Best salt atm

[jda]

RC is more and I would have to doctor it anyway... no sense in my case.

DowFlake is a calcium chloride product. You can get a near lifetime supply for about $20 at a hardware store if you live in an area where ice or snow hits.

Yes, Muratic drops alkalinity. gallons * desired dKh drop * .123 is the number of MLs of muratic acid to use. This really drops the pH, but you can drive the co2 off in a day or two with strong aeration.

There is not a single salt on the market that does not need doctoring. I have to heat it anyway and I don't keep heated RO laying around, so salt that you can use instantly is not a pro to me - besides, I am pretty sure that Dr. Holmes-Farley has opined that 12 hours should still be used to make sure that all of the compounds mix. If I am going to doctor it anyway, then why pay more?

Also, I like salt that comes in 50g bags. Then, I can use the whole bag and not worry about dry mixing... which is VERY real in a bucket and the main reason that people get results that are all over the place.

 

[LOVEROCK]

What’s does tropic marlin classics and pro mix at all ca and mag ?

 

[mattzang]

RC is more and I would have to doctor it anyway... no sense in my case.

DowFlake is a calcium chloride product. You can get a near lifetime supply for about $20 at a hardware store if you live in an area where ice or snow hits.

Yes, Muratic drops alkalinity. gallons * desired dKh drop * .123 is the number of MLs of muratic acid to use. This really drops the pH, but you can drive the co2 off in a day or two with strong aeration.

There is not a single salt on the market that does not need doctoring. I have to heat it anyway and I don't keep heated RO laying around, so salt that you can use instantly is not a pro to me - besides, I am pretty sure that Dr. Holmes-Farley has opined that 12 hours should still be used to make sure that all of the compounds mix. If I am going to doctor it anyway, then why pay more?

Also, I like salt that comes in 50g bags. Then, I can use the whole bag and not worry about dry mixing... which is VERY real in a bucket and the main reason that people get results that are all over the place.

what have you found are the ideal parameters?

and seems some people think IO is a non reef salt, i guess they assume you need to add trace elements or something? do you do that?

my process is basically to turn on my heater/powerhead in the trashcan, then add however much salt and test salinity a few hours later, once its right i give it another day or so (in my mind to fully mix) and then i have to transport via 5 gallon buckets. i haven't had any issues with the brown slime or whatever people note with IO/RC, but i basically empty the saltwater mixing container everytime i make water

 

[jda]

Natural Seawater. I cannot test for most of these, but for the ones that I can, I like to be near NSW in the right column... but I don't freak out if they are where Dr. RHF has them in the left column.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

edit: ...got my left and right mixed up.

 

[Wildreefs]

JDA. When you tailor the IO this way, what are you values all said and done for all, cal and mag?

 

[jda]

6.8-7.0, 430 and no idea about mag.

It is easy to come up with your own personal recipe. Muratic Acid is dangerous and needs to be handled safely, but it is not death in bottle or anything... they do sell it at Home Depot, Lowes and most other hardware or Swimming Pool stores. Calcium chloride is cheap. So is Mag Chloride. Just experiment and test. There are calcium chloride calculators out there. I gave the muratic acid calculator above. Once you have it down, then it just takes a few seconds to do doctor it up. This is more reliable than counting on a salt to be perfect... if only employees were so easy to make perfect.

 

[ajhudson15]

I just had tropic Marin pro and it mixed at 6.8 alk almost 99% of the time and for the price it shouldn't be that low. I used red Sea blue bucket for a while and liked it. But for the price of sales that happen almost monthly I'm switching to reef crystals. I've not heard many bad things about the parameters changing or bring way off and tons of high end stick guys use it

 

[Wildreefs]

Ha I hear you. You are right, no salt is ready to go out the box (maybe tropic Marin ) even Red Sea coral pro has super high alk.

 

[Rakie]

I've tried everything, dating back to 2001 when I used NSW. I currently like Red Sea blue bucket (not the coral pro).

 

[jda]

Tropic Marin is that low on purpose. They are catering to the crowd in Europe who wants NSW parameters on the money. Maybe Muratic Acid is not $4 a gallon in Germany.

 

[Bigmatt]

Esv salt

 

[ryshark]

Esv salt

Exactly, I think it’s pretty much ready to go with no doctoring and very quickly. But it’s expensive and making it is a bit of a science experiment in itself.

 

[SeaDweller]

I just had tropic Marin pro and it mixed at 6.8 alk almost 99% of the time and for the price it shouldn't be that low. I used red Sea blue bucket for a while and liked it. But for the price of sales that happen almost monthly I'm switching to reef crystals. I've not heard many bad things about the parameters changing or bring way off and tons of high end stick guys use it

TMP is meant to be low on alk, the most I’ve gotten it to mix up was 7.5. I usually get it at 7.2 dkh.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

How do you like fritz rpm? Considering that right now. Also would like tropic marin pro but can’t get that at the lfs and would prefer salt mixes that I can get locally. Other brand that I was considering was the DD H2O mix

I am liking the Fritz a lot, cheaper than any salt I can find and high quality. I used DD for a bit and had mag issue with the new mixed water, it was either really low or really high cant remember.

 

[khiyasu]

I am liking the Fritz a lot, cheaper than any salt I can find and high quality. I used DD for a bit and had mag issue with the new mixed water, it was either really low or really high cant remember.

Thanks. I was debating between RSCP, DD H20, tropic Marin pro and fritz RPM.

Read mixed reviews about the high ALK of the RSCP. Like the parameters of the DD H20 but read some issues as well as price. Tropic Marin pro not available locally. Fritz seems to be getting good reviews, mixes clear quickly, no residue and close to the parameters I want to run. Will be picking up a box today.. hopefully

 

[Elegance Coral]

Don't fall for all the sales hype from one brand to another. It's all salt..........
Pick the parameters you want to run. Then find a salt that closely matches those parameters, and is within your price range. That will be the best salt for you.
There's no magic in those buckets.

 

[khiyasu]

Don't fall for all the sales hype from one brand to another. It's all salt..........
Pick the parameters you want to run. Then find a salt that closely matches those parameters, and is within your price range. That will be the best salt for you.
There's no magic in those buckets.

I agree. That’s why I’m leaning fritz. Also not a fan of residue in the buckets so that eliminates a couple.

 

[SeaDweller]

Thanks. I was debating between RSCP, DD H20, tropic Marin pro and fritz RPM.

Read mixed reviews about the high ALK of the RSCP. Like the parameters of the DD H20 but read some issues as well as price. Tropic Marin pro not available locally. Fritz seems to be getting good reviews, mixes clear quickly, no residue and close to the parameters I want to run. Will be picking up a box today.. hopefully

A lot of us this Live Aquaria’s salt is really rebranded Fritz RPM. Often times it goes on sale for like $39.99.

 

[jrill]

I agree. That’s why I’m leaning fritz. Also not a fan of residue in the buckets so that eliminates a couple.

You'll get residue with Fritz half the time. It's good salt though.

 

[Elegance Coral]

I agree. That’s why I’m leaning fritz. Also not a fan of residue in the buckets so that eliminates a couple.

All salt will produce "residue", unless you add it to the water really really really really slow. Salts with higher calcium and carbonate content will typically produce more residue. While the residue may be an eye sore for us, it's completely harmless for our tank inhabitants. No more dangerous than the sand and rock in our tanks. I can see why some people would want to minimize the residue though. It doesn't bother me at all. I probably have a 1/4" thick layer of residue/limestone on the bottom of my mixing tank.
Peace
EC