Best salt atm

[SeaDweller]

ESV, Brightwell, Tropic Marin are nice expensive salts but locally I can only get:

RS Blue Bucket
RSCP
DD H2O
IORC
IO
Kent Marine
Fritz RPM
Seachem Aquavitro Salinity

I’d go with RS regular in this case. I’ve used it before and liked it. Don’t really have to futz around with adjusting this or that and it has alk within a range that I like, personally.

 

[Lou Ekus]

Watch Tropic marin salt as it pretty much crashed my farm from an excess in trace.... used to be all about it but now I’m all about Red Sea blue bucket. Please don’t chance Tropic marin.

I'm sorry that you had that experience with a crash. But Tropic Marin does NOT have any excess trace elements in it. So I would be interested in knowing why you are saying, with such certainty, that "Tropic Marin salt as it pretty much crashed my farm from an excess in trace". It is not impossible, but tank and system crashes are rarely from a simple change in salt mix. If there were some across the board issue with the Tropic Marin "formula", you would certainly be hearing about it on a global scale. Quite the contrary is true. Many research facilities around the world, choose Tropic Marin as their preferred salt brand due to its formula and purity of raw materials. I would never say that "salt is just salt", and there are surely differences between the major salt brands. But If your system is crashing, I would always suggest looking for alternative reasons in addition to your salt brand, no matter what that brand might be. As I said, a system crash is rarely a salt issue alone!

 

[khiyasu]

From everything I have read and understand, I don't think you can declare one salt the best. There are some salts that may have more stringent QC controls, research and testing and will be more consistent and reliable, but they come at a price as you are paying for that sort of research. However, I think there are many variables to consider in terms of salt.

1. Availability: It is typically better to have salt that is available at your LFS so you can get it in a pinch
2. Parameters: What corals will you be keeping? Where do you want to maintain your parameters? Know what you want to keep and getting salt that closely matches your parameters will keep it more stable. However, if you have a larger tank, it may be less important as a small water change will not drastically impact the stability. For smaller tanks, probably helpful to keep it as close as possible.
3. Price: If you have a large tank, price may be a big factor as costs can add up. Larger tanks can also handle slight changes better than a small tank. If you have a smaller tank, impact on cost of salt isn't as drastic as a full bucket would last you a long time
4. Convenience: How are you storing your salt water? If you have room for a saltwater station to store and mix salt water, then having salt that takes longer to mix is no big deal. If you don't have room and will need to mix salt as needed, how quickly it dissolves could be more important. You can still leave the buckets out for mixing overnight but depending on your lifestyle, speed of mixing may play a factor
5. Reliability: There are some brands that have stringent quality control so you know that what is advertised is what you get. This is probably closest related to price. You pay for some extra assurance. Doesn't mean there aren't bad batches but it is your responsibility to test a new batch/bucket.
6. Cleanliness: Some people prefer no residue, some don't care. Your choice based on factors above

More importantly there is husbandry of your tank that also determines the success of your tank, not salt alone. Is there a best salt? Probably not. However, is there a salt that is best for you based on what is readily available and based on what your tank needs and what is important to you? Probably yes.

 

[Leslie Tabor]

I was using the TM Bio-Syn salt prior to my upgrade. I loved it, but then the price kept increasing and 40-50 gal weekly water changes get REAL spendy when your bucket o salt is $125. I decided to try regular old IO, and I can't say that I have any complaints. Nothing seems to have changed in my tank, albeit I only have soft corals and anemones. The biggest pluses are that I now have ZERO build up in my mixing bucket-had to clean everything every week with TM due to smelly nasty biofilm, and I can make my water ahead of time again instead of within 24 hours. I am very happy with my "downgrade".

 

[Robs Reef]

Reg IO, or RC, whatever is on sale. Have done wonders for me.

 

[jda]

I would avoid salts that are constantly changing their formulas and stuff. SeaChem was bad about this when it was the "darling" salt a few years ago...where Fritz and Red Sea are now. Kent and Coralife were once darlings too. ESV has always been popular for people who want to mix their own to their desired levels (guess they don't know about muratic acid and calcium and mag chloride).

Red Sea used to be evaporated seawater and was not synthetic.

Oceanic used to make a good salt if anybody remembers that one... and the best buckets at about 8 gallons, or so.

