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broncobilly 
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 Topic: What brand of salt is best?
Posted: November 11 2015 at 5:47am |
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Right now I am using Instant Ocean Reef salt. I want to try something better but don't want to spend a lot of money either any suggestions on a better brand and where to buy be appreciated.
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Denver Broncos #1
65GAL & 10GAL SALT WATER REEF
150GAL & 55GAL FRESH WATER.
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AcroNem
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Posted: November 11 2015 at 8:31am |
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I've never had problems with Reef crystals so that's what I've been using for quite some time. Why are you wanting to switch?
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150G mixed reef, growing coral farm.
Thirteenth year keeping reefs, always here to talk fish.
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Marcoss
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Posted: November 11 2015 at 8:34am |
I use a higher end salt, but I honestly don't know why. I never tested another one, so I am blindly using this one (at least with personal experience, the salt itself has an insane track record- I just started with this salt). I agree with Justin, maybe your salt is just perfect.
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RedSea Max S400 - 90G Rimless Frag Tanks x2 - 185 Lookdown Bin
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Fatman
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Posted: November 11 2015 at 9:05am |
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And Pandora's box is open.
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proskier101
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Posted: November 11 2015 at 9:07am |
I'm going to try the reef crystal for my 40g coral tank.(the orange bag stuff)
I have a hard time maintaining alk in that tank.
My 125 predator uses the blue bucket salt  oceanic, instaocean, whatever.
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Fatman
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Posted: November 11 2015 at 9:12am |
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Pretty much any major brand is ok. Some have a slightly higher content of some things such as calcium. Those marketed as reef salts generally have higher supplemental additives. Some people swear buy their brand, others have great reefs using whatever they can pick up as a bargain salt.
Occasionally some salts have formulation problems. A friend called me after a recent water change with a calcium level over 600. Probably the salt settled out in shipment and he hit a pocket with high calcium. Hard to say. There are so many variables it's hard to pin one issue to the salt used, especially as people dose various things to the tank (Alk, Calcium, carbon, vitamins, etc.). Hogie uses a good salt brand of salt and never supplements, but he does a weekly water change too.
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love2skiutah
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Posted: November 11 2015 at 10:09am |
Make sure you roll the bucket around when you get it!
Both Teknik and I got a bad batch of Oceanic about a year ago because we buy our salt together. The Mag registered up and above 750. I called Oceanic and they knew about the bad batch and they said they informed all the stores that got it. They said they were sending us new buckets for free, but I declined and just swapped brands. I wouldn't hesitate using Oceanic again, because I used it for like 10 years without any problems. It was just a good opportunity for me to switch, because I had always wanted to try a different brand anyway. I switched to Red Sea and I honestly can't tell the difference, so I'm not sure the more expensive brand is worth it.
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Hogie
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Posted: November 11 2015 at 10:36am |
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I use Red Sea coral pro, but it is a little more pricey. Before, I used reef crystal and never had a problem. Glenn told me when he switched to coral pro, he now doses a lot less, so when you're figuring costs, make sure you calculate in dosing as well.
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Adam Blundell
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Posted: November 11 2015 at 11:03am |
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Whatever's on sale
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broncobilly
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Posted: November 11 2015 at 11:30am |
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MY CALCUIM SEEM LOW ALL THE TIME AND I JUST HERE EVERY ONE SAYING THAT INSTENT OCEAN IS CRAP SO I THOUGH I WOULD SEE WHAT EVERY ONE WAS USEING.
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Denver Broncos #1
65GAL & 10GAL SALT WATER REEF
150GAL & 55GAL FRESH WATER.
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1stupidpunk
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Posted: November 11 2015 at 11:33am |
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I have used several different brands of salt and i honestly couldnt tell a difference on any of the BIG brands.
That said i wont buy the Kordon salt from petco/petsmart ever again. After 24+ hours of mixing it was still super cloudy and small chunks never fully dissolved.
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kevin.st
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Posted: November 11 2015 at 1:40pm |
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I also buy whatever is on sale.
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Reefer4Ever
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Posted: November 11 2015 at 2:16pm |
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I used Instant Ocean for years and dosed my tank. I switched to Red Sea Coral Pro and dose much less along with my corals from lps and sps are showing far better colors. Just my experience.
