Help me pick my new salt!

[FlameangelLover]

Nyos Pure is the salt with most new traction. Than from Tidal Gardens, Kenny from Pieces of the Ocean, and Mike Palleta have all switched to Nyos Pure in the last 9 months or so. You can search this board for the threads on those switches.

I used to use Red Sea Blue Bucket then switched to Tropic Marine and am now with Nyos Pure.

I ended up going Red Sea :( mainly because I need a salt that I can just wake up and go get. I’m trying to make this build as easy as possible for me. But after seeing everyone pick TM Pro I feel like I may have made the wrong choice lol

 

[allof fish]

Okay so i have a 40G breeder and i do weekly water changes. I currently use reef crystals but the alk is 9-10 and i have noticed my tank looks much better with a alk closer to 8. I also do not dose because I don’t have a highly stocked tank and i do weekly water changes

SALT 1: TROPIC MARIN -Best salt i heard but alk is super low. I can always use sodium bicarbonate to boost it to 8 though, has a bunch of trace elements

SALT 2: Red Sea blue bucket . Alk mixes around 8 which is where i want it but I don’t know if it has the trace elements i would like for my Gonipora and other harder corals i have

I use to to tropic Marin and liked the results switched bc it’s so expensive. Have done 1 bucket of blue bucket and alk was 5.5. Not buying again. Tropic Marin was nice just expensive. I think I’m gonna give Aquaforest a try.

 

[allof fish]

I ended up going Red Sea :( mainly because I need a salt that I can just wake up and go get. I’m trying to make this build as easy as possible for me. But after seeing everyone pick TM Pro I feel like I may have made the wrong choice lol

I would definitely mix and test the water before adding to tank after my experience

 

[slingfox]

This was the most helpful comment and honestly the comment I used to fuel my decision. Long story short I hate water change day and I don’t want to add another thing to the process

It’s usually a good idea to test alk once a week anyways, so when I used TM Pro the alk adjustment was a non-issue since I test post-water change. Additionally, I usually just tested and all-adjusted each batch of mixed saltwater which would last 3-4 water changes.

I use Nyos Pure now but would changed back to TM Pro without hesitation. I would never again use Red Sea salt. That is no bueno. I would rather use Instant Ocean or Reef Crystals which are widely available and economical.

 

[56longroof]

These salt threads are alot like asking what oil to use in a vintage engine. By the way, I'd stay with RC.

 

[FlameangelLover]

This was the most helpful comment and honestly the comment I used to fuel my decision. Long story short I hate water change day and I don’t want to add another thing to the process

It’s usually a good idea to test alk once a week anyways, so when I used TM Pro the alk adjustment was a non-issue since I test post-water change. Additionally, I usually just tested and all-adjusted each batch of mixed saltwater which would last 3-4 water changes.

I use Nyos Pure now but would changed back to TM Pro without hesitation. I would never again use Red Sea salt. That is no bueno. I would rather use Instant Ocean or Reef Crystals which are widely available and economical.

Why not Red Sea?

 

[rtparty]

If you run your alkalinity at 8dkh and use 7dkh salt….your alkalinity will go from 8dkh to 7.9dkh after a 10% water change.

You and your testing equipment can’t even detect that change

 

[FlameangelLover]

If you run your alkalinity at 8dkh and use 7dkh salt….your alkalinity will go from 8dkh to 7.9dkh after a 10% water change.

You and your testing equipment can’t even detect that change

lol well this would’ve been good to know before I bought the Red Sea…. That was the main reason I got it lol. Welp I’m sure this will be okay till I switch lol

 

[oakcityreefer]

These salt threads are alot like asking what oil to use in a vintage engine. By the way, I'd stay with RC.

Amsoil is the only choice in my hotrod

 

[StartingATank]

What I do is mix Red Sea and coral pro in a 1:1 ratio

 

[Ryan - Serious Reefs]

Okay so i have a 40G breeder and i do weekly water changes. I currently use reef crystals but the alk is 9-10 and i have noticed my tank looks much better with a alk closer to 8. I also do not dose because I don’t have a highly stocked tank and i do weekly water changes

SALT 1: TROPIC MARIN -Best salt i heard but alk is super low. I can always use sodium bicarbonate to boost it to 8 though, has a bunch of trace elements

SALT 2: Red Sea blue bucket . Alk mixes around 8 which is where i want it but I don’t know if it has the trace elements i would like for my Gonipora and other harder corals i have

I have used both pretty extensively.

I used Red Sea Blue Bucket for many years. It worked just fine, but the salt-mixing bins were constantly coated in brown residue and required frequent cleaning. I was told this may be because the sodium chloride comes from desalination byproducts and is less pure than other sources. I cannot confirm that, but I have heard it repeated often and have never seen Red Sea directly refute it. I will also say the RS two-part was the brownest I have used, so it is possible the raw materials simply are not as pure in general.

When I switched to Tropic Marin, the bins stayed clean for ages. I did not even realize that was possible. I had assumed all salt mixes left behind a lot of brown residue. I was wrong. I am not claiming the corals grew better or that the tank performed differently, but I felt better using it. The TM alkalinity was more stable over time in an experiment we did.

