Favorite Salt and Why?

[HexaReef]

Whats your favorite salt to use and why? What makes the salt you use better than others?

RED SEA CORAL PRO

I used to use Instant ocean, but my corals didnt react well with it. So i switched to Red Sea Coral Pro Salt, and almost overnight my corals improved 100%

price is around $30 for 55g
And I like the higher Cal, Mag, and Alk profile and the fact its made from natural sea water

 

[DSC reef]

We started with coral pro and it just worked for our reef tank. Always kept the alkalinity at 9-10 dkh so on water change day their was no need to dose. I liked how it mixed up quickly and was ready to use right away. Always had consistent numbers as well.

 

[shred5]

Instant ocean..
Cheap and stable. True and tired for many many years.
I have had bad batches of too many other salts.
It is closer to NSW than all these salts that are all amped up.

 

[iTzJu]

Instant ocean..
Cheap and stable. True and tired for many many years.
I have had bad batches of too many other salts and do not like salt that are all amped up.

yup, basic IO for me too - just works.

 

[Greybeard]

Fritz RPM.

Mixes up clean, and fairly close to my target levels... and my LFS has it in stock at a decent price.

 

[Saveafish]

I miss seachem. Reef salts. Red Sea and fritz. Easy and stable. Mixes up nice.

 

[AcroNem]

I'm used to using instant ocean and reef crystals, I use it personally and professionally in our public aquarium. We use instant ocean for fish only and reef crystals for anything with invertebrates/ reef systems. About 18 pallets every 3-4 months. Works well, fairly stable from batch to batch, good price point.

 

[dbjonesjr]

I used coral pro up until about a month ago. Really liked it and with weekly 20% water changes (and fairly low demand tank) it kept my alk right around 9 and calc right around 430. However since I ran out of that bucket I switched to LiveAquaria salt and have seen no bad effects (and quite a good one on my wallet).

 

[LDH]

I am really liking Brightwell Aquatics salt right now. I switched from Instant ocean because I got a batch that tested 11.5 for ALK and it was throwing things off. Brightwell tested 8.0 for ALK, 420 for Calcium and 1410 for Magnesium so its pretty consistent with where I keep my params. I am also not sad that their packaging is so dang beautiful.

 

[Indiana Reefin]

I have been using Aquaforest. Great salt for the price. Close to NSW. I don’t know why everyone is so concerned with having alk a obove 7-8

 

[DSC reef]

I have been using Aquaforest. Great salt for the price. Close to NSW. I don’t know why everyone is so concerned with having alk a obove 7-8

It's a concern with different lighting intensity and nutrient levels. Everyone's tank is different and ours ran it's best with 9-10 dkh. Had a pretty high demand for alkalinity consumption so it helped with dosing as well.

 

[Beardo]

Tropic Marin Pro has been my favorite salt mix. Mixes clean and parameters were close to where I run. Had tried a bunch of others before settling on Tropic. I'm using natural sea water now though.

 

[malacoda]

Tropic Marin Pro-reef ... because my alveopora and acropora like it best when my alk is ~7.0 dkh and most other salts tend mix up at 8 or higher.

 

[Instigate]

I've been using IO for over a year without issue but I recently got a box that mixed up to Alk of 16.8 DKH and Ca of 680ppm... And of course this had to happen to me while I was moving from SD to LA. I drove up to the new place the day before and set the salt to mix and heat then drove back down to SD. The next day I broke down the tank and drove everything up to the new place. And to my surprise the water I had set to mix over 24 hours later was still very cloudy. All the LFS were closed by the time I got up there so I had to use the water. The next day I went to the LFS and bought some ready made saltwater and did water changes. I didn't loose anything but a cleaner shrimp and my parameters are back on track now thankfully. I called IO and they sent me a new box. It's cheap and it has been working for many people for many years. But when I called to complain they didn't ask for a batch number or anything, didn't seem to care about identifying and fixing the problem that led to bad boxes of salt going out. I'm sure it was more than just my box. Makes me consider other options. Been looking at Red Sea Blue bucket or maybe Tropic Marin Pro. But I've got a whole box of IO salt to go through now first I suppose. Assuming this box mixes up correctly. I've been using the high parameter water to hatch BBS, so I guess I've got a lifetime supply of salt for hatching BBS.

Idk, maybe I'll stick with IO. Bad batches happen to all the salt mixes it seems. But another thing that has got me thinking about switching is when I did the large WCs with the LFS water almost every coral in the tank looked fuller and healthier than they have ever looked. Even before the move. The LFS water was Red Sea blue bucket. But with so many changes all at once I can't really attribute that to any one thing.

 

[davocean]

Reef crystals, been using it for years, and regular IO before that.
It's just been very consistent for me over the years

 

[Mal11224]

I use tropic marin bio actif. I’ve been using it for a while. It requires no adjustment to any parameters since it is close to where I keep my tank. Plus it has a nice assortment of trace elements and supplements. It is very easy to mix in my saltwater reservoir.

 

[Oshengems]

Went from Red Sea blue bucket to back bucket to instant ocean orange bag to purple bag in the past 2 years or so, I did not see absolutely no difference in my sps stuck with the IO purple bag way cheaper than the rest available everywhere

 

[Instigate]

I've been using IO for over a year without issue but I recently got a box that mixed up to Alk of 16.8 DKH and Ca of 680ppm... And of course this had to happen to me while I was moving from SD to LA. I drove up to the new place the day before and set the salt to mix and heat then drove back down to SD. The next day I broke down the tank and drove everything up to the new place. And to my surprise the water I had set to mix over 24 hours later was still very cloudy. All the LFS were closed by the time I got up there so I had to use the water. The next day I went to the LFS and bought some ready made saltwater and did water changes. I didn't loose anything but a cleaner shrimp and my parameters are back on track now thankfully. I called IO and they sent me a new box. It's cheap and it has been working for many people for many years. But when I called to complain they didn't ask for a batch number or anything, didn't seem to care about identifying and fixing the problem that led to bad boxes of salt going out. I'm sure it was more than just my box. Makes me consider other options. Been looking at Red Sea Blue bucket or maybe Tropic Marin Pro. But I've got a whole box of IO salt to go through now first I suppose. Assuming this box mixes up correctly. I've been using the high parameter water to hatch BBS, so I guess I've got a lifetime supply of salt for hatching BBS.

Idk, maybe I'll stick with IO. Bad batches happen to all the salt mixes it seems. But another thing that has got me thinking about switching is when I did the large WCs with the LFS water almost every coral in the tank looked fuller and healthier than they have ever looked. Even before the move. The LFS water was Red Sea blue bucket. But with so many changes all at once I can't really attribute that to any one thing.

I just tested the water from the new box, bag thoroughly shook up before opening, mixed to 1.026 I'm getting: Alk- 7.6DKH Ca- 485ppm
I could live with the low Alk since I can just raise it but it sucks the Ca is so high. If I remember correctly before I was getting 11-12DKH and 400-420ppm Ca from IO. Now two boxes back to back of weird parameter salt from IO... I don't know if I want to bother complaining to them about it again.

 

[Robink]

Fritz RPM, same levels as I keep in the tank. Don't have to dose mag keeps it at about 1500.

 

[theatrus]

hW Marinemix Reefer.

I used to run Reef Crystals but that stuff just leaves endless gunk in the mixing container. I still use the original RC and IO buckets though - amazing build quality on the mid - 2000 buckets