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

brandon429 · Feb 23, 2021

also interesting is my tank is not a large tank so it just gets 100% water changes never partial when they're done. that means its been param changed in every possible way instantly with no ramp up for fifteen years. very flexible indeed. we should subject the reefbowl to a salt mix workout circuit:
Mondays is io
Tuesday RC
wed fritz
thurs tropic marine for that magnesium spike
Friday back to io
Saturday kent salt from amazon
sunday- red sea either mix.

I think my pico can handle it. notice this is five one hundred percent water changes lol, not a prob. Ill feed mega heavy right before the changes and the corals will just be fatter at the end of the week.

Spare time · Feb 23, 2021

Red sea mixes super fast which is my reason for using it when I need to make saltwater. However I would want to try esv seawater mix if I could. I would consider tropic marin but I don't like how you have to choose between an extremely low calcium mix or a low alk mix.

jtlmnop · Feb 23, 2021

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?

Pau Hana Reefer · Feb 23, 2021

I'm currently in transition from Reef Crystals to Tropic Marin Pro. I have a 90 gallon tank and have done three 10-gallon water changes with Tropic Marin Pro so far. Like others mentioned, I stuck with Reef Crystals for years knowing that some of the big names use it with a lot of success. Decided to try Tropic Marin Pro after hearing it mixes better and not having a yellow/orange residue in the mixing containers. After three water changes, I think this might be an understatement. Some of my coral colors have also popped a bit since starting the switch. While there may be other factors involved, I have wondered if the new salt helped.

Not sure if this will be the salt I settle on, but my early results are convincing.

rtparty · Feb 23, 2021

I lost count with how many brands I have tried over 15 years and a couple dozen tanks. For me, ESV salt is the best in the business. Will it do anything magical that other salts can't do? No, unless you count leaving your mixing bin basically spotless. All major brands work. End of story.

So you have to decide what YOU want in a salt. I want clean and consistent. ESV has been perfect for me since I started using it back in 2010 or 2011. I have tried Fritz, IO, Tropic Marin Pro, and Red Sea recently. TM Pro is the only other one I would personally use or recommend but again, that is MY opinion.

Another thing I look at is the company behind the salt. Robert Stark has been absolutely amazing to talk to over the years and even personally called me to help with an issue that ended up being my test kit and not the salt.

hds4216 · Feb 23, 2021

Oberst Hajj said:
I've been using standard IO for almost 4 years, but I'm now thinking about switching. I don't like the brown residue it leaves in the mixing reservoir and this last box I got has a lot of precipitation, even when heated.

Heating it actually increases precipitation, just FYI.

DanInMichigan · Feb 23, 2021

my favorite is whatever is on sale.

Auquanut · Feb 23, 2021

I switched from Fritz to Brightwell NeoMarine when I started storing SW for my AWC system. Fritz left way too much crud in the brute. Corals really seem to react well to the NeoMarine and I get basically no crud in about 4 weeks of storage.

Oberst Hajj · Feb 23, 2021

hds4216 said:
Heating it actually increases precipitation, just FYI.

It seems to be about the same for me on this latest box either cold or heated.

Hermie · Feb 23, 2021

I've only ever used IO Reef crystals. Lately I've been filtering the newly mixed water with poly floss and it's somewhat cut back on the residue that IO is known for.

Andreas' Reef · Feb 23, 2021

T A B L E S A L T

I'm kidding. I use Fritz RPM. It mixes well for me and maintains good salinity.

DE FISH · Feb 23, 2021

I’ve always used Red Sea blue bucket

Muffin87 · Feb 23, 2021

Hands down, Tropic Marin Syn-Biotic Sea Salt.

Contains both bacteria and a very gentle type of carbon dosing (Tropic Marin Bioactif) that makes the tank water super clear without the risk of overdosing.
Among the bacteria strains it contains are purple bacteria that converts potentially harmful Hydrogen Sulfide into sulfate.
I don't have the room to store water in my flat, so I'm perfectly fine with a salt that needs to be used within 48 hours after mixing.

Plus the reliability of Tropic Marin salts in terms of the amount of macro elements, and trace elements in the salt.

windemerejack · Feb 23, 2021

There is no salt that is better or worse than any other, thousands of reef tanks that use every salt known to man prove that, the only thing you should be looking at is what you run your tank at and matching a salt to it.
No point running a tank a 10 dkh and using a salt that mixes at 7-8 dkh even if that salt is supposed to be 'the best' unless you want to dose all the time
Salt is salt, just different concentrations of elements.

Sleeping Giant · Feb 23, 2021

Muffin87 said:
Hands down, Tropic Marin Syn-Biotic Sea Salt.

Contains both bacteria and a very gentle type of carbon dosing (Tropic Marin Bioactif) that makes the tank water super clear without the risk of overdosing.
Among the bacteria strains it contains are purple bacteria that converts potentially harmful Hydrogen Sulfide into sulfate.
I don't have the room to store water in my flat, so I'm perfectly fine with a salt that needs to be used within 48 hours after mixing.

Plus the reliability of Tropic Marin salts in terms of the amount of macro elements, and trace elements in the salt.

Never heard of this salt, sounds interesting

jaganshi066 · Feb 23, 2021

Oberst Hajj said:
I've been using standard IO for almost 4 years, but I'm now thinking about switching. I don't like the brown residue it leaves in the mixing reservoir and this last box I got has a lot of precipitation, even when heated.

Red Sea does the same

Jekyl · Feb 23, 2021

Switched from IO to coral pro. Glad I did

Tmtdvm · Feb 23, 2021

Oberst Hajj said:
I just went and read their product description on this salt. It says to mix 1/2 cup per gallon, but what salinity does that ratio produce?

It should be around 1.025-1.026 at 1/2 cup per gallon

Tmtdvm · Feb 23, 2021

I use Tropic Marin Pro for my mixed reef tank. SPS love it and are growing great and fast. LPS do not like it as much as the old reef crystals however, my goals for my tank have changed over the last year.