Lately, I have been using Nyos. The results are very similar to Tropic Marin, but the salt appears to be milled much finer, almost like powder, which allows it to dissolve significantly faster. I mix it in a white 55-gallon drum, where clarity is easy to judge. Within 10 to 15 minutes, the water can be nearly crystal clear, to the point that I can read the text on the heater at the bottom.

By comparison, Tropic Marin pro took several hours to reach similar clarity, while Red Sea was essentially an overnight process.

For what it is worth, a couple weeks ago I mixed Instant Ocean for quarantine in the same type of white 55-gallon drum, and it took about 48 hours to achieve the same level of clarity.

I feel nearly certain that some salts are better for corals and fish than others. However, those differences are notoriously difficult to measure or prove to everyone’s satisfaction.

 

[Ryan - Serious Reefs]

It’s usually a good idea to test alk once a week anyways, so when I used TM Pro the alk adjustment was a non-issue since I test post-water change. Additionally, I usually just tested and all-adjusted each batch of mixed saltwater which would last 3-4 water changes.

I use Nyos Pure now but would changed back to TM Pro without hesitation. I would never again use Red Sea salt. That is no bueno. I would rather use Instant Ocean or Reef Crystals which are widely available and economical.

I tend to agree with this.

The difference between IO and RS isn't material enough to justify the huge jump in price.

 

[Philip Chin]

Switch to Instant Ocean from Reef Crystals and everything is doing fine

 

[kratosxxl]

Great for Fish AND Popcorn️

This is the best choice

 

[BloopFish]

Great for Fish AND Popcorn️

I use this for brine shrimp all the time

 

[FlameangelLover]

Okay so i have a 40G breeder and i do weekly water changes. I currently use reef crystals but the alk is 9-10 and i have noticed my tank looks much better with a alk closer to 8. I also do not dose because I don’t have a highly stocked tank and i do weekly water changes

SALT 1: TROPIC MARIN -Best salt i heard but alk is super low. I can always use sodium bicarbonate to boost it to 8 though, has a bunch of trace elements

SALT 2: Red Sea blue bucket . Alk mixes around 8 which is where i want it but I don’t know if it has the trace elements i would like for my Gonipora and other harder corals i have

I have used both pretty extensively.

I used Red Sea Blue Bucket for many years. It worked just fine, but the salt-mixing bins were constantly coated in brown residue and required frequent cleaning. I was told this may be because the sodium chloride comes from desalination byproducts and is less pure than other sources. I cannot confirm that, but I have heard it repeated often and have never seen Red Sea directly refute it. I will also say the RS two-part was the brownest I have used, so it is possible the raw materials simply are not as pure in general.

When I switched to Tropic Marin, the bins stayed clean for ages. I did not even realize that was possible. I had assumed all salt mixes left behind a lot of brown residue. I was wrong. I am not claiming the corals grew better or that the tank performed differently, but I felt better using it. The TM alkalinity was more stable over time in an experiment we did.

Lately, I have been using Nyos. The results are very similar to Tropic Marin, but the salt appears to be milled much finer, almost like powder, which allows it to dissolve significantly faster. I mix it in a white 55-gallon drum, where clarity is easy to judge. Within 10 to 15 minutes, the water can be nearly crystal clear, to the point that I can read the text on the heater at the bottom.

By comparison, Tropic Marin pro took several hours to reach similar clarity, while Red Sea was essentially an overnight process.

For what it is worth, a couple weeks ago I mixed Instant Ocean for quarantine in the same type of white 55-gallon drum, and it took about 48 hours to achieve the same level of clarity.

I feel nearly certain that some salts are better for corals and fish than others. However, those differences are notoriously difficult to measure or prove to everyone’s satisfaction.

Thank you for this! I don’t have pre mixed salt waiting since I only do 5 gallon water changes a week. But I plan on doing a big upgrade soon and knowing that then I will definitely use this information. I’ll probably use TM pro for my upgrade

 

[LeftyReefer]

Fritz RPM salt. Been using it for 6+ years now without a single issue.

years ago I bought a ton of it when it was put on clearance at various stores.

Live Aquaria used to relabel it and sell it as their own Live Aquaria branded salt, but it was just Fritz RPM.

when Live Aquaria quit selling it, they put it all on clearance so I grabbed like 10 buckets super cheap.

And then Petsmart used to sell it but put it on clearance years ago too, so I bought a whole bunch of boxes/cases cheap from them.

I probably have enough salt for another 5 years before I'll have to worry about it again.

 

[FlameangelLover]

Fritz RPM salt. Been using it for 6+ years now without a single issue.

years ago I bought a ton of it when it was put on clearance at various stores.

Live Aquaria used to relabel it and sell it as their own Live Aquaria branded salt, but it was just Fritz RPM.

when Live Aquaria quit selling it, they put it all on clearance so I grabbed like 10 buckets super cheap.

And then Petsmart used to sell it but put it on clearance years ago too, so I bought a whole bunch of boxes/cases cheap from them.

I probably have enough salt for another 5 years before I'll have to worry about it again.

lol I would love to see a pic of your salt stash

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Help me pick my new salt!​

I recommend going with miney.

 

[exnisstech]

Amsoil is the only choice in my hotrod

And that's why what salt threads are like asking what oil to use lol. I run mobile one. I've serviced cars with 300k miles on the original engine running only mobile one so that's good enough for me. I think its a little low on additives but my engines don't seem to mind