Best Salt Recommendations!

[AydenLincoln]

What does everyone use for salt? And what would you recommend and with that do you have sensitive inverts in your tank like I do? I’d ideally want somewhere in the middle and with proven results even though I have a reef tank. Has anyone used Waterbox’s new salt?

 

[Tonycass12]

Red sea blue bucket. I would stay away from anything with the waterbox brand name personally.

 

[TurboTang]

What does everyone use for salt? And what would you recommend and with that do you have sensitive inverts in your tank like I do? I’d ideally want somewhere in the middle and with proven results even though I have a reef tank. Has anyone used Waterbox’s new salt?

Did you happen to see the "tank of the month". Thought it was really interesting 300g tank using one of (probably the) cheapest salt on market absolutely packed with beautiful acro.

 

[AydenLincoln]

Did you happen to see the "tank of the month". Thought it was really interesting 300g tank using one of (probably the) cheapest salt on market absolutely packed with beautiful acro.

No! I have to look.

 

[rtparty]

There are so many variables to salt. The fact is Instant Ocean purple will do everything you need at a good price and is readily available.

With that said, I prefer a much cleaner, more consistent, and better parameter salt and use ESV.

 

[ScubaFish802]

Instant Ocean, works the same as the rest and is available everywhere basically in an emergency
(can always be found 50% off pretty much online as well)

 

[JNalley]

What does everyone use for salt? And what would you recommend and with that do you have sensitive inverts in your tank like I do? I’d ideally want somewhere in the middle and with proven results even though I have a reef tank. Has anyone used Waterbox’s new salt?

Step 1) Figure out what Alk, Cal, and Mag numbers you want
Step 2) Choose salt based on that

Plenty of people use all of the salts on the market, barring a few recalls/replacements from companies in recent history, it all really depends on what you want to get out of it and what your goals are. For instance, if you don't plan on having corals, you can run several salts on the cheaper end with no worry. If you plan on having a tank packed full of coral, you may want to shop as I have mentioned in step 1, as it will save you money dosing your way up to the numbers you want.

Personally, because I am lazy and impatient, I use the ESV B-Ionic seawater system. Per the normal instructions, it gives me a dKH of 9. Previously I was using TMPro which only gave me a dKH of ~7-7.5. Instead of dosing my way up to 9 every time I do a water change, I decided it was more manageable, and more cost-effective, to spend the extra $20 on the ESV. Plus it mixes ultra-fast and doesn't leave residue behind (I'm lazy and don't like to clean buckets.) That's MY reasoning for using what I am using. Your reasoning may be completely different.

 

[Reefer Matt Verified Media Partner]

Reef Crystals. Cheap and effective.

 

[ShepherdReefer]

There are many to choose from. Over the years, we have used a few different brands and keep returning to the Red Sea Salt mix. I have heard that ESV is a good salt mix in many use, but we have not yet.

 

[AydenLincoln]

Step 1) Figure out what Alk, Cal, and Mag numbers you want
Step 2) Choose salt based on that

Plenty of people use all of the salts on the market, barring a few recalls/replacements from companies in recent history, it all really depends on what you want to get out of it and what your goals are. For instance, if you don't plan on having corals, you can run several salts on the cheaper end with no worry. If you plan on having a tank packed full of coral, you may want to shop as I have mentioned in step 1, as it will save you money dosing your way up to the numbers you want.

Personally, because I am lazy and impatient, I use the ESV B-Ionic seawater system. Per the normal instructions, it gives me a dKH of 9. Previously I was using TMPro which only gave me a dKH of ~7-7.5. Instead of dosing my way up to 9 every time I do a water change, I decided it was more manageable, and more cost-effective, to spend the extra $20 on the ESV. Plus it mixes ultra-fast and doesn't leave residue behind (I'm lazy and don't like to clean buckets.) That's MY reasoning for using what I am using. Your reasoning may be completely different.

Great point!!

 

[GillMeister]

Red Sea Blue Bucket gave me good results.

 

[EricR]

Step 1) Figure out what Alk, Cal, and Mag numbers you want
Step 2) Choose salt based on that
...

Agreed.
Instant Ocean regular is cheapest for me and have been using that.
Just switched to Fritz RPM (regular) because I prefer the parameters and it wasn't much more than IO when I bought it.

 

[Tiki_Reef]

TM pro I also used HW Reefer when TM Pro was hard to find both very good salt mixes.

 

[Screwgunner]

IO for me but reef cyristals are cheaper right now.

 

[TurboTang]

I always have regular IO and reef crystals on hand. Whichever is on sale I stock up on. I like how fast I can mix up the io in case of emergency. But I usually do a 20g water change - 10g of each type.

 

[JGT]

Started with IO as it was cheapest. Then RC became cheaper so went with that. No issues with either. Have an Amazon subscription for auto deliver and get the additional discount.

 

[Cali Reef Life]

Fritz RPM Blue because its cheap and I didn't like the brown crude from reef crystal but to be fair find what you want to keep your perimeters and pick the salt based on that. Most salts will be perfect and you will get 40 different responses.

 

[MaxTremors]

I use Fritz RPM. It’s fairly inexpensive, mixes quickly and cleanly, and has relatively low alk (around 8.5). But I’ve used most of the major brands over the years, they all work. I’d choose based on parameters and price.

 

[Big Smelly fish]

Instant Ocean or Reef Crystal’s. I used RC mostly on all my tanks. Been happy with them for years.

 

[Bigred321]

Red Sea Coral Pro