Which Salt are you using?

[Fishcrazy06]

I thought I would get some new threads going over here. I know most of these have been discussed but some people have been doing new and different things. So I thought I would start with the salt thread first.

I am currently using Tropic Marin and personally I have been liking it. Reason I switched to it was I heard some good reviews on it. However, I think I may try Red Sea Coral Pro next.

So what is everyone using and why?

 

[MrSquid]

Kent. I switched to it when I was having troubles keeping my calcium and alk at decent levels and I've stuck with it ever since. (BTW the salt didn't help, but the calcium reator did!)

Not sure if I'll stick with it when this bucket is gone. The buckets are REALLY tough to get completely closed for whatever reason (or maybe I don't pay close enough attention?) and it doesn't make a clean mix once it soaks up moisture from the air around it. (learned that the hard way!)

 

[Fishcrazy06]

I wonder if you will save the bucket for your wife then!

Eric

 

[plainrt]

good old cheap 30 bucks a bucket I.O

 

[jlinzmaier]

I use Red Sea (not coral pro).

I use it becuase it has good ca and mg lvls as well as a low alk level which is required for a zeo system. I also like Red sea because in the whole year that I've been using it I have never had significant fluctuations in ca, alk, or mag from batch to batch.

I've been looking into gettanked salt. http://www.gettankedaquariums.com/i...cial.Sea.Salt.2.Part.Gallon.Mix.Main.Page.htm

I've heard some really great feedback about it so I thought I might give it a try in the future. It's a bit more expensive but sounds to be guaranteed to have consistent elemental concentrations. The owner swears by the accuracy and consistency of every batch.

Just a word of caution to anyone interested in switching salt mixes. If your new salt mix contains significantly different ca, mg, and alk levels (primarily alk) than the salt that your currently using, you may want to switch over gradually to prevent any RTN or STN. Alk fluctuations are very harmful to especially SPS and a simple change in salt mix can cause some trouble if the alk is very different from what you were using or what your tanks level is currently at. It's also been commonly found that in very low nutrient systems the alk needs to match NSW (6.5-8.0 dkh) or the SPS will likely parish.

I think the best way to choose a salt mix is to find one that matches your desired tank params. This will limit any stress from element fluctuations with your water changes and will also help keep your water params where you want them.

This is a great article with a huge list of salt mixes and their respective ca, alk, and mag levels. The testing was done with Salifert kits which is a bit controversial in itsself but I use ELOS test kits and have tested a few salt mixes and found the numbers to be quite similar.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1287118

Just a bit more of my $0.02!! People often underestimate the importance of mixing their salt when buying a 150 or 200 gallon mix. During shipping the heavier elements often settle to the bottom which will give quite significantly different readings from the bottom of the bucket vs the top of the bucket. I always split a new batch into four parts and pour them back and fourth to ensure the salt is thoroughly mixed.

Jeremy

 

[jlinzmaier]

good old cheap 30 bucks a bucket I.O

You must be supplementing with some dry ca or mag supplements to the salt mix right?? IO has terrible ca and mag levels. How do you keep it from plummeting your ca and mag levels when you do a water change??

Jeremy

 

[tc269]

i use good old reefcrystals, tried Red sea pro once didnt seem to make a difference pluse reefcrystals are easier for me to get.

 

[siropa]

i've been using reef crystals for the last couple years. before that I used coralife since about day 1 of it hitting the market. I frankly didn't notice a difference between them when I switched.

 

[condiman]

You must be supplementing with some dry ca or mag supplements to the salt mix right?? IO has terrible ca and mag levels. How do you keep it from plummeting your ca and mag levels when you do a water change??

Jeremy

I will agree with that one Jeremy I noticed that especially when I did zeo. I have now switched to Red Sea and have seen things take a turn for the better

 

[Fishcrazy06]

Yeah but for 10 dollars more a bucket Jason you could be getting Reef Crystals or Red sea or Tropic Marin or Oceanic! Cheap skate!! LOL

 

[Bri Guy]

RC so far, but I just bought a box of IO, we will see how that fairs.

 

[tc269]

while we are talking about salt whats with the big price increases within the last 6 months or is this only with reef crystals... I remember to last year they were like 32 dollars now its like 51??

 

[Fishcrazy06]

I know a place where you can get it for 40 yet!

 

[tc269]

well you going to share or keep it to yourself??

 

[haydenp]

I think there have been across the board increases in salt prices. Here we had been using a ton of Red Sea, but the price went up 20% between our quartlerly shipments this year. We had to switch the whole place to IO, to make budget.

 

[Jhildebrand]

200 gal buckets of Kent for the last two years. Tests consistently so far and I've gone through about ten in that time frame.

 

[jlinzmaier]

For those of you using IO, are you supplementing the salt with some dry ca and mag to raise the levels?? It would seem to me that you would always be battling low ca and mag levels if you do regular water changes.

Jeremy

 

[MSU Fan]

I used Coralife for a long while until Petsmart revoked their price-match policy. Now I use IO. I don't supplement and my parameters don't plummet either. Wierd. Maybe I should test more...:cry:

 

[Fishcrazy06]

Wisconsin Water Gardens sells all of his salt at 40 a bucket.

Eric

 

[tc269]

good to know thanks