What salt to use

[yanni]

Hey all,

Ive been slowly piecing together my tank, and I’ve spent the past few weeks deciding on what salt to use. I’m currently hung up between Red Sea Salt, or their Coral Pro salt. I live in Australia so some other salts are unavailable, but for my tank needs the coral pro seems best

I’ll be aiming for mostly softies, a nem at some point once I get great stability, and maybe some LPS….it’s a 75L/20G AIO tank if that helps, and doing fortnightly 25% water changes, or weekly 10%…..not sure yet. The Red Sea wizard recipe said the coral pro salt would be the best choice, but I thought better to consult with the reef wizards on reef2reef .

My research has supported that the coral pro would be a great choice, and it seems like a great salt. Any advice is greatly appreciated, or any other salts worth considering for the type of tank I’ll be running

 

[blaxsun]

Tropic Marin is what I use now - and I’ll never use anything else again. The Red Sea Coral Pro is also quite a bit higher alkalinity, ie: 10.5-11 (this is what i switched from).

 

[Yates273]

Considering you are looking at a softie amd LPS tank I don’t see why IO wouldn’t work for you. Probably the cheapest also and it is readily available all over. Even if you were doing SPS their line of salt will work just fine. I can’t comment on others as all I use is Reef Crystals and have no issues in tank. The only drawback which doesn’t bother me is my saltwater holding tank has brown crud but that never makes it into my display.

 

[CanuckReefer]

I'm a Reef Crystals guy too...switched over to it a few years back. I like its high Mag number. You'll probably get a zillion different recommendations here including the 'salt is salt ' line lol.

 

[blaxsun]

You'll probably get a zillion different recommendations here including the 'salt is salt ' line lol.

Yeah, pretty much.

 

[Yates273]

Yeah this is a loaded question. Just search which salt to use and you will see for yourself

 

[RwP]

Use what matches closely to the parameters you want to keep

 

[Jedi1199]

Considering you are looking at a softie amd LPS tank I don’t see why IO wouldn’t work for you. Probably the cheapest also and it is readily available all over. Even if you were doing SPS their line of salt will work just fine. I can’t comment on others as all I use is Reef Crystals and have no issues in tank. The only drawback which doesn’t bother me is my saltwater holding tank has brown crud but that never makes it into my display.

I'm a Reef Crystals guy too...switched over to it a few years back. I like its high Mag number. You'll probably get a zillion different recommendations here including the 'salt is salt ' line lol.

Agreed. I also use IORC as it is the most readily available and budget friendly option. I can go to any pet supply store and find some on the shelf at any time (Not sure I have ever seen Coral Pro anywhere but online).

The fish and corals are happy and healthy so... "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"

 

[blaxsun]

Yeah this is a loaded question. Just search which salt to use and you will see for yourself

I’d probably avoid the pool salt, though. The question was apparently asked often enough that someone did test it out and did a writeup on it...

 

[Pistondog]

Hey all,

Ive been slowly piecing together my tank, and I’ve spent the past few weeks deciding on what salt to use. I’m currently hung up between Red Sea Salt, or their Coral Pro salt. I live in Australia so some other salts are unavailable, but for my tank needs the coral pro seems best

I’ll be aiming for mostly softies, a nem at some point once I get great stability, and maybe some LPS….it’s a 75L/20G AIO tank if that helps, and doing fortnightly 25% water changes, or weekly 10%…..not sure yet. The Red Sea wizard recipe said the coral pro salt would be the best choice, but I thought better to consult with the reef wizards on reef2reef .

My research has supported that the coral pro would be a great choice, and it seems like a great salt. Any advice is greatly appreciated, or any other salts worth considering for the type of tank I’ll be running

I like the synthetics in this order
Tropic marin pro
Hw marine mix reefer
Aquaforest reef
They mix fast and seem to have excellent consistency,

 

[CanuckReefer]

I like the synthetics in this order
Tropic marin pro
Hw marine mix reefer
Aquaforest reef
They mix fast and seem to have excellent consistency,

I cannot argue with Tropic Marin, used their base salt for 20 years. Switched off based on availability local, also happy with Reef Crystal's.

