Another "What's your favorite salt?" thread!

[jaganshi066]

Me too, with Red Sea Coral Pro I mix and add that day. It doesn't do well sitting for a week or more in mixing container for some reason. But my corals do love it so I mix and do the change 4-6 hours later

I usually do it the next day cause I want to make sure the salt is fully mixed and other than the residu it’s fine. It just sucks cleaning the mixing container so much, it’s kind of disgusting

 

[Billldg]

HW Marine Reefer mix

 

[ariellemermaid]

I have tried multiple salts over the past 15yrs and I believe my reef responds best to Tropic Marin Pro. Its expensive but it mixes extremely quick and clean. I have two unopened boxes of Fritz Blue Box I tried and wont use again because of the nasty brown film it creates when mixing.

Woah! I’ve been using Fritz since I started close to a year ago and your post just rang a bell. I’ve been assuming the brown stuff is algae growth. It does seem to get worse the longer the salt sits and when heated but I’ve never gone more than a week. I’ve been going through a ton of vinegar cleaning my brute every time I empty it wondering why some people say they never clean their containers or like once a month. I figured maybe my mixing pump was seeded with algae so it just keeps coming back.

Do you think it’s dangerous or harmful? Should I save myself the trouble and just live with it and stop cleaning so much? I might switch to a more expensive salt eventually but right now I’m going through so much water weekly!

 

[paul barker]

I use red sea pro theirs things I like about and don't like about it it a dirty salt I think of going with tropical marine pro it but it not local her so I will have to buy it on line

 

[00W]

My favorite of all time was reef salt by seachem. They don't make it anymore.
When Kent first came out it was awesome.
I use Red Sea coral pro now. It's fully mixed in 2 hours which I like and is convenient. You can't store it though so you have to plan to use it.
I always keep an unopened bag of IO around in case coral pro makes me mad and I switch again!
It's been pretty good for awhile.

 

[Rmckoy]

The only salt I’ve used is io in a old fish only .
and aqua vitro

ive used aqua vitro for almost 20 years .

 

[LegendaryCG]

Red Sea Navy bucket salt— thats my mix of black and blue bucket to hit about 9.5 alk. Blacks alk is too hot for my Acros so I drop it back a bit

 

[ssunthar]

I'm trying to decide on possibly using a new salt, and thought I'd throw this question out here because... well it's what we do as reefers. We talk reef! I'm interested in what salt you've used and seen the best result. I've got a mixed reef, and I'm specifically thinking best salt for acro growth.

Very happy with RedSea Coral Pro

 

[NigelRichardson]

Aquarium Systems Crystals for me... (a) Its what LFS uses, so I figure acclimation of fish and corals may be a little easier if we're in sync and (b) It mixes almost instantly

I have heard so many stories of people needing to mix salt for 3 / 6 / 9 / 12 / more hours to get the water crystal clear and be confident that its fully mixed / no "crud" buildup on the bottom of the mixing station

Reef crystals - 5 mins of mixing and the water - at least for me - is so clear you cant tell the difference in clarity between pure RODI and salt mixed to 1.025....

 

[MartinWaite]

I use Quantum probiotic salt for SPS its consistently the same spec whether I have a box or a bucket it's all the same element wise and it mixes within seconds of added it to water,unlike red sea coral plus black bucket which takes best part of 2 hours to mix and leaves a brown residue in the bucket after mixing. My lfs has tried to get me to swap to tropic marine but that stuff is awful there's no consistency from one bucket/box to the next the elements have a man and max per bucket/box so you have no idea what you're putting in your tank. I what to warm my RO water up to temp weigh and add the salt and know it's right each and every time and that the kh/cal/mag sg is the same time after time.

 

[Dbichler]

Red Sea blue bucket middle price range no issues mixes fast don’t have the residue people complain about.

 

[N.Sreefer]

Fritz all the way switched from red sea coral pro 2 fritz and it mixes waaay cleaner

 

[esse]

My last couple boxes of hw marine mix have been mixing up at 6-7 dkh rather than the 9ish that it used to for me. Anyone else?

 

[wranodj]

Salt mix is the least important element of reef keeping. Regular IO works for me.

 

[jeffrey750750]

I was using tropic marin pro, should be called invisible salt. Switching over the red sea blue bucket so if it goes ok ill stay with that.

 

[j28412]

I started with IO but was tired of the brown crud in the missing barrel. I use hw now but my calcium has been super high the last 2 boxes around 550 560. It mixes clean but now I have had to make smaller water changes.

 

[mistergray]

I'm only 6 months into this hobby. I use IO because it is available, cheap, and has good parameters. I like to mix up 20-30 gallons at a time and use it over a month or two for my 50 gal mixed reef. I haven't noticed any issues, but wondering if anyone knows the best(affordable/available) salt for longer storage? I know Tropic Marin can be kept for months, and Red Sea says not to store it for more than a few days. Any perspectives?

I’m newer to this hobby. Lol! What is IO and where do you get it?

 

[Rjmul]

Currently blue bucket

 

[brahm]

Regular ole IO never had an issue. I’ve tried a lot of the fancy ones was a huge HW fan back in the days but didn’t notice any difference when I ended up back with IO. It’s consistent, the parameter range is safe and middle of the road and easy to get. Couldn’t careless what my mixing bucket looks like. My best tank to date ran IO and I had sps literally growing out of the tank, hoping to get back there with this build.

 

[DanConnor]

I’m newer to this hobby. Lol! What is IO and where do you get it?

Instant Ocean