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90 gal reef w/refugium
24 gal softie tank
11 gal nano anemone tank
5 gal fresh water
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: November 11 2015 at 2:55pm |
 Fatman wrote:
And Pandora's box is open. |
There is no best. They all are good. (well except for Petco which I usually avoid) Monitoring critical salt water parameters using test kits is invaluable to continued success.
If the aquarium has lot's of stony coral the hobbyist has to decide how to supplement Alk, Ca, Mg and other elements that are eaten by the stony coral and other inverts like snails and hermits. The possibilities are many, perhaps endless. On one end of the spectrum are those who do it with frequent water changes using more expensive salt and on the other end of the spectrum are those that supplement with common household chemicals and use the least expensive good salt, Instant Ocean, typically changed less than 10% monthly.
Until recently I was a coral farmer. I had farmed coral for almost 20 years. I made a lot of money, even came close to making a living at this hobby before I had to quit for reasons outside of my control. I wanted the best benefit for the least amount of money so I could see a bigger bottom line. You can probably figure which end of the spectrum I was on. 
Aloha, Mark 
P.S. Low Calcium - that's easy. If Calcium is low, like below 350 ppm, it means that it's being eaten faster than it's being replaced. Just add some pure Calcium Chloride Ice Melt. This extremely cheap product will soon be available in stores. But as Ca is added, Alk will drop because when the level of Ca is up, Alkalinity is better able to be eaten. Be sure to watch the Alk level and add baking soda to keep it up. There is more about the simplicity of all this here: http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244
Edited by Mark Peterson - November 11 2015 at 3:08pm
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Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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jdinchak
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Posted: November 11 2015 at 3:32pm |
We switched to ESV for our mixed reef and love it, mixes very fast and very clean and you see all of the ingredients (as you mix those yourself). The flip side to that is it's really expensive and hard to find. I usually have to buy 400 gallons at a time to cover what would otherwise be insane shipping costs. I haven't seen ESV at a store here. I wish they carried.
For another tank we started out we had won about 700 gallons of Reef Crystals, Instant Ocean and another cheaper brand and mixed those up to setup our new tank and have been running through water changes on that. Not the greatest at mixing but seems to work well.
I am going to slowly switch salts in the tanks I use (original reef is now more of a fish only and can easily get by with Instant Ocean) and the one that was on Instant Ocean I am going to switch to the ESV as the corals really do respond well to it.
Either way you will do well, that is one of the most open questions out there. Although salt is about the only thing everything is touched/effected by. Let us know what you decide to do.
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180G Mixed Reef Tank
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AquariumGuy
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Posted: November 21 2015 at 2:09am |
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Like most have said all major brands are fairly good. Adams answer is my favorite as most Utah reefers are really price conscious. I have and do work for some of the largest salt brands in the business and the info and 3rd party testing shows that it's all really close. Even the higher prices brands. I'll post a sampling of the testing in the am so you can see what I'm talking about.
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�A black belt only covers two inches of your ass. You have to cover the rest.� - Royce Gracie
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broncobilly
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Posted: November 21 2015 at 8:00am |
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yes please do share that info. with us
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Denver Broncos #1
65GAL & 10GAL SALT WATER REEF
150GAL & 55GAL FRESH WATER.
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Baghtal
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Posted: November 23 2015 at 3:33pm |
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AquariumGuy, I'd love to see the comparison also, please :D
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: November 24 2015 at 8:17am |
 This is the internet, right? Any of you can look it up. I just googled "comparison of salt mixes" and found all the pertinent info.
AquariumGuy wrote:
...all major brands are fairly good... 3rd party testing shows that it's all really close. Even the higher price brands... |
Because it's close, all of the popular inexpensive salt mixes will work just fine. Believe it or not.
That said, in the history of this club/forum, we have seen occasions where abruptly switching salt mix causes temporary issues. To avoid shocking the animals, it's a good idea to gradually change the salt mix over three consecutive regular water changes.
In addition to what I said earlier about how important it is to keep Alk and Ca stable via monitoring and supplementation, there are additives which help over and above what even an expensive salt mix can provide. These are only really needed when there is a lot of coral in the system, otherwise regular 10% monthly water changes are sufficient. One of the old reliable supplements is Kent Coral-Vite. I have found it very helpful for farming coral, while also being economical and easy to dose.
Aloha, Mark
Edited by Mark Peterson - November 24 2015 at 8:28am
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Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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