LET'S GET SALTY: What's a FAIR price for salt and what are you using in 2020?

[Stylo328]

Tropic Marin Pro Reef. I pay whatever BRS sells the 200-gallon bucket for. Usually order two at a time.

I will say that one of my frustrations is that none of the advertised gallonage on various salts I have used is achievable at 35ppm. The 200-gallon bucket of Tropic Marin only yields about ~185 gallons. I’d rather pay additional to have the full 200 gallon yield. I have a 300-gallon mixing tank.

 

[WVNed]

I have 4 kinds in my system. IO was last and next is Red Sea. There is some LA and Tropic Marin in there too.
$60 for a 200g bag

 

[GlassMunky]

currently using Tropic Marin Pro. love how quickly and cleanly it mixes,

 

[150 Gallon Reef]

Tropic Marin pro for me. Love the consistency. A LFS about 50 min away from me buys it by the pallets and passes down great deals to the consumer. I get a 160 gallon mix for about 67 bucks. Can't beat the price for a top notch product

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

OPTIONS! In this hobby we have options! There are so many ways to run and maintain a tank and with that comes many options for equipment, additives, livestock etc. There are so many cool gadgets that we can utilize that gives us the options to pick and choose whether we use them or not.

BUT one thing we all must use and can't reef without is salt! Not only do we need it but we need it often for water changes, emergencies, quarantine and more! So for the QOTD I wanted to talk about SALT and ask you a couple of questions!

1. What is a fair price to pay for a 160g - 200g bucket of salt?

2. As of 2020 what salt mix are you using?

In 2018 $45 for 160g, box. Free Shipping. Aqua forest in think?
Now we use real ocean water. Ocean in Motion. No mixing, easy storage.

 

[Wildreefs]

$35 for the 200 gallon mix of IO for me

from where?

 

[stevieduk]

i didnt know you could buy it as small as 160 grams. 50 kilos yes

 

[Barnabie Mejia]

Tropic Marin Pro Reef for us. I switched to this from IO due to the fact that it was the closest to my tank parameters (with the exception of Alk). I was having to dose the new water with Calcium, Mag and Alk and I found that I was going through a lot of Calcium and Mag Mix. did some math and i'd rather dose 9ml for every 5gallons of new water and pay a little more for a bucket than having to mess with IO. a plus is it mixes very well and if I need to store it, I know that it will store good.

 

[Magellan]

My LFS sells me saltwater for $1 a gallon, RO water at $.50 a gallon. I happily buy it. I realize this isn’t feasible for larger tank sizes, but no RO system to worry about, no time spent mixing salt, and letting someone else fuss with testing is just absolutely worth it to me.

 

[Barnabie Mejia]

My LFS sells me saltwater for $1 a gallon, RO water at $.50 a gallon. I happily buy it. I realize this isn’t feasible for larger tank sizes, but no RO system to worry about, no time spent mixing salt, and letting someone else fuss with testing is just absolutely worth it to me.

i have a hard time with this..... I just can't trust anyone else making my water for me. if they get complacent and over/ under mix then put it in my tank and something goes wrong...… I want that responsibility on my shoulders.

not to mention TDS.... don't even get me started on that.

 

[Scott Ulrich]

Newport Aquarium (Cincinnati) actually advertises they use Instant Ocean, so if its good enough for them, its good enough for me

 

[DHill6]

I was using Tropic Marine Pro Reef but started testing the Alk and it was consistent but at 5.3. Switched to Aquaforest reef salt and its alk is slightly better at 6.3 and about 30 bucks less so going to stick with them for now. Neither of the 2 seem to be in the range they claim.

I use Tropic Marin Pro reef also mixes consistent at 7 alk. I buy the smaller buckets. Been using it for 9 yrs., O not changing anytime soon.

 

[Reef Obsession]

Tropic marine pro is best way to go! Lab grade salt that stays consistent results from top to bottom.

 

[canadianeh]

I use Tropic Marin Pro reef also mixes consistent at 7 alk. I buy the smaller buckets. Been using it for 9 yrs., O not changing anytime soon.

Isn't 7 too low for Alk?

 

[Magellan]

i have a hard time with this..... I just can't trust anyone else making my water for me. if they get complacent and over/ under mix then put it in my tank and something goes wrong...… I want that responsibility on my shoulders.

not to mention TDS.... don't even get me started on that.

They use the same water in all their systems, and therefore have a tremendous monetary incentive to get it right. I only change about 2-3 gallons at a time on my 28g tank, so I’m not too worried about it.

 

[Deezill]

+1 on IO Purple Box

 

[Cathics88]

I'm looking for the file of the 25 salts that were tested, but here is a smaller one from saltwater aquarium blog. When I made a decision on salt i used the scientific method, aka google. Hopefully i can find the much more in depth salt chart that i have.

I use IO when it's on sale, and DD H2Ocean when not - the DD is fantastic and ive never found a salt that mixes as well as fast and as consistently. I can't say its the best but for $75 its sold salt.

 

[fl3xlinton]

I buy seachem salt. I also run most seachem media but that’s besides the point of the thread. It’s 80 bucks for 220 gallons I get consistent readings and it does me good. Also 220 gallons of water will last me forever so I don’t have to buy very often so the price isn’t crazy for me.

 

[AndrewB]

Brightwell neo marine. I pay what it costs, 70 bucks or so. I do 5 gallon changes every Sunday. So that's a year's worth of salt. Its consistent and someone previously said "peace of mind"

 

[madweazl]

I don't have an issue with companies charging whatever they want for salt and I'll pay it if there is a reason to do so. Below is a cut/paste post I made in a similar topic.

I've been using Instant Ocean in the 75g since setup (little over three years) but switched to Tropic Marin Pro on September 15th of 2019. It has been almost exactly four months now and I've observed no difference at all. Outside of the higher alkalinity of Instant Ocean (which I reduce with muriatic acid), all other parameters have mixed up about identical. I'm going to give it two more months just so I give it a fair chance but at the time of writing this, I see absolutely no reason to spend the extra money on the Tropic Marin. At half the price and equal results, it makes the decision to stick with Instant Ocean really easy. If TM was only $5-10 more (meaning $45-50 for a box/bucket) I'd continue using it.