Best Reef Salt to use?

[commod0re]

In my opinion, there is no "best salt". I always preferred red sea but I found sticking with one brand that works for consistency better than buying for brand names. Most of us have fallen for marketing, fancy labels or the next big thing but as your reefing experience matures you'll find that sticking with what works for you is way better

Agreed. The best salt is one that mixes close to the parameters you want

 

[rtparty]

I get it! IO has been a great salt but my growth for corals is stagnating and with the huge price hike I’d rather spend my money on salt that will help my coral grow. By the end when I need to do a water change, I’m having to dose calcium and alk which I don’t love.

No salt mix is going to make your corals grow better. Dosing is part of the game and is far cheaper than using water changes to elevate parameters.

Dose some All For Reef daily. Super simple and easy.

 

[DSC reef]

Agreed. The best salt is one that mixes close to the parameters you want

I unfortunately learned the hard way but thats reefing. Lol

 

[Channas]

I have been Instant ocean reef crystal and although it’s worked well the price has pretty much doubled and for almost $90-100 after tax, I’d rather spend my money on a better quality salt, if there is one. Anyone recommend anything?

I like the red sea bucket, black but i do frequent water changes, if you plan on doing water changes once a month or so, the blue bucket is for you

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have been Instant ocean reef crystal and although it’s worked well the price has pretty much doubled and for almost $90-100 after tax, I’d rather spend my money on a better quality salt, if there is one. Anyone recommend anything?

This has been asked several times and will often be based on user preference. Instant ocean is universal and used by Many public aquariums. I currently use tropic Marin based on my needs but have also used seachem salinity. Kent, corallife, reef crystals, Hawaiian marine mix, Red sea and others. Theyre all good but my be based on specific needs

 

[gkprevite]

I get it! IO has been a great salt but my growth for corals is stagnating and with the huge price hike I’d rather spend my money on salt that will help my coral grow. By the end when I need to do a water change, I’m having to dose calcium and alk which I don’t love.

No salt is going make your corals grow better than another. If your coral growth is stagnating it’s for another reason. Your needing to dose cal and alk because your corals are using it at a rate that can’t be replaced by water changes. To get out of the “stagnation” your experiencing with your coral you’ll absolutely need to dose ca, alk, mag, and possibly trace elements and keep your parameters stable. A doser helps a lot for consistency. If you don’t want to deal with 3 and 4 part dosing give all for reef a try. I’ve been using it with a single doing pump for the past 16 months with success. Also instant ocean is 70 bucks for the 200 gal box on amazon that’s about as cheap as salt gets

 

[buzzfin]

This is an almost impossible question to answer, as everyone has different criteria. What do you consider "quality"? Do you want it to mix clean and fast or are you good with mixing ahead of time and cleaning your mixing container every time? How often do you do a water change? What's in your tank? What size is it? Do you want your salt to mix to certain parameters? Some salts mix to drastically different parameters than others. Do you care about trace elements? Do you have a max price point you're willing to pay? Are you ok with mail order or do you only want something available at your LFS? It's like choosing "the best" oil for your car. Everyone has an opinion and different criteria for what is best.

 

[fish_collector]

I get it! IO has been a great salt but my growth for corals is stagnating and with the huge price hike I’d rather spend my money on salt that will help my coral grow. By the end when I need to do a water change, I’m having to dose calcium and alk which I don’t love.

You may be misunderstanding why your corals aren’t growing, it’s 99% not the salt you are using but rather likely a nutrient, flow or lighting issue. You are going to have to continuously dose calcium and alkalinity because it’s always being depleted, that’s life with a reef tank. But it seems you have made your mind up already that you are changing salt mixes to correct the issue. I’ve been an aquarist for decades but anymore I don’t spend too much energy trying to persuade someone one way or the other. Good luck with your corals.

 

[kitti-fish]

This is an almost impossible question to answer, as everyone has different criteria. What do you consider "quality"? Do you want it to mix clean and fast or are you good with mixing ahead of time and cleaning your mixing container every time? How often do you do a water change? What's in your tank? What size is it? Do you want your salt to mix to certain parameters? Some salts mix to drastically different parameters than others. Do you care about trace elements? Do you have a max price point you're willing to pay? Are you ok with mail order or do you only want something available at your LFS? It's like choosing "the best" oil for your car. Everyone has an opinion and different criteria for what is best.

I want something that mixes clean and fast for sure. IO always gave me foggy water even if I was using a power head. I am cleaning mixing container and I do water changes every 2 weeks (20%)

 

[kitti-fish]

I get it! IO has been a great salt but my growth for corals is stagnating and with the huge price hike I’d rather spend my money on salt that will help my coral grow. By the end when I need to do a water change, I’m having to dose calcium and alk which I don’t love.

