Which Salt Are You Currently Using?

LeftyReefer

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Live Aquaria salt. It mixes fast and clear, and best of all, its CHEAP!
 

Adamantium

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Brightwell NeoMarine. Mixed reef with Softies, LPS, and a few SPS. Mixes up to the perfect parameters for me, with no residue, and my tank looks better now than ever.
 

Dj City

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I used to use I.O. and switched to Red Sea. First Blue bucket, then tried Black bucket.
I switched back to Blue bucket and have been using that for the past 3 years or so.

I JUST switched back to I.O. because Red Sea was getting pretty expensive. I know I.O. is not the cleanest salt on the market but in the past, it has cleared up after a while of mixing and only left a light dusting of residue behind in the container.
I got 2x 200gal boxes from BRS.
I cracked the box open and mixed up a 32 gallon batch of water.
I had the salt mixing for over 48 hours and it would not clear. It was unusable.
I tossed the water and cleaned the thick sludge off the pump and out of the brute container. I figured I got a bad batch so I cracked open the 2nd box.
Ugggggh!
It was even worse!

This salt is unusable!
No way I'm putting this in my reef!

20201104_073314.jpg

20201104_091926.jpg
20201104_091942.jpg
20201104_091950.jpg
20201104_091959.jpg
20201104_092020.jpg


I contacted BRS, sent them these pics and they gave me a refund.

Any other inexpensive salts out there? Preferably salt that does NOT sludge up?
 

Clownfish_Boy

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I used to use I.O. and switched to Red Sea. First Blue bucket, then tried Black bucket.
I switched back to Blue bucket and have been using that for the past 3 years or so.

I JUST switched back to I.O. because Red Sea was getting pretty expensive. I know I.O. is not the cleanest salt on the market but in the past, it has cleared up after a while of mixing and only left a light dusting of residue behind in the container.
I got 2x 200gal boxes from BRS.
I cracked the box open and mixed up a 32 gallon batch of water.
I had the salt mixing for over 48 hours and it would not clear. It was unusable.
I tossed the water and cleaned the thick sludge off the pump and out of the brute container. I figured I got a bad batch so I cracked open the 2nd box.
Ugggggh!
It was even worse!

This salt is unusable!
No way I'm putting this in my reef!

20201104_073314.jpg

20201104_091926.jpg
20201104_091942.jpg
20201104_091950.jpg
20201104_091959.jpg
20201104_092020.jpg


I contacted BRS, sent them these pics and they gave me a refund.

Any other inexpensive salts out there? Preferably salt that does NOT sludge up?
I have always gotten good results from Instant Ocean salts.
 

Clownfish_Boy

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I used to use I.O. and switched to Red Sea. First Blue bucket, then tried Black bucket.
I switched back to Blue bucket and have been using that for the past 3 years or so.

I JUST switched back to I.O. because Red Sea was getting pretty expensive. I know I.O. is not the cleanest salt on the market but in the past, it has cleared up after a while of mixing and only left a light dusting of residue behind in the container.
I got 2x 200gal boxes from BRS.
I cracked the box open and mixed up a 32 gallon batch of water.
I had the salt mixing for over 48 hours and it would not clear. It was unusable.
I tossed the water and cleaned the thick sludge off the pump and out of the brute container. I figured I got a bad batch so I cracked open the 2nd box.
Ugggggh!
It was even worse!

This salt is unusable!
No way I'm putting this in my reef!

20201104_073314.jpg

20201104_091926.jpg
20201104_091942.jpg
20201104_091950.jpg
20201104_091959.jpg
20201104_092020.jpg


I contacted BRS, sent them these pics and they gave me a refund.

Any other inexpensive salts out there? Preferably salt that does NOT sludge up?
Instant Ocean (Basic or Reef Crystals) is also priced very reasonably.
 

Adamantium

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I used to use Reef Crystals, but maaaan, the gunk build up was insane. My mixing buckets were disgusting. Since switching to NeoMarine, they’re clean as a whistle.
 

Vette67

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Regular old IO, and have been since the beginning of my reefing career some 20 years ago. It's so dang consistent I don't even test it anymore.

Threads like this pop up all the time, and you'll see the newbies posting about the "salt of the month", yet regular old IO stands the test of time(been in use since 1964).
Agreed. I’ve been using IO since the beginning, and at that time there weren’t many options. But 23 years later, and I see no reason to change. I will say this. If you are looking to solve a problem by changing salt mixes, there’s a very good chance that the salt is not your problem.
 

GillMeister

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When I had a softie/LPS system I ran whatever salt I could find on sale. The only parameters I tested were SPG and nitrate. I had a thriving system.

Today I'm running SPS and I'm trying to be more disciplined. I use Tropic Marin Pro Reef exclusively just for the consistency alone. Many here are using IO with no issues.
 

stanlalee

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I use reef crystals ONLY because I can't get the IO 160g buckets as cheap and I don't buy salt by the bag (too many potential moisture exposure risk especially after opened). I prefer the parameters and what's not in IO over RC.

I haven't even considered most of the other brands. The Jets have a better chance at winning the Superbowl than me paying $60, $70, $80 for a bucket of salt that has no anecdotal evidence of an end result better than the bucket I pay $35-39 for. And somebody please explain to me why my local lfs can sell IO buckets for $45 but these mega online vendors that move a zillion more units of product can't price it for under $55...other than not crushing the sales of their other brands.
 

Reef.

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I've used both Tropic Marin salt and Aqua Vitro salt, both of which were good but I ended up using the Aqua Vitro as the TM precipitated very fast and took forever to mix. I don't do water changes often though so I don't really care that much.

really? Tropic Marin is known for mixing super easy!
 

homer1475

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I think you'll find the bucket of IO is probably more simply because those of us that use IO, normally buy it by the box.

200G box is always cheaper then the 160G bucket.
 

kichimark

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I use two different types of salts for different systems. My main reef uses Tropic Marin Pro and the school reef uses IO reef crystals. I do dose and what not in my main reef and the school I do not since I am not there everyday anymore. The corals are a mix of softies/LPS at the school and at home is a mixed reef. Everyone is doing good.
 

cubereefer

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fritz rpm. been running it on 2 tanks for 3 years 1 is sps and 1 is lps / softies . no issues as long as mixed properly just like any other salts. also run brightwell neomarine on 3 frag tanks and love it, in the process of switching over everything to brightwell.
 

rusgum

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Five years at Tropic Marin pro. A couple of months ago I switched to preis-aquaristik. Reef LPS / SPS
 

Arabyps

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