Salty Loyality! How often do you switch?

How LOYAL are you to your salt brand for your reef tank?

  • I will never switch salts

    Votes: 53 8.0%
  • It would take a lot for me to switch

    Votes: 163 24.7%
  • I would switch depending on the reason

    Votes: 290 43.9%
  • I could easily be persuaded to switch

    Votes: 66 10.0%
  • I have no loyality to my salt

    Votes: 89 13.5%

  • Total voters
    661

revhtree

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Let's talk some more about salt today. It's on my mind so let's go with it!

Some people switch salts like my wife washes her hands nowadays! ALL THE TIME! I really don't have a problem with it. I've switched many times before as well. There are different reasons why I might and have switched but the salt I'm using now I really like and it would take a lot to get me to switch. I won't say what I use here in the thread because this isn't about an advertisement. I'm genuinely curious about a few things and I would like some input from you!

1. How many times have you switched salts over your aquarium career?

2. What would it take to get you to switch from one brand to another? (cost, purity, availability etc?)

salt loyal.jpg
 

homer1475

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I've switched plenty over the years, but settled on using IO as it's cheap. I can handle the little bit of maintenance from using it as opposed to paying nearly double for a little "cleaner" salt.

I would switch if there was a better, or same quality alternative at the same price point.
 

laurichj

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Great timing on this poll for me since I'm in the middle of switching salts. I've been using reef crystals for about 12 years. It's cheap and effective. I'm trying to get sticks growing more happily and the elevated alk/ca makes large water changes difficult. I'm switching to neomarine since it's much closer to what I want to keep the params at and going up is much easier than going down.

I also came across a BRS tv comparison and their rough numbers actually put the salts at a comparable per gallon cost since while neither hits the "makes x gallons" numbers, neomarine is a lot closer.
 

will25u

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I don't have loyalty. I was using Fritz for the past year because I won it at a raffle. Now, I'm using Reef Crystals because it was readily available and affordable at Petsmart ($40 for bucket). Before all of that, I used Instant Ocean's regular marine salt.
 

temfinger

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I have always used reef crystal because of the cost. I switch to red sea coral pro, and tank/water parameters went bananas (corals lost their colors). Could have been multiple factors but i switch back to Reef Crystals to eliminate one, took some time but the corals bounced back. I really like the packaging of red sea, even the the buckets don't hold water....
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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Great thread. for 14 years Ive been using pre made lfs salt, whatever brand they have and it changes constantly. i dont care what brand they use, its nothing weekly or bi weekly water changes can't balance out. right now i think its fritz for the last year or so, but reef crystals before that.

i do only 100% water changes, my corals mixed lps and sps do not care what brand of salt is present they care if they're getting fed and under strong blue light. since no reef salts mix up lethal to corals, whatever brand they select is not a problem for me. you could change brands twice in a week with full water changes and my reef would not care at all.
 

Intense37754

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Switched 3x in one tank for purity reasons at extra cost, will most likely never switch again

Another tank has used the same salt from a natural source from day 1 and would never switch
 

azbigjohn

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Great thread. for 14 years Ive been using pre made lfs salt, whatever brand they have and it changes constantly. i dont care what brand they use, its nothing weekly or bi weekly water changes can't balance out. right now i think its fritz for the last year or so, but reef crystals before that.

i do only 100% water changes, my corals mixed lps and sps do not care what brand of salt is present they care if they're getting fed and under strong blue light. since no reef salts mix up lethal to corals, whatever brand they select is not a problem for me. you could change brands twice in a week with full water changes and my reef would not care at all.

How do you do a 100% water change???
 

azbigjohn

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Great time for this thread as I prepare to reboot my tank again, starting from scratch due to a wipeout due to my taking a shortcut... (yep, nothing good happens fast)

I have always used instant ocean since my FOWLER days. I briefly went to Reef Crystals when a local "auction house" got a pallet in and was selling it for $20 a box, but really saw no difference in anything with the supposedly better "reef" salt.

Cue a couple more years with Instant Ocean, and I am growing weary of the dark crud on my mixing station, and the just poor way it mixes.

When I look at the cost between the "cheap" IO and the "fancy" expensive salts, and a box a month max, is it that big a cost for better quality? Not sure... I will be thinking long and hard as my tank goes through a 76 day fallow period, and my remaining (single) fish and few remaining corals get hospitalized.
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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here is the act, plus a 30 minute air delay, for flair lol. drag through so you arent watching a 30 min video. My corals aren’t given the luxury of being in water during tank servicing, theyre expected to comply with tide works.



and then 12 hours later.


I have no idea if they changed salts or not.

how I do a 100% water change: its one gallon :)

same impact biology, same corals, older than most, dont let the scaling make it seem different
 
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Tahoe61

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I have used 3 salts in 33 years.

Recently changed because of the isolation situation. The salt I have used for decades was not available from on line venders.

The salt I changed to is only mixing at 6.5 dkh ugggggg.
 

Albertan22

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I’ve always used the basic IO (12 years) except for one time I tried a bucket of H2Ocean. My tank didn’t react well to the change so back to IO I went. People talk about “quality” of salt being linked to price. Salt is salt. Pick the one that mixes closest to the parameters you want to keep and stick with it. Who cares if you have to wipe out your mixing bin every 6 months?
 

NS Mike D

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I was using reef crystals exclusively except when I would get pre made lfs salt water or Pacific ocean at petco because it said reef in the name, and never change because of this think I kept reading about: stability. What did I know?

I switched to IO with my recent redo given it was also available petco (5 min from my house as opposed to 20min and 40min for the two LFS I frequent), that it mixed with alk in my desired range and it cost less.
 

35ppt

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I started with IO because it was cheap. Worked fine for over two years until I got a box that mixed up to like 16dkh/700Ca and that was after it took it two days of mixing to clear up due to precipitation. Just a bad box so I complained and they sent another box. Mixed up to 14dkh/500Ca which was workable but not great. So I switched to HW, mixed to ~9dkh/490Ca... dkh is good but I don't like the Ca spike I get every WC. So I've got a box of Fritz on the way. If I don't like this one I'm going to try Tropic Marin Pro.

I like the cleaner salts because it saves me time but it really just comes down the parameter stability. I want a salt that mixes up to the same parameters box to box.

/and of course parameters that are close to what I keep.
 

WVNed

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I just finished up a box of IO I got at the LFS on sale. Some of the kind that makes big clumps in the bag. Now I have 3 200 gallon bags of Red Sea to use next.
 

hllb

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I have switched salts 3 times in 7 months. I had been in the hobby years ago and was pretty loyal to my brand but right now, there are so many options, I'm trying to find the one I like best. I think I'll stick with HW marinemix reefer, but we'll see.
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 74 37.6%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 68 34.5%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 12.7%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 28 14.2%
  • Other.

    Votes: 2 1.0%
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