mag, and if I do weekly 15-20% water changes I don't have to dose the tank directly at all. Before I do my weekly water change my cal will be 400 ish, dKH will be 8 ish, and mag will be 1348 ish, and after the water change cal will be about 415, 9 dKH alk, and 1350 ppm mag. So there isn't a very large swing in the levels, and I don't have to dose the tank directly.

[RuGlu6]

Switched from KZ Reefers Best to a D-D H2O due to a luck of Magnesium in KZ Reefers Best.
My water change is only 5 gal and don't want testing and dosing, so this justifies premium salt.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by RuGlu6

Switched from KZ Reefers Best to a D-D H2O due to a luck of Magnesium in KZ Reefers Best.
My water change is only 5 gal and don't want testing and dosing, so this justifies premium salt.

And I just had my water tested for Mg and it was mid 1300's using RB salt. Go figure.

[Tony Vargas]

Thank you all for all this very valuable information.

[Tony Vargas]

I would like to thank all the people who have voted. I’m providing everyone here a link to a similar Poll taken in the UK for analysis. http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/s...d.php?t=303447 As you can see from the results they are very different, over 75% of the Pollies use pro salts, are they wrong?

Furthermore, I’m curious as to why is it that some people purchase salt brands that require buffering (be it calcium, magnesium or alkalinity), instead of purchasing a good quality salt that is balanced from the start?

Wouldn’t it be more cost effective to purchase quality salt from the beginning and not concern yourself with products that require alteration of its water chemistry?

[reefmutt]

Tony, Thanks for getting this poll started.
I am happily surprised to see how well D-D H2Ocean pro salt is doing considering it has only been on the market for around 2 years.
Obviously, I voted for it as I distribute it in Canada AND use it exclusively in my 300 gallon sps tank at home.
I've used many salts in the past with mixed results. Instant ocean being on of the most commonly used by me, with perfectly fine results. I've also used Biosea, Kent and reef crystals.
Being a salesman as well as a hobbyist puts me in a funny position..
Here's what I like about H2Ocean pro:
Great magnesium levels, which lead to more stable calcium levels. And better stability over all.
It's not buffered too high or over fortified with calcium, so precipitation issues are reduced.
It has very good consistency from batch to batch.
Most of all, though, because it is produced from dried sea water, I find that the corals really thrive in it. They do better than just survive and grow. This salt provides all of the minor trace elements and minerals found in the ocean.
Where I see the biggest potential benefit is in my corals resistance to unexpected adverse conditions, should they arise.
Super healthy corals will handle a heat wave, for example better than corals that are just doing ok. They will handle stress due to lights being left on by a faulty timer, or from a pesky fish that suddenly takes a liking to a certain coral, or a skimmer that stops working while you are away for the weekend.
In the long run, a more expensive, fortified salt may even save you a few bucks since you probably wont have as many unexplained coral deaths.
Within 3 months of setting up my tank, I had many healthy and thriving sps in my tank and I think that the success I had early on was because of the quality of the H2Ocean salt.
Sorry for the essay and the sales pitch- take it with a grain of salt!
But, its all true!

Matt
Xenia North America

[Stuart Bertram D-D]

Originally Posted by reefmutt

Tony, Thanks for getting this poll started.
I am happily surprised to see how well D-D H2Ocean pro salt is doing considering it has only been on the market for around 2 years.

Matt time flies when you are working and enjoying yourself - but not that fast.

The salt has actually only been in Canada for about 12 months and in many shops less than 10 months so an even better result to be so high in the poll after such a short time.

I must say that over here in the UK there are not so many people that would use a non reef salt, (pro salt), if they were serious reef keepers and they had loyalty to the Instant Ocean brand they would be using Reef crystals as the pro salt from the same company or Instant Ocean for a fish only tank.

The UK poll only shows 5.75% using Instant Ocean compared with 15.88% using Reef Crystals and this trend is reflectected in the other brands manufacturing both a fish salt and a reef salt.

After 12 months in the UK market H2Ocean is coming in at 36.5% which is an unbelievable result for the salt.

We hope that a few more people over there can get easy access to the product to see how good the results are from their corals.

Stuart

[marie]

Originally Posted by Tony Vargas

I would like to thank all the people who have voted. I’m providing everyone here a link to a similar Poll taken in the UK for analysis. http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/s...d.php?t=303447 As you can see from the results they are very different, over 75% of the Pollies use pro salts, are they wrong?

Furthermore, I’m curious as to why is it that some people purchase salt brands that require buffering (be it calcium, magnesium or alkalinity), instead of purchasing a good quality salt that is balanced from the start?

Wouldn’t it be more cost effective to purchase quality salt from the beginning and not concern yourself with products that require alteration of its water chemistry?

For me I started using IO because it was the only thing available to me at the time and I keep on using it because of the price, it is still cheaper then other salts after adding the cost of the extra Mg and cal

[Tony Vargas]

Originally Posted by marie

For me I started using IO because it was the only thing available to me at the time and I keep on using it because of the price, it is still cheaper then other salts after adding the cost of the extra Mg and cal

Marie,

Thank you for your cander, it’s good to see that it’s all about practicality. It’s all about, what makes it convenient to the hobbyist!

Therefore, your decision is more about price and not about product. If the price were more in line, would you try other salt brands? In addition, if you were to try other salt brands, which would, they be?

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Tony Vargas

Furthermore, I’m curious as to why is it that some people purchase salt brands that require buffering (be it calcium, magnesium or alkalinity), instead of purchasing a good quality salt that is balanced from the start?

Wouldn’t it be more cost effective to purchase quality salt from the beginning and not concern yourself with products that require alteration of its water chemistry?

because there is no such thing.. salt levels are a personal choice.. find one that is exactly NSW values for a reasonable price and I will buy it. do you know of a salt off hand that is consistantly
380Ca, 1380Mg, 11Dkh alk, for the main levels and then has all the other naturaly orcurring levels in the other traces?

I don't so I buy one that is the closest with the minimal amount of woth.. which is IO . I leave the Ca alone as it is usaly 380. I prefure a higher alk so I bump it up to 12 Dkh and then I make sure the Mg is proper.

all the pro reefs usaly have Ca levels that are to high and have you ever tried picking Ca particles out of salt mix.. its not fun...

also the issue is that all the driferent brands are some ones opinion of what they feel the salt should be alot of them are not even based on real oceans but rather on the latest chemical level trends in the hobby.

Steve