All other salts are double the price of Instant Ocean. Is it really worth it?

[ReeferSamster]

I mentioned this in another thread, but I would like to actually create a post dedicated to this age old question of the Battle of the Salts.
This is specifically addressing the huge disparity in price compared to all other competitive brands.


Instant ocean regular purple lid (not Reef Crystals) by the 50 gallon bag equivalence to other salts shows half price or even less than half cost of competing salts. We are talking about 40-50 bucks per bucket. for 4 50 gallon bags, it comes out to $45 or so for 200 gallons. And I always hoard some extra when they do have a promotion once every few months where the price is $9.50 per bag. That makes it like $39 for 200 gallons! Put it on subscribe and save every month and you get another 5% off so I stack bags every month until Amazon restricts my purchases per month. Lol

The question is not just about saving just a few dollars. Are the other salts worth double the price of IO?

Is double the price worth for it for the extra alk, calc and mag? Increasing the levels in IO via supplementation still doesn't justify the cost disparity.

What about the BS marketing: Are "vitamins" "amino acids" . Is all that stuff shown scientifically to have efficacy in our tanks? And still the same question: "Is it worth double the cost?"

There are plenty of Tank of the Months in Reef2Reef and more on Reefcentral, through the years which I have seen use Instant Ocean. They can have successful tanks on this salt and still save money.

I think Dr. Randy Holmes Farley even uses Instant Ocean salt. (I'm not sure lately, but that's what he was using many years ago.)
Anyone care to chime in your opinions? Make me switch salt. I'm bored and you know what that means...add a gadget or change something in the tank. I'm actually considering to get a protein skimmer after all these years! I'm testing out a Tunze 9004 on my frag tank to see if I'm not missing anything. Haven't used a skimmer in 20 years.

 

[Not an IT guy]

Jason Fox uses it. Just saying

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

I used instant ocean sea salt for 1.5 years, and just made the switch the Fritz Blue Box. Even if it is less expensive to use instant ocean and dose, I like the ease of simply having my desired parameter's out of the box. There is an argument to be made for both though.

 

[czoolander]

I used red sea salt for my first year and got convinced to switch to brightwell. My tank looked better while using the red sea blue bucket salt.. I have been considering switching back again ....

 

[fishybizzness]

I really don't feel that salt choices make or break your aquarium. There are alot of things to stress about in this hobby, salt should not be one of them.

 

[BrianAnthony]

I use reef crystals. I don't like the high alk of 13 in it. I have a bucket left of it... And was considering another brand.

 

[DopamineKata]

But it's really not twice the cost. BRS did a whole cost comparison video. It works out to be about a $5 a month difference for a 100g tank.

 

[ReeferSamster]

But it's really not twice the cost. BRS did a whole cost comparison video. It works out to be about a $5 a month difference for a 100g tank.

BRS is using prices from 2 years ago. And they are using BRS pricing, not Amazon pricing.

They aren't using the current prices on Amazon for 50 gallon IO bags. For some reason the 160 gallon IO buckets are more expensive than the 50 gallon bags on Amazon. I think someone in amazon screwed up . Check out the Amazon link. The 50 gallon bag prices on Amazon make it half the price of other Salt when you equivalate the volume to their buckets.

 

[Spare time]

It is all preference and marketing. IO works. I use red sea salt (either bucket but typically coral pro as I like high alk) because it mixes clear within minutes. Some people are scared of the brown stuff that can appear in some salt mixes, even though its most likely precipitation. Tropic marin did a fantastic job of marketing this and scaring everyone of the spooky brown stuff and ironically this came to bite them in donkey when their Turkish made batches started getting brown stuff http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-07/rhf/index.php#2. Funny enough, some people have gotten brown stuff in german made tropic marin likely because the degree of brown stuff is likely a combination of mixing/storing methods and the alk/calcium/magnesium numbers in each salt mix. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-07/rhf/index.php#2

 

[jdiefenbaugh]

I've used IO/RC for almost 20 years, in a lot of aquariums, and there's too much put into salt mixes, IMO. I prefer Tropic Marin due to how it mixes, but the price and availability issues keep me with IO/RC (which ever is on sale).