You may be misunderstanding why your corals aren’t growing, it’s 99% not the salt you are using but rather likely a nutrient, flow or lighting issue. You are going to have to continuously dose calcium and alkalinity because it’s always being depleted, that’s life with a reef tank. But it seems you have made your mind up already that you are changing salt mixes to correct the issue. I’ve been an aquarist for decades but anymore I don’t spend too much energy trying to persuade someone one way or the other. Good luck with your corals.

I’ve already messed with flow and lighting. I got the flow down and I’ve messed with the lighting. I think my nutrition is now to blame. Everything is growing and duplicating don’t get me wrong but albeit slower than I’d love. My tank has reached an equilibrium where hair algae isn’t appearing and coraline is growing. I want to add more coral eventually hence why I don’t mind upgrading to a better salt if possible.

 

[kitti-fish]

I get it! IO has been a great salt but my growth for corals is stagnating and with the huge price hike I’d rather spend my money on salt that will help my coral grow. By the end when I need to do a water change, I’m having to dose calcium and alk which I don’t love.

No salt is going make your corals grow better than another. If your coral growth is stagnating it’s for another reason. Your needing to dose cal and alk because your corals are using it at a rate that can’t be replaced by water changes. To get out of the “stagnation” your experiencing with your coral you’ll absolutely need to dose ca, alk, mag, and possibly trace elements and keep your parameters stable. A doser helps a lot for consistency. If you don’t want to deal with 3 and 4 part dosing give all for reef a try. I’ve been using it with a single doing pump for the past 16 months with success. Also instant ocean is 70 bucks for the 200 gal box on amazon that’s about as cheap as salt gets

I do plan to get a dosing system I just need to find one that will either fit into a very tight area of the sump. I’m still on the phase of getting an adequate lid for my tank.

 

[buzzfin]

I want something that mixes clean and fast for sure. IO always gave me foggy water even if I was using a power head. I am cleaning mixing container and I do water changes every 2 weeks (20%)

Ok, there's your first criteria. Mixes clean and fast. I use Tropic Marin Pro partially for that reason. Doesn't leave my mixing container full of brown residue and it mixes FAST. It's pricey though, so a lot of people eliminate it for that reason. Some also don't like the parameters it mixes to either. Rank your criteria and narrow down from there. This also might help:

 

[alindell]

Hw weingardt

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

SPS, LPS you will have to dose. No water change will be sufficient unless it is 100%. All for Reef is probably the best way to go for you with a single programmable dosing head. As others have said the best salt is the one that is close to matching the parameters that you want to run.
I also appreciate the fact others that use different salt also put up photos of their tanks. It shows that you can have a successful reef tank on many different salt brands.
Side note: For those who keep on saying aquariums use IO, it is not by choice. If you have to do a water change on 50,000 gallons, price is a factor.

 

[slingfox]

I do plan to get a dosing system I just need to find one that will either fit into a very tight area of the sump. I’m still on the phase of getting an adequate lid for my tank.

There are only a few salts which are known to mix very clean and fast. I looked at those and got the one which was the best price per gallon: Nyos Pure. If things change and Tropic Marine, Aquaforest, or ESV become cheaper and/or more convenient I will switch to them. Pretty straightforward!

If someone knows of a salt mix which also mixes with zero or almost no residue and is cheaper than Nyos Pure please let me know!

 

[tzabor10]

I have been Instant ocean reef crystal and although it’s worked well the price has pretty much doubled and for almost $90-100 after tax, I’d rather spend my money on a better quality salt, if there is one. Anyone recommend anything?

Buying IO Reef Crystals through Petco is a great deal. You get 10% off with a BOPUS order. It often stacks with their Vital care discount too.

 

[The Ugly Phase]

i use tropic marin and get a free ICP worth £40-50 with it

 

[Sdbuehler1]

I think the best salt is the affordable one that best matches your tanks parameters. I started out with tropic Marin pro which did mix super clean but I just couldnt stomach $130 for a $200 gallon box. I have been using Red Sea blue bucket for years now. It mixes a bit dirtier but is way cheaper at $90 for a 200 gallon sack. I also like that the sacks it ships in are super strong and don’t bust during shipment like the boxes and buckets do. As far as switching salts go, it is much easier to do when you have AWC setup which only changes out a small amount per day. I didn’t notice any ill effects in my 100 gallon mixed reef changing salts this way.

 

[Nordy]

I’ve tried many. When I got back in the hobby, it was Brightwell. Kinda disappointed, but I got a lot of great mixing buckets now. NYOS pure, or AF probiotic. 10 year ago I was Seachem, but I stick to the previous two mentioned because of fast clean dissolving and good consistency. I am usually a big Red Sea product user but never again either salts.

 

[jackson6745]

Nyos and Modern reef salts are what I have settled on. Both mix extremely fast and clear, and I have way less element deficiency on my ICP tests. It’s a big difference when switching from aquaforest + Red Sea where I created many deficiencies with water changes (red sea was better).