Salt mix for sps

[Montrosereef]

What brand of salt mix do you use for SPS tank? I use Kent Marine and it seems to lower my ph every time I change water? Can anyone suggest a salt mix that give you higher ph?

 

[revsgirl]

:bump2:

 

[blkhawk10]

Reef Crystals works good for me

 

[racerw]

Have been using D&D for several years and love it

 

[ritter6788]

Reef Crystals works good for me

Same here.

 

[Clearwater]

Plus one with reef crystals! Works for me

 

[specvjeff]

I'm a big fan of Tropic Marin Pro Reef but I've also heard good things about Red Sea Coral Pro. I personally use the Tropic Marin.

 

[mcarroll]

Many good, balanced mixes out there these days. Instant Ocean (and when your corals are big enough, Reef Crystals will give a nice Ca, Alk and Mg boost) is the standard these days and what I have always used, but lots of people getting good results with Red Sea Coral Pro and other brands too.

I would stay away from the specialty mixes like the Pro Reef mentioned earlier (no offense!) - this one in particular has a really low alkalinity component and is billed as being for use with calcium reactors. I suspect because it has Reef in the name some buyers may have assumed it is analogous to Reef Crystals, but it is not (almost the opposite in fact) and often ends up surprising reefers with really low alkalinity. Go with their standard formula if you like that brand for whatever reason. Arguably Kent and Oceanic fall into this "specialty" category for me as well...not the same reasons tho.

I think we have a sticky in the chemistry forum that has some tested numbers for most of the available salt mixes - you can pretty much see what I'm describing in the numbers there too.

-Matt

P.S. i duno if its sticky was removed or if it was never stickied, but now I can't find that list of salt tests around here anywhere. It was copied from another forum anyway, but I'm not forwarding anyone there. Sorry...

P.P.S. Found it buried: https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/re...-salt-mix-list-cal-alkalinity.html#post428661

 

[TD2K]

I recently switched to aquavitro salinity.

Is it really all that and bag of chips or am I wasting my $$$?

 

[nolen502]

Reef crystals

 

[ckozma]

+1 for aquavitro salinity

 

[Young Frankenstein]

I have tried most, aquavitro, reef crystals, sechem, red sea bla bla bla ............................ its IO for me forever, chapo salt mix :)

 

[Pappy]

I was using io for a long time and had to constantly dose(my tank isn't even really stocked)...I recently switched to red sea coral pro and haven't had to dose since. Also it mixes well and clear within minutes.

 

[Montrosereef]

Thanks! I am going to try red sea pro after reading all good reviews.

 

[3Twinklets]

I generally use Reef Crystals but this time I wanted to try H2 Ocean Pro. Lets see what happens,

 

[Reefer1225]

Aquavitro Salinity

 

[kuyatwo]

i am on my last bucket of rc and i am switching to instant ocean and just buffer it to where i want as i run ulns and have low dkh already 8.5. i was using sybon salt when pa had it on clearance and i ran that with good results.

 

[ReeferBee]

Red sea coral pro FTW

 

[TheWeaz]

E.S.V. Bionic works great for me.

 

[YVR]

I've been using TM Bio Actif for a little over a year and have really noticed improved colouration in my SPS corals, my Hydnophora colony which I have had for 3 years has gone from a dull/pale green to an intense fluorescent green and I've noticed some really intense colours appearing in my clams. So I am really happy with what I have seen so far.