 

[yanni]

So many different options oh geez, hahaha. Will have to decide what parameters I want first now I guess

 

[Dennis Cartier]

TM Pro reef for me. In my case, the alkalinity and how long the mixed saltwater can be stored before precipitating, was the determining factor. For TM Pro Reef, I can store my water for weeks before I see any precipitation. I used Aqua Forest for awhile, but the precipitation after a couple of days was dramatic, so I will no longer use it. The precipitation I was seeing was a dark brown film forming over the interior of the reservoir. I assumed it was from iron and other traces precipitating out. I later determined that AF suggests their mixed saltwater must be used within 48 hours, which makes sense as it precipitates so fast. I can get the same type of film with TM Pro, but it takes weeks or months, not days as in the case of AF.

As you are a softie tank, high alk may not be required, so something with low to medium alk may be fine for you. Even IO may be a good choice as a starter salt. You will get a tan crusty precipitation with it, but it is a very dependable salt and used by a ton of people, including many experienced reefers.

Dennis

 

[PeterZammetti]

Hey all,

Ive been slowly piecing together my tank, and I’ve spent the past few weeks deciding on what salt to use. I’m currently hung up between Red Sea Salt, or their Coral Pro salt. I live in Australia so some other salts are unavailable, but for my tank needs the coral pro seems best

I’ll be aiming for mostly softies, a nem at some point once I get great stability, and maybe some LPS….it’s a 75L/20G AIO tank if that helps, and doing fortnightly 25% water changes, or weekly 10%…..not sure yet. The Red Sea wizard recipe said the coral pro salt would be the best choice, but I thought better to consult with the reef wizards on reef2reef .

My research has supported that the coral pro would be a great choice, and it seems like a great salt. Any advice is greatly appreciated, or any other salts worth considering for the type of tank I’ll be running

Red Sea Coral pro or Fritz reef salt seem to do the trick. Keeps my baseline numbers where I want them. Both can be used 15 minutes after mixed.

 

[yanni]

TM Pro reef for me. In my case, the alkalinity and how long the mixed saltwater can be stored before precipitating, was the determining factor. For TM Pro Reef, I can store my water for weeks before I see any precipitation. I used Aqua Forest for awhile, but the precipitation after a couple of days was dramatic, so I will no longer use it. The precipitation I was seeing was a dark brown film forming over the interior of the reservoir. I assumed it was from iron and other traces precipitating out. I later determined that AF suggests their mixed saltwater must be used within 48 hours, which makes sense as it precipitates so fast. I can get the same type of film with TM Pro, but it takes weeks or months, not days as in the case of AF.

As you are a softie tank, high alk may not be required, so something with low to medium alk may be fine for you. Even IO may be a good choice as a starter salt. You will get a tan crusty precipitation with it, but it is a very dependable salt and used by a ton of people, including many experienced reefers.

Dennis

Oooh okay I see. Will having higher alk adversely affect the softies?

 

[yanni]

Red Sea Coral pro or Fritz reef salt seem to do the trick. Keeps my baseline numbers where I want them. Both can be used 15 minutes after mixed.

Yeah the time after use is a huge factor, as balancing study, work, gym, and life with my partner, doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for everything else

 

[srobertb]

Considering you are looking at a softie amd LPS tank I don’t see why IO wouldn’t work for you. Probably the cheapest also and it is readily available all over. Even if you were doing SPS their line of salt will work just fine. I can’t comment on others as all I use is Reef Crystals and have no issues in tank. The only drawback which doesn’t bother me is my saltwater holding tank has brown crud but that never makes it into my display.

I got a great deal on Fritz and used that for a while as I had a pallet of it and it’s what my coral guy used. Then I did the “I must have the best” thing and switched to the tropic Marin. I went back to reef crystals and it’s working just fine.

I premix 50g for AWC’s and they all precipitate about the same.