Best Sea Salt for Reef Tanks?

[Ken]

Hi, we use aquacraft marine environment 10+ years regards Ken

[gobytron]

50 million elvis cans can't be wrong....and neither can IO users.

[Coleus]

Originally Posted by abcha0s@conceptaquatics

The trouble is that we all depend on the manufacturers to tell us what's in the salt and they all claim to be the best. You won't have to look far to find a reefer that prefers any one of the brands that you have listed. As the results start coming in, I expect there will be votes for all of the salts (or at least most).

I've seen studies that compare various salt brands and they appear to identify a leader. However, there are criticisms of the studies that show errors in the testing methodology and biases. They are also outdated as new salts have come onto the market.

Even a salt water analysis on a small sample can show very different results than what the manufactures claim. For that matter, the salt at the top of the bucket is likely different from the salt at the bottom of the bucket. When the manufacturers mix in large batches, results will vary.

You also really need to define what criteria make a salt “good”. If you are supplementing calcium, then high levels of calcium might not be a big deal to you. You might look for trace elements instead. If you aren’t supplementing calcium then that same salt might be problematic.

I like “Royal Natural” salt. You didn’t list it on your poll, but if you look around I am sure you can find it. I like it because the manufacturer claims that it is the best, so I assume that it is at least adequate. More specifically, it mixes cleaner than any other salt that I have ever tried. It mixes so quickly that it generally doesn’t even hit the bottom of my mixing barrel.

- Brad

I am also with Brad on this, I have used reef crystal over years and then try out the Seachem Reef Salt and then Royal Natural” salt.

I am literally don't have to dose any Mg with Seachem Reef Salt but i found it take longer to mix and it also leave some residual. The Royal Natural on the other hand mix very fast, i can mix and use it in 10 minutes with no problem.

However, different salt will give you different level of Mg,Alk, and Calc so i have to retest my water and change the dosing amount to my tank which is the sucky part.

Anyway, i think i am going to stick with Royal Natural salt from now on instead of switching.

[kien]

Originally Posted by zoaElite

I thought we got you in rehab for that P.C. addiction of yours...

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

It's all under control. Besides, Sea salt goes well with PC.

I recently tried a bucket of royal nature and have to agree that it mixes the best out of all the salts I've tried. I still don't know which is "best" but I'm also not sure if such a mythical beast exists.

[cwatkins]

I'm using Royal Nature, and have another bucket of it I still haven't opened yet.

I'm only using it because I got deals on both buckets. $60 for the first one, then $65 for the second one.

I'll be good until next spring, at which time if I cannot find a deal again, then I may go back to H2Ocean or IO.

[Myka]

I have tried a bunch of different salts over the last couple decades, but I always go back to IO because it is cheap and I have never noticed any benefit to using a different salt.

I have been using H2Ocean for 2 1/2 years in my reef tank. I figured if any salt will make a difference it will be H2Ocean because it is natural salt, not synthetic like almost all other salts. I have to add magnesium and potassium to the freshly mixed H2Ocean saltwater to get the levels right. I have enough H2Ocean salt for two more water changes, and after that I will be switching back to IO. I haven't seen any benefit to using H2Ocean over IO. It will be interesting to see if there is any difference switching back to IO now.

[Reefie]

Sorry, the poll is for best quality. I, too am using IO and am also dosing regularly. If I had a better salt I could save on dosing. I had tried D-D H2Ocean, unfortunately I had brown algae diatoms breakout. Hence I have switched back to IO, but I'm hoping to find a better salt. Barrier Reef Aquariums in Renton (GREAT STORE!) recommended the Tunze salt, however I cannot find it in Metro Vancouver.

Originally Posted by Rice Reef

The Poll is a bit unclear. Best Price? Best Quality? For me I am using Instant Ocean for the price and I am dosing regularly.

[imisky]

Originally Posted by Reefie

Sorry, the poll is for best quality. I, too am using IO and am also dosing regularly. If I had a better salt I could save on dosing. I had tried D-D H2Ocean, unfortunately I had brown algae diatoms breakout. Hence I have switched back to IO, but I'm hoping to find a better salt. Barrier Reef Aquariums in Renton (GREAT STORE!) recommended the Tunze salt, however I cannot find it in Metro Vancouver.

Im using instant ocean as well, I'm adjusting the cacium, alk, and mg with every water change as for other elements in the mix, since i cant test for it I'm not even going to bother, they can tell us all they want in terms of the content, but theres no cheap way for hobbyists to check if what they say is correct. Regardless spending $30 on suppliments for adjusting that can last 1-2 yrs imo outweighs paying a premium just to get the calcium, alk, mg in the correct range.

reefie, alot of people actually refer to the DD H2O salt as the tunze salt. or were you talking about the tunze branded salt , the Tunze Reef Excel Lab Marine Salt I,ve never seen it in any retail store or online in the US if its that guy.

[Toongraeme]

Hi there, im hopefully moving to Canada from britain soon so have signed up here to give me a head start. The most popular salt brands over here are D-D H2O and redsea coral pro. I used reef crystals for about 5 years and found that really easy to mix, but have been using redsea since January. I find this leaves a film in my mixing tub, and apart from higher alk reading I don't really notice the difference apart from reef crystals costing £10 more for a bucket. How much am I looking at paying for salt in Canada? I'm going to be in Edmonton....

Cheers

Graeme

[MarkoD]

Originally Posted by Toongraeme

Hi there, im hopefully moving to Canada from britain soon so have signed up here to give me a head start. The most popular salt brands over here are D-D H2O and redsea coral pro. I used reef crystals for about 5 years and found that really easy to mix, but have been using redsea since January. I find this leaves a film in my mixing tub, and apart from higher alk reading I don't really notice the difference apart from reef crystals costing £10 more for a bucket. How much am I looking at paying for salt in Canada? I'm going to be in Edmonton....

Cheers

Graeme

Instant ocean is 50$ per bucket and 35$ per bucket on December 26