Your favorite saltmix?

[brandonsreef]

just wanted to get everybody's opinion on there favorite salt they use. I have always used Instant Ocean brand. Its usually fair priced. But I have never used any other salts so I want to hear what everybody thinks.

 

[premnas]

Used many salts over the years, now use Tropic Marin Pro Reef, little more expensive but I get better then avg coralline growth

 

[shipwrecked]

IMO I think when your choosing a salt mix/brand its the matter of what yr willing to add as in extras.The better brands have more added components as where the cheaper brands you have to add additives like strontium,magnesium etc.If you buy the cheaper brands and yr adding extras what you have to decide is all this "extra" costing me more in the long run versus a better brand and adding very little if anything.Also take in account of the time needed to do all this extra.Some people prefer to mix the salt and water and good to go

 

[howze01]

We started with reef Crystals and recently switched to ESV. While I had some problems with sone corals soon after switching, I think that those problems were attibutable to other things. It mixes up super clear and quickly. With Reef Crystals there was almost always some sediment. The ESV mixes much better. Yes, there are a few more steps but it's very easy. It's also more expensive too.

 

[adesimone1]

We use aquavitro salinity we have used other Brands almost all of them and we like Salinity the best. Our corals seem to react to the mix the best. We use the buckets for our kalc mix.

 

[ricwilli]

I use IO. My system is to big to be using that expensive stuff. If I had a smaller system than I would use something like Tropic Marin Pro. The only time I would have to add the other additives is when making up water for the water change. Other than that, my calcium reactor would take care of it in the system.

 

[joeyhatch11]

RedSea Coral Pro is what I started using after first setting up the tank with InstantOcean. I get good calcium and mag levels without having to dose. But then again I have a 10G tank so when I do my 3g water changes it really brings levels back up.

 

[twisted]

I use io usually but recently bought a 90 gal mix container of oceanic onclearance for 9 buks and am considering on switching to that. It mixed clear real fast and no sediment. Corals seemed to respond positively from it


Twisteds 180 Reef

 

[falconut]

I've been using Oceanic almost exclusively. I've had great results and it's one of the cheaper salt mixes locally to me.

 

[downbeach]

Over the years, I've tried many different brands, I think for the most part they were all good. Some had higher levels of one element or another, and you might have to adjust any dosing to that particular brand. But for the money/performance, I keep coming back to Reef Crystals. I've never had a problem with it, and can buy the 200 Gal. box on sale in the low $40's. I keep my water params close to NSW, so except for the kalkwasser, I do very little dosing.

 

[lefkonj]

Great topic BTW. I am half way done with my RedSea Coral pro bucket but not sure if i should stick with it or make a change. Overall my levels are decent and I dose about twice a week. I have been using the AquaVitro additives so I was thinking about their salt mix but since my LPS and Polys are doing well I am hesitant to change anything.

 

[downbeach]

When I was making a change in salt mixes, I would mix them 50/50 in my make up water, until the old mix was exhausted. So if you're going to make a change, don't wait until you are completely out of your existing mix and do it gradually.

 

[Hawkeye]

i use reef crystals. frankly my tank is still nowhere near what jersey wendy's was when she used RC. Most likely it has more to do with an individual's husbandry skills, and less to do with the salt brand.

 

[alex93se]

I've used several brands over the years. Using Aquavitro right now and like it a lot. Here's my list of best to worst(for various reasons). That said, the worst was still ok.

Aquavitro
Tropic Marin/Pro
SeaChem Reef
Reef Crystals
Oceanic
IO
Deltec

 

[redfishbluefish]

To specifically answer the OP's title, my favorite saltmix is a coarse grained rimming salt, with a tinge of lime flavoring.

I’ll sip on this while I’m mixing up my Reef Crystals.

 

[Mike S]

Excuse the newbie question but besides calcium and magnesium what does everyone dose as a suppliment? I'm asking because my calcium has been hanging around 430, magnesium 1360 and alkalinity 11 for the past month or so using instant ocean and topping of with kalk. My tank is new so I'm guessing I don't have the demand of more mature tanks. I'm out of salt and was thinking about switching to reef crystals or red sea pro if it makes sense or should I just wait and let my demand dictate the change?

 

[falconut]

Excuse the newbie question but besides calcium and magnesium what does everyone dose as a suppliment? I'm asking because my calcium has been hanging around 430, magnesium 1360 and alkalinity 11 for the past month or so using instant ocean and topping of with kalk. My tank is new so I'm guessing I don't have the demand of more mature tanks. I'm out of salt and was thinking about switching to reef crystals or red sea pro if it makes sense or should I just wait and let my demand dictate the change?

I dose for calcium, magnesium and alkilinity. It is usually recommended to switch salt mixes slowly, like mixing 50% old mix with 50% new mix and slowly ramping it up until it's only the new mix. You could try doing water changes with just the new brand, but remember slower is better. Maybe do 1/2 the volume you were doing and monitor the results.

 

[MadReefer]

I always preferred IO. I had some Reef Crystals but it seemed to mix dirty but it was clear in the DT.
I just picked up a bucket of CoralLife cheap and will how that works. I have also used Red Sea which was okay.

 

[magic]

I've been using Tropic Marine Pro for years always consistant. Mixes fast and leaves no residue.

Bob

 

[Mike S]

Thanks I thinks ill just get another bucket of IO for now and gradually switch to something else. I thought there might be a salt group buy coming up.