My experience so far is that the brand of salt you use is probably the least important factor in tank success. I'll list the factors I have found important to me in regard to which salt I use, they are in no particular order.
1. Availability. Do multiple retailers in your area carry that brand of salt? While I can't imagine too many scenarios where you couldn't get the salt you need quickly, it's nice to know that I don't have to rely on one retailer in case my preferred LFS is out. I do know that internet ordering exists, I still prefer that I have the option to get my brand locally and quickly.
2. Storage. One of the things I discovered is that not all brands are capable of long term storage. I started out using Aquavitro salinity, storing any excess mix to use on my nano tanks. Within 48 hours of mixing this salt would begin to precipitate wildly. Within a week of storage the alkalinity, calcium, and mag levels would be 6dkh/380ppm/1100ppm approximately.
3. Ease of use. This one is something that surprised me after decades long hiatus from the hobby is that with the easy availability of all of these new salts, each one seemed to have their own specific instructions or special techniques to get a good mix, prevent precipitation, and prevent cloudiness. Having used Instant Ocean decades ago, I was used to just dump and walk away. Red Sea Coral Pro wants you to mix it in 68°f water until clear(2-4 hours) and the PH stabilizes then raise the temp to 77°f before use. You also better not try to dump the salt in all at once or you can almost guarantee precipitation. Salinity required strange voodoo rituals of rolling the bucket, mixing slowly, waiting for 24 hours, and then using it right away after 24 hours or demons were spawned.
4. Cost. While most people would assume I'm just cheap, this is more about ensuring that water changes don't break the bank because I feel that unless you're doing Triton method or some other low or no water change method, you want to be doing water changes frequently. The last thing you want is for your water change schedule to become cost prohibitive. I personally am a bit aggressive on my water change schedule. Also every penny you can save on salt you can use to justify new corals, a penny saved is a coral earned.
5. Parameters. I really feel that this one isn't too high on the list for me since I would dose my levels to where I want them. Just having a salt mix at the parameters I keep my tank is an extra step I can mostly avoid. I'm still testing and occasionally tweaking things but for the most part I can generally avoid any major additions of chemical unless something doesn't mix right or I'm accidentally heavy handed with the bucket when adding salt.
@JCTReefer linked a lot of good, no I mean great videos from BRS. Spend some time learning about each salt, make a decision on how you plan on using it and how it fits in with your habits. I personally have settled on Red Sea Coral Pro because my LFS carries the 200g bags, the parameters are in line with what I use, it mixes clean, stores well, and for the most part it's been very consistent batch to batch. The price is on the higher end of the spectrum but it's working for me and there is nothing my corals hate more than change.
1. Availability. Do multiple retailers in your area carry that brand of salt? While I can't imagine too many scenarios where you couldn't get the salt you need quickly, it's nice to know that I don't have to rely on one retailer in case my preferred LFS is out. I do know that internet ordering exists, I still prefer that I have the option to get my brand locally and quickly.
2. Storage. One of the things I discovered is that not all brands are capable of long term storage. I started out using Aquavitro salinity, storing any excess mix to use on my nano tanks. Within 48 hours of mixing this salt would begin to precipitate wildly. Within a week of storage the alkalinity, calcium, and mag levels would be 6dkh/380ppm/1100ppm approximately.
3. Ease of use. This one is something that surprised me after decades long hiatus from the hobby is that with the easy availability of all of these new salts, each one seemed to have their own specific instructions or special techniques to get a good mix, prevent precipitation, and prevent cloudiness. Having used Instant Ocean decades ago, I was used to just dump and walk away. Red Sea Coral Pro wants you to mix it in 68°f water until clear(2-4 hours) and the PH stabilizes then raise the temp to 77°f before use. You also better not try to dump the salt in all at once or you can almost guarantee precipitation. Salinity required strange voodoo rituals of rolling the bucket, mixing slowly, waiting for 24 hours, and then using it right away after 24 hours or demons were spawned.
4. Cost. While most people would assume I'm just cheap, this is more about ensuring that water changes don't break the bank because I feel that unless you're doing Triton method or some other low or no water change method, you want to be doing water changes frequently. The last thing you want is for your water change schedule to become cost prohibitive. I personally am a bit aggressive on my water change schedule. Also every penny you can save on salt you can use to justify new corals, a penny saved is a coral earned.
5. Parameters. I really feel that this one isn't too high on the list for me since I would dose my levels to where I want them. Just having a salt mix at the parameters I keep my tank is an extra step I can mostly avoid. I'm still testing and occasionally tweaking things but for the most part I can generally avoid any major additions of chemical unless something doesn't mix right or I'm accidentally heavy handed with the bucket when adding salt.
@JCTReefer linked a lot of good, no I mean great videos from BRS. Spend some time learning about each salt, make a decision on how you plan on using it and how it fits in with your habits. I personally have settled on Red Sea Coral Pro because my LFS carries the 200g bags, the parameters are in line with what I use, it mixes clean, stores well, and for the most part it's been very consistent batch to batch. The price is on the higher end of the spectrum but it's working for me and there is nothing my corals hate more than change.