Over the 25+ years that I have been doing this, only IO and Tropic Marin have stood the test of time.

 

[SMB]

I have been using Premium Reef Omega Sea for three plus years and have no complaints. Mixes fast and fairly clear. I will occasionally test a batch and numbers are stable.
Started using it because the LFS used it in the store and in their tank service. Asked the owner why that salt and it was bc of a complete analysis of many salts by a nearby aquarium. They found very few impurities in Omega Sea.
Price for a 50 lb bucket is comparable.

 

[TX_Punisher]

What salt mixes closest to:

Alk ~7.8dkh
Mg ~ 1350-1400
Ca ~ 450
K ~ 400
At 1.025.

 

[TheLost]

I posted a thread about this... but...

I used Brightwell NeoMarine salt to set up my new Reefer 350. After mixing up over 100 gallons I noticed the Calcium was only 300 ppm. I used different test kits and everything comes back 300 (~100 ppm lower than the 410 it's supposed to be). I've tried to contact Brightwell using their 'contact us' form and email but haven't heard anything back.

I'm just going to stay away from the NeoMarine from now on.

There is something to be said for consistency. Red Sea and IO have ALWAYS been reliable for me.

 

[grantUcorals]

I would avoid salts that are constantly changing their formulas and stuff. SeaChem was bad about this when it was the "darling" salt a few years ago...where Fritz and Red Sea are now. Kent and Coralife were once darlings too. ESV has always been popular for people who want to mix their own to their desired levels (guess they don't know about muratic acid and calcium and mag chloride).

Red Sea used to be evaporated seawater and was not synthetic.

Oceanic used to make a good salt if anybody remembers that one... and the best buckets at about 8 gallons, or so.

Over the 25+ years that I have been doing this, only IO and Tropic Marin have stood the test of time.

What about HW?? I think it’s been around forever and have nothing but great reviews...

 

[jda]

I have never used it nor has it been all that available near me. However, most German stuff for this hobby is pretty good.

 

[Potatohead]

What salt mixes closest to:

Alk ~7.8dkh
Mg ~ 1350-1400
Ca ~ 450
K ~ 400
At 1.025.

Probably nothing. Alk is somewhat low for that calcium and mag content. Probably have to use something like IORC or RSCP and bring down the alk with muriatic acid.

 

[TX_Punisher]

Probably nothing. Alk is somewhat low for that calcium and mag content. Probably have to use something like IORC or RSCP and bring down the alk with muriatic acid.

I may let it reduce Itself to 7.5 and 430 ca.

 

[ChrisQ0904]

I just recently switched to DD H2Ocean mainly due to the parameters matching close to what I like to keep my tank at. I have been using it for a little over a month now and so far it has been great.

Is it better than any other brand? For me yes and only because it matches my parameters the best of the salts I have used. I dont think brand matters too much as long as it's one of the major brands.

 

[SeaDweller]

What salt mixes closest to:

Alk ~7.8dkh
Mg ~ 1350-1400
Ca ~ 450
K ~ 400
At 1.025.

Probably nothing. Alk is somewhat low for that calcium and mag content. Probably have to use something like IORC or RSCP and bring down the alk with muriatic acid.

Probably nothing??? The two most common ones closest to what he wants is TMP or RS blue bucket.

 

[Potatohead]

Probably nothing??? The two most common ones closest to what he wants is TMP or RS blue bucket.

Neither of those two salts are touching 450 calcium or 1350+ mag, especially at 1.025. Unless you consider low 400’s and high 1200’s close.

 

[SeaDweller]

Neither of those two salts are touching 450 calcium or 1350+ mag, especially at 1.025. Unless you consider low 400’s and high 1200’s close.

Re read TMP specs.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

What about HW?? I think it’s been around forever and have nothing but great reviews...

Good salt used the regular Marine not the Reefer and have been very happy.

 

[grantUcorals]

Good salt used the regular Marine not the Reefer and have been very happy.

Thanks!! Yeah I love it so far! I m using the reefer one [emoji1306][emoji1306]

 

[David S]

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

IO may be good for fish only tanks but I am speaking from experience when I say that if you are going to grow Stony corals, IO will eventually cause all sorts of imbalances in your Calcium and Alkalinity.
When I switched to Tropic Marin Pro those imbalances disappeared.
I am currently using Fritz RPM which is similar but cheaper than TM Pro.