 

[ZoWhat]

Just about every salt representative I've talked over 15yrs has pretty much said

"You're not paying extra for what's in the salt but what's NOT in the salt.... contaminates"

I believe IO comes from evaporation pools, evaporated down to minerals

Who knows what's in that salt mix and how well they refined-out contaminates (?)

I mean Red Seas whole marketing is that they use saltwater from the Red Sea and evap out the h2o to retain all that "goodness" in each crystal

Higher end salt mixes (TM) uses pharmaceutical grade calc, carbonate, mag, potassium, etc etc. So the mix is more "pure"

Purer is better??? Who knows....

I personally think routine WATERCHANGES is a LOT more important than what brand of mix you use.


.

 

[Spare time]

Just about every salt representative I've talked over 15yrs has pretty much said

"You're not paying extra for what's in the salt but what's NOT in the salt.... contaminates"

I believe IO comes from evaporation pools, evaporated down to minerals

Who knows what's in that salt mix and how well they refined-out contaminates

???

People know because people have been doing icp tests on IO tanks and freshly mixed IO and haven't found issues that strongly suggest the salt is the cause.

 

[Spare time]

Cheap salt vs. expensive salt

Greetings all, I've been using the cheap instant ocean salt in my sps reef tank for 3 year now. Briefly, i have a red sea reefer 250; I only dose ESV B-ionic to maintain parameters... i don't dose anything else (no coral foods or additives), but i do have a healthy bioload and i feed my fish 3...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Tamberav]

I mentioned this in another thread, but I would like to actually create a post dedicated to this age old question of the Battle of the Salts.
This is specifically addressing the huge disparity in price compared to all other competitive brands.


Instant ocean regular purple lid (not Reef Crystals) by the 50 gallon bag equivalence to other salts shows half price or even less than half cost of competing salts. We are talking about 40-50 bucks per bucket. for 4 50 gallon bags, it comes out to $45 or so for 200 gallons. And I always hoard some extra when they do have a promotion once every few months where the price is $9.50 per bag. That makes it like $39 for 200 gallons! Put it on subscribe and save every month and you get another 5% off so I stack bags every month until Amazon restricts my purchases per month. Lol

The question is not just about saving just a few dollars. Are the other salts worth double the price of IO?

Is double the price worth for it for the extra alk, calc and mag? Increasing the levels in IO via supplementation still doesn't justify the cost disparity.

What about the BS marketing: Are "vitamins" "amino acids" . Is all that stuff shown scientifically to have efficacy in our tanks? And still the same question: "Is it worth double the cost?"

There are plenty of Tank of the Months in Reef2Reef and more on Reefcentral, through the years which I have seen use Instant Ocean. They can have successful tanks on this salt and still save money.

I think Dr. Randy Holmes Farley even uses Instant Ocean salt. (I'm not sure lately, but that's what he was using many years ago.)
Anyone care to chime in your opinions? Make me switch salt. I'm bored and you know what that means...add a gadget or change something in the tank. I'm actually considering to get a protein skimmer after all these years! I'm testing out a Tunze 9004 on my frag tank to see if I'm not missing anything. Haven't used a skimmer in 20 years.

simple answer.. no.

 

[ApoIsland]

I mentioned this in another thread, but I would like to actually create a post dedicated to this age old question of the Battle of the Salts.
This is specifically addressing the huge disparity in price compared to all other competitive brands.


