Salt mix for reef tank..

James52

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hey guys starting up a 40 gallon breed first saltwater aquarium tank.. looking at what is the best affordable salts to mix with my rodi water.. BRS is recommending the pro reef mix.. please let me on any experiences with salts or tips and advice. Thanks guys happy reefing!!
 

Jekyl

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hey guys starting up a 40 gallon breed first saltwater aquarium tank.. looking at what is the best affordable salts to mix with my rodi water.. BRS is recommending the pro reef mix.. please let me on any experiences with salts or tips and advice. Thanks guys happy reefing!!
Every single salt out there will pretty much work. Get one that's easily available like Instant Ocean. Later on if you get more serious and into coral and what not you can switch if desired.
 

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Pro reef is good, but good luck finding it anywhere.
You'll get a hundred different opinions on what is the "best" salt. People will tell you they've used Instant Ocean for 20+ years with amazing success. Others will say it's the worst.
I suggest picking one of the well-known brands and just sticking with it.
Personally, I use Fritz blue box.
 
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James52

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Thanks guys!! Yea I mean I have been researching for months on salt mixes and equipment and.it seems everybody has a opinion or what not on it all so its a matter.of what you like or not I think we could all argue till we are blue in the face. But im just trying to convert from fresh to salt I have two 20 gallon fresh and 1 10gal and 2 5s. Again thanks so much guys if you have any other pointers or tips I would greatly appreciate it.
 

Jekyl

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Thanks guys!! Yea I mean I have been researching for months on salt mixes and equipment and.it seems everybody has a opinion or what not on it all so its a matter.of what you like or not I think we could all argue till we are blue in the face. But im just trying to convert from fresh to salt I have two 20 gallon fresh and 1 10gal and 2 5s. Again thanks so much guys if you have any other pointers or tips I would greatly appreciate it.
Go slow. Don't rush a bunch of fish or add coral too quickly. Buy the best equipment you can't afford. If doing coral you have months to save for good lighting instead of buying cheap before you even need them.
 

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Salt mix is not one of the more critical decisions you'll make. They all work just fine.

IO is the least expensive, mixes clean, available everywhere... its mixed parameters are very near natural seawater (Calc 400, dKH 11, Mag 1350) and it's used at nearly all of the large aquarium installations around the world (at least the ones that don't use natural seawater).

Why look elsewhere?
 

Uncle99

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Pro reef is good, but good luck finding it anywhere.
You'll get a hundred different opinions on what is the "best" salt. People will tell you they've used Instant Ocean for 20+ years with amazing success. Others will say it's the worst.
I suggest picking one of the well-known brands and just sticking with it.
Personally, I use Fritz blue box.
Me too Fritz, used 20 cases so far, love it and so easy to find.
And I’m saving a ton because it’s made in the US, not overseas.
 
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James52

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Thanks for all the advise and tips guys. And yes @Jekyl im going to be doing corals so I'm going slow no rush rn.. doing alot of DD and research so I don't kill all my stock.. what would you guys suggest on lighting? @Greybeard @Uncle99
 

Jekyl

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Thanks for all the advise and tips guys. And yes @Jekyl im going to be doing corals so I'm going slow no rush rn.. doing alot of DD and research so I don't kill all my stock.. what would you guys suggest on lighting? @Greybeard @Uncle99
The best you can afford
 

Ocean’s Piece

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Depends on the type of coral you want. If you want more soft corals and LPS, there’s nothing wrong with Instant Ocean purple bucket. If you want more SPS corals, you may want to consider some salts that are higher in calcium and alkalinity because those corals will take in those elements much faster than soft corals and LPS. If you wanted to go cheap on that, go instant ocean orange bucket, but research the levels that you want to have. That salt has higher levels than natural sea water in order to keep those elements at a high level for those corals. I hope for the best. Reefing is a lot of fun, especially starting out!
 

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Thanks for all the advise and tips guys. And yes @Jekyl im going to be doing corals so I'm going slow no rush rn.. doing alot of DD and research so I don't kill all my stock.. what would you guys suggest on lighting? @Greybeard @Uncle99
I just used Visparspectra 165watt, still running well after 4 years. 1 for every 24” cube, this 65g has two. 651B4B45-D5E1-4A68-9062-068EC5D335FA.jpeg
 

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I use Instant Ocean salt. (The regular)

Working very well for me. Easy to mix. I have softies and 1 LPS by the way, all are doing great.

The IO Reef Crystals are supposedly better for your coral/tank? But I’m sticking with the regular IO, until I run out.
 
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James52

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That tank is amazing!! @Uncle99 im so excited to get started in the reef community. And I'm going to go easy since this is my first reef tank and do mostly soft corals and some lps so I don't have to worry to much about par with sps @MiniReefInABox so what salt mix would you recommend I don't want to go completely cheap you do get what you pay for and I want to make sure my fish and corals have best chance of living and growth
 

Ocean’s Piece

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That tank is amazing!! @Uncle99 im so excited to get started in the reef community. And I'm going to go easy since this is my first reef tank and do mostly soft corals and some lps so I don't have to worry to much about par with sps @MiniReefInABox so what salt mix would you recommend I don't want to go completely cheap you do get what you pay for and I want to make sure my fish and corals have best chance of living and growth
You can go with any salt you want. I know that’s not the answer you are looking for but any salt will work. Salt is one of those things that people make such a big deal about how you have to have the right salt and most of that isn’t true. I use instant ocean purple bucket and for your use I would do the same. I get around 400 ppm Calcium and 7.6 Alkalinity at 1.026 which is dead on for softies and lps (people may say you need 8-12 dKH for corals but for softies and lps, it’s more like 7-12). I’d recommend going with the purple bucket because you want to spend your money on the best part of the hobby, the fish and corals
 

Uncle99

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That tank is amazing!! @Uncle99 im so excited to get started in the reef community. And I'm going to go easy since this is my first reef tank and do mostly soft corals and some lps so I don't have to worry to much about par with sps @MiniReefInABox so what salt mix would you recommend I don't want to go completely cheap you do get what you pay for and I want to make sure my fish and corals have best chance of living and growth
I have used Fritz blue box for years, great price,fast and clean mix without heat and providesgood mixed reef parameters IMM mixing up as follows
Alk 9.5dkh
CA 440ppm
MG 1385ppm
PH 8.4

The Fritz Redline Box mixes identical with the exception of Alk which comes in at 12-12.5dkh

This salt made in the USA, so even up here in the north, widely available.

To me, availability is critical as using different salts throws my stability off.
 

Staxciii

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@MiniReefInABox awesome thanks man. Yea im looking at some top notch ocellaris like a frostbite and I definitely want some nice corals from WWC in Orlando
WWC has some beautiful, healthy corals but their prices are borderline ridiculous even during sales. Same with TSA. The best advice I can give is when you're ready for corals join a couple Facebook groups and purchase from fellow hobbyists or from the forums here. You will save a heck of a lot of money and make friends in the hobby as well. Just my two cents.
 

Uncle99

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Thanks @Uncle99 With those parameters will I be able to keep healthy softies and some lps?
Yes, those will keep anything.

In addition, keep nutrients in the following ranges:

Nitrate, 2-10ppm
Phosphate 0.05-.1ppm

See what your tank runs at with a weekly water change and adopt those levels for your DT.

It not about matching numbers provided they are in the traditional bands.

It is all about maintaining each with as little change as possible.

The less the flux, the better.
 

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