Best salt atm

[Wildreefs]

I know answers and mileage will vary, but right now what is the prefereed salt for sticks?

From a parameter and consistency perspective. Don’t care how fast or easy it mixes.

Right now no corals, but am using IO. Havnt tested it yet, just fish. I understand with io , I’m going to have to bump up magnesium.

Thanks

 

[Hemmdog]

Tropic marin classic or pro depending on what you want your alk at.

 

[SeaDweller]

Imo, Tropic Marin Pro.

 

[Wildreefs]

8-9 dkh.


Should have specified one step further, gotta be affordable. Red Sea blue bucket or lower lol. There’s Io, iorc, LiveAquaria,

 

[melanotaenia]

Tropic Marin for sure, definitely not worth skimping on salt.

I have also heard good things from the LA salt

 

[Hemmdog]

8-9 dkh.


Should have specified one step further, gotta be affordable. Red Sea blue bucket or lower lol. There’s Io, iorc, LiveAquaria,

No matter what you pick the price is always about the same. Salt isn’t something you want to go cheap on. You will love tropic marin.

 

[tntdsol]

For the most part this is going to very widely IMO. I personally like Fritz and Tropic Marine

 

[mattzang]

No matter what you pick the price is always about the same. Salt isn’t something you want to go cheap on. You will love tropic marin.

is it though? they randomly used the IO 160G buckets instead of 200G boxes, and i just got a 200 gallon box of reef crystals for $39

200 gallon box of tropic marin is...... $100ish for their non classic ones and then $88 for their classic salt

IO is always on sale too.. i bought 2 200 gallon boxes on black friday and then just now the reef crystals.. all for like $40 a box

 

[Hemmdog]

is it though? they randomly used the IO 160G buckets instead of 200G boxes, and i just got a 200 gallon box of reef crystals for $39

200 gallon box of tropic marin is...... $100ish for their non classic ones and then $88 for their classic salt

IO is always on sale too.. i bought 2 200 gallon boxes on black friday and then just now the reef crystals.. all for like $40 a box

That’s when the extra benefits of TM come into play. Quick mixing, zero precipitate, ideal parameters(for me), robust list of trace elements, unexplainable extra sparkliness of the water after a WC. Don’t worry @mattzang .. keep using your IO, we can still be friends lol.

TM does occasionally go on sale to. I only buy it when it’s on sale actually.

 

[mattzang]

That’s when the extra benefits of TM come into play. Quick mixing, zero precipitate, ideal parameters(for me), robust list of trace elements, unexplainable extra sparkliness of the water after a WC. Don’t worry @mattzang .. keep using your IO, we can still be friends lol.

TM does occasionally go on sale to. I only buy it when it’s on sale actually.

for sure, my preferred albeit further away lfs uses TM and his tanks all look really good. idk, just seems like what salt you use mostly doesn't matter, user matters. i could drop $100 on TM and i bet i'd still have issues with acros lol.

i was gonna give another type of salt a whirl, but the $39 sale for RC... had to do it! i still have like 200 gallons worth from the black friday purchase so not plowing through this stuff anytime soon

 

[Hemmdog]

for sure, my preferred albeit further away lfs uses TM and his tanks all look really good. idk, just seems like what salt you use mostly doesn't matter, user matters. i could drop $100 on TM and i bet i'd still have issues with acros lol.

i was gonna give another type of salt a whirl, but the $39 sale for RC... had to do it! i still have like 200 gallons worth from the black friday purchase so not plowing through this stuff anytime soon

I hear ya on that. If I had a floor drain and a RODI unit I’d be doing water changes like they are going out of style. My last water change was, I think, early April and only 20gals. It’s about time for another one.

That’s another reason cost of salt doesn’t really matter to much to me, my infrequency and volume of my WC’s.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

I am currently using Fritz RPM. I also really like HW Marine and Reefer. Tropic Marin Pro IMO is the best salt mix on the market and the best I have used, everything just seems to look better. The high cost made me stop using it a long time ago. IO and Reef Crystals have been by are the worst salts I have used over the years. Just had way to many issues with them to ever use them again.

 

[khiyasu]

I am currently using Fritz RPM. I also really like HW Marine and Reefer. Tropic Marin Pro IMO is the best salt mix on the market and the best I have used, everything just seems to look better. The high cost made me stop using it a long time ago. IO and Reef Crystals have been by are the worst salts I have used over the years. Just had way to many issues with them to ever use them again.

How do you like fritz rpm? Considering that right now. Also would like tropic marin pro but can’t get that at the lfs and would prefer salt mixes that I can get locally. Other brand that I was considering was the DD H2O mix

 

[tbare89]

For the price, you can't beat Fritz RPM. It mixes really easily too.

 

[shred5]

You will find the tides changes for salts.. For a while it was Fritz and now it is Tropic marine.

But if you look at the people who farm sps and have been doing sticks along time you will find they use mainly IO..

 

[SeaDweller]

Stuff like IO, IS good. But you have to mix more of it to achieve a salinity of 35 ppt, so a 200 gallon box isn’t really 200 gallons. Plus, often times you have to adjust the alk DOWN.

FWIW, I’ve NEVER paid 100$/bucket of TMP. I pay about 70-80$, which is a no brainer if you’re looking at RS blue bucket which is $69.

 

[jda]

IO is great salt... consistent and cheap. Mag is fine in IO. Calcium needs upped a bit.

Here is my recipe... 50 gallon bag in 44g brute. Add 2 tbsp of dowflake. Mix. Add 20ml of muratic acid. Heat. Let mix for 1-2 days more or until pH comes back up. Perfect acropora water. I would have to doctor up any salt mix, so I just want the most consistent one out there... and cheap does not hurt either.

Tropic Marin (the original one, not the one with all of the organic carbon in it), has been a great salt for decades. Cost is the only issue.

Don't think that salts don't matter. I saw a growth slow down with Coralife, Kent and SeaChem. All of these were once the "salt of the day" like Fritz is now. I have had some have enough metals in them to turn a fresh Polyfilter turn colors.

 

[Jaysushi]

I am currently using Red Sea blue bucket which has been good. I did want to switch to Tropic Marin, but is their salt able to be mixed and used on the spot?

 

[BZOFIQ]

Hands down the ESV

That said, I use IO and RC because of cost.

 

[mattzang]

IO is great salt... consistent and cheap. Mag is fine in IO. Calcium needs upped a bit.

Here is my recipe... 50 gallon bag in 44g brute. Add 2 tbsp of dowflake. Mix. Add 20ml of muratic acid. Heat. Let mix for 1-2 days more or until pH comes back up. Perfect acropora water. I would have to doctor up any salt mix, so I just want the most consistent one out there... and cheap does not hurt either.

Tropic Marin (the original one, not the one with all of the organic carbon in it), has been a great salt for decades. Cost is the only issue.

Don't think that salts don't matter. I saw a growth slow down with Coralife, Kent and SeaChem. All of these were once the "salt of the day" like Fritz is now. I have had some have enough metals in them to turn a fresh Polyfilter turn colors.

interesting, so you're not a fan of the elevated levels of RC i assume? what levels would you say are prime acropora levels?

never heard of dowflake, that raises calcium?

and the muriatic acid drops alkalinity?

i basically mix in a brute for a couple of days, but i've never tried doctoring it up lol