Which synthetic salt do you use/recommend and why?

[S@ltydog]

I have only used Reef crystals personally. Prior to my reef I used regular instant ocean salt. I've tested multiple batches of the reef crystals blend and have found the calcium, magnesium, strontium etc to be at or above recommended levels for growth. So far I haven't had a reason to try the more expensive brands.

How bout u?

 

[_sludgefactory]

I was using oceanic for the longest time because it's high mag content but i just switched to red sea coral pro. My corals really seem to just be more colorful now, the water is clearer too. It has a pretty high mag content as well. Fairly close to what oceanic has.

 

[Jlax132]

I use io and after my bucket is out I am trying the red sea coral pro, I have heard awesome things about boosted sps coral color, good mag buffing and high purity. worth a shot, it's not any more expensive that io or reef crystals

 

[Salty Dog]

ESV, mixes very quick and has proved itself a quality product. Also I dont like that you copied my screen name

 

[viper1972]

I use Kent marine. I have used reef crystals for 20 years but as soon as I started using Kent my corals started opening better putting on babies faster and the color change was awesome.

 

[MarineSniper]

I use Kent marine. I have used reef crystals for 20 years but as soon as I started using Kent my corals started opening better putting on babies faster and the color change was awesome.

+1
Kent Reef seems to have the highest Ca of any I've tried. It's also available for 49.99 for a 200g box, with free shipping, from F&S. Hard to beat that!

 

[Steven R]

Brightwell Neo-Marine awesome salt mixes nice and mimics natural sea water down to a T and I have never had to dose mag with regular changes weekly. my corals seem to love it. great growth and color also have developed since i switched from reef crystals a year ago. And is always consistent from bucket to bucket my ALK always comes out the same and the PH along with my CA are always on spot and need very little adjusting when added to the system.

 

[Jaeger]

Esv without a doubt has been the best so far mixes quickly and corals are doing great

 

[mallorieGgator]

I use red sea coral pro abduction I like it. It doesn't have an artificial smell and it has higher levels of elements.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk

 

[REEFKEEPER10]

Reef crystal but will probably switch to redsea coral pro after this bucket.

 

[lawnman]

Aquavitro salinty salt is what I use. On my 3rd bucket now and I love it. Mixes really easy and I like the guaranteed analysis.

 

[mcarroll]

Lots of decent salt mixes out there. Given the long history of people having success with Instant Ocean, it's hard to argue that someone switch from using Instant Ocean or Reef Crystals. To boot, they're usually the most inexpensive and have the most well balanced numbers for the average Jo (or Jolene) who's using water changes as the main/only chemistry maintenance activity, while still working well for people with jam-packed SPS reefs like me.

I don't doubt the results people are getting from the other brands mentioned - most salts are at least OK these days - but the test numbers of most other brands make me wonder about their formulation strategy. For example, why do customers of Tropic Marin Pro Reef need higher calcium but lowered alkalinity compared to their standard salt?

The table quoted in this post (thanks again to Billy Beauchamp for doing the initial testing...has to be one of the most widely used pages in the reefing hobby...at least by me) will show clearly the big differences between the major brands of salt.

For reference if you don't want to click over, I summarized the data into ratios relating calcium and magnesium to alkalinity. Instant Ocean, Reef Crystals, Red Sea Coral Pro and Oceanic are in bold and pulled to the top as they were all mentioned in this thread. The other sets represent manufacturers ranging from Aquatic Gardens to Tunze.

Ca:Alk:Mg
37:1:117 Natural Sea Water
36:1:123 Instant Ocean
38:1:111 Reef Crystals
70:1:186 Coral Pro
68:1:194 Oceanic
55:1:155
34:1:104
62:1:153
38:1:117
38:1:117
45:1:138
49:1:109
64:1:193
51:1:132
50:1:163
39:1:109
50:1:140
54:1:145
38:1:123
53:1:162
44:1:142

(Remember these are ratios just meant to compare with the other ratios...the numbers themselves are not too useful for anything else.)

My interpretation is that something in the range of 38:1:120 seems to be a good ratio (close to natural sea water). Salt mixes with relatively low alkalinity content (like Oceanic and Coral Pro) will appear to have "inflated numbers" for Ca and Mg in this table. I'm not sure who wants lowered alkalinity (the most crucial of all three elements - and what most tanks are most deficient in) but there's a range of salt makers targeting you. Interestingly, Crystal Sea's (once Forty Fathoms) Marinemix is the only one to really nail natural sea water ratios, with Instant Ocean and Tropic Marin (regular) being next closest. Crystal Sea also is by far the most inexpensive salt mix I've seen at retail. $40 per 150 gallon box even at a relatively expensive local fish store. Being mostly a lab product it's not widely carried at local or online retail outlets, however.

-Matt

 

[mermaids]

we have used many different kinds of salt but my fav is red sea coral pro it just seems in between water changes the corals still look great. i can usually tell just by the corals when its time for a water change but when we use coral pro its hard to tell so we just set a schedule.

 

[jonbar1]

ESV as well here.
I love that I can control salinity, magnesium, calcium and alkalinity all independantly. The ingredients are also all lab grade so I don't have to worry about any hidden phosphates or other things I don't want in my tanks water. I can completely drain my tank and refill it with newly mixed water as long as it has been aerated and the same temperature and the corals don't even flinch. Measuring it out with a cheap digital scale also gives me identical batches every time which creates incredible stability in my tank. I just had so many problems the first few years my tank was set up using most of the available salt mixes, and once I started using ESV and tweaking the proportions to what's optimal for my tank they all went away. I truely wish I could go back in time and only use the ESV mix from day one.
As a down side, it has made me kinda preachy about what salt mix to use...