Instant ocean regular purple lid (not Reef Crystals) by the 50 gallon bag equivalence to other salts shows half price or even less than half cost of competing salts. We are talking about 40-50 bucks per bucket. for 4 50 gallon bags, it comes out to $45 or so for 200 gallons. And I always hoard some extra when they do have a promotion once every few months where the price is $9.50 per bag. That makes it like $39 for 200 gallons! Put it on subscribe and save every month and you get another 5% off so I stack bags every month until Amazon restricts my purchases per month. Lol

The question is not just about saving just a few dollars. Are the other salts worth double the price of IO?

Is double the price worth for it for the extra alk, calc and mag? Increasing the levels in IO via supplementation still doesn't justify the cost disparity.

What about the BS marketing: Are "vitamins" "amino acids" . Is all that stuff shown scientifically to have efficacy in our tanks? And still the same question: "Is it worth double the cost?"

There are plenty of Tank of the Months in Reef2Reef and more on Reefcentral, through the years which I have seen use Instant Ocean. They can have successful tanks on this salt and still save money.

I think Dr. Randy Holmes Farley even uses Instant Ocean salt. (I'm not sure lately, but that's what he was using many years ago.)
Anyone care to chime in your opinions? Make me switch salt. I'm bored and you know what that means...add a gadget or change something in the tank. I'm actually considering to get a protein skimmer after all these years! I'm testing out a Tunze 9004 on my frag tank to see if I'm not missing anything. Haven't used a skimmer in 20 years.

I only make 45 gallons per month and even at that small quantity I say the more expensive stuff is not worth it.

Plenty of really nice tanks here using IO or other cheapies. Sometimes Coralife is cheaper and I have been using a mix of both for years.

 

[fishmandan]

I’m setting up our big tank currently. The local reef guru has been using IO for years and I plan to follow his footsteps and use it also.

 

[ReeferSamster]

Cheap salt vs. expensive salt

Greetings all, I've been using the cheap instant ocean salt in my sps reef tank for 3 year now. Briefly, i have a red sea reefer 250; I only dose ESV B-ionic to maintain parameters... i don't dose anything else (no coral foods or additives), but i do have a healthy bioload and i feed my fish 3...

www.reef2reef.com

@Spare time and thats not even current prices! It gets better regarding pricing if you shop around.
On Amazon, with no sale, and on suscribe and save for the 50 gallon bags, so for 4 of them (200 gallons) I spend $45 for 200 gallons of salt (roughly)

If its on sale, like they have been doing once every few months, its $9.50 per 50 gallon bag! And for the month on sale, my subscribe and save for 200 gallons is $36.10!!

If I'm going to consider getting a new salt brand that are all around $70-110 for 200 gallons, that salt better include the ability to automatically change the water for me. Vitamins or higher alk, calc are not enough to justify the insane price difference of double the price. What is the closest cheapest competitor to IO for 200 gallons?

Come on reefers, lets speak with our wallets. And stop this insane rise in prices with their BS marketing.

Current Costs:
$45 200 gallons Instant Ocean ( regular IO not Reefcrystals)
$79.99 200 gallons Red Sea Pro
$79.99 200 gallons Red Sea regular
$72 .99 160 Gallons. HW-Marinemix
$87.54 160 gallons Brightwell
$113.90 200 gallons Tropic Marine Pro
$116.59 200 gallons for Tropic Marin "Bio-my butt" version
$69.99 f 100 gallons B-Ionic

None of this makes sense.
I'm not talking about pinching pennies. Half price for the most important element in reefing.
These other salt better feed my fish, denitrify nitrate, be inhospitable to parasites, and taste like beer when I dip my beermug in there for a sip, if I'm going to switch and pay over twice as much.

 

[uhgster1]

IO Reef Crystals, year 5.

here’s the same tank with a filter. I honestly think it’s a waste of money, but hey, to each his own.

 

[CK00020]

I bought 2 200 gal boxes of io last month from chewy delivered for $34.00 each, no way anything else comes close on price.
The trade off is I have to bump the alk down which adds steps to the water changes.

 

[fishgutz]

instant ocean….