best salt (with 7ish alkalinity)

[william swann]

so i’ve even using reef crystals for like 2 years (still a noob at this hobby though) but im starting to test a little more and thinking about more sps, my tank runs at 10 dkh alk without any dosing so all of the alkalinity is from the salt, anyone know of a better salt that has les than 8 alkalinity but still mixed calcium in the high 400s

thanks ur advice is greatly appreciated

 

[HuduVudu]

Tropic Marin Pro runs 7.8 according to my testing.

 

[piranhaman00]

Ya tropic marin pro is supposed to be around 7.

I use instant ocean and dose acid to lower alk to 7 which is an option.

 

[vetteguy53081]

My tropic Marin is just shy of 8

 

[ReefPig]

TM Pro, I tend to run around 8.5, so i just throw 10ml of (Triton) CO3 in brings me bang on when mixed to 35ppt.
By far the cleanest and best mixing salt I've tried, so I only buy that nowadays.

 

[mike550]

TM Pro Reef salt mixes to 6.5-6.6 dKH at 1.025

 

[Tankkeepers]

Why 7? And I stay away from instant ocean after I made the switch to red sea coral pro have had explosive growth since switching

 

[40g Nano]

I use reef crystals and my alk always stays at 8

 

[arking_mark]

I like Brightwell Neomarine which is right around 7ish.

 

[Spare time]

Red sea salt is another one.

 

[Spare time]

Also, you can keep sps at 10KH. I run my tank between 11 and 12 and have some sps.

 

[AcanthurusRex]

Test kits are not that accurate. If you run at 7 and the kit is off by 10% you could be at 6.3 dKH. If you are not on top of testing and the all dropped half a degree you might be below 6. Careful at what you are aiming for...
Battlecorals for example maintains 8-9dKH and has some success with sps.
RedSea Blue and TM are both good ~8 dKH salts. With the RedSea you get a lot of desert in the mixing container.

 

[MnFish1]

I like Brightwell Neomarine

 

[Potatohead]

I run my tank at 7 and use Red Sea, but IME it mixes more like around 8.3-8.5 or so. It would be nice to have other options a touch lower but it's no big deal really.

 

[Tankkeepers]

I used to have sps a long time ago and my dkh was 21 to 23 becouse of the well water I used to use they all grew just fine

 

[jda]

You can use acid to lower alk in any salt mix. I gave up on trying to find a perfect salt - those that are good are very expensive and hard to stock in my area and the others have had consistency issues over the decades or have changed formulas.

Muriatic Acid can be used. Gallons * Desired dKh drop * .123 is the MLs of Muritaic Acid to use. Once you add the Muriatic, you need to mix for a day until the co2 is driven off and the pH is back up.

Here is my formula. 50 gallon back of IO into a 44g Brute trash can with COLD RO water. Add 2 tbsp of dowflake (calcium chloride). Mix. Add 20mls of Muriatic Acid. Heat. Mix for a day or two. Perfect acropora water for me. I only do this if I am changing a bunch of water... for smaller changes, it is fine as-is and does not move the parameters enough to worry about.

** Muriatic needs handled safely, but it is not death in a bottle. Handle it like you would Kalkwasser or any other nasty chemical and you are fine... don't get it on you, eyewear and don't breathe the fumes or whatever you need.

 

[william swann]

Why 7? And I stay away from instant ocean after I made the switch to red sea coral pro have had explosive growth since switching

i heard that this is a level good for low nutrient tanks and good for sps colors i may be wrong tho

 

[william swann]

I use reef crystals and my alk always stays at 8

okay, i think i may just have to wait for my tank to mature and add more corals to use up access alkalinity

 

[william swann]

Test kits are not that accurate. If you run at 7 and the kit is off by 10% you could be at 6.3 dKH. If you are not on top of testing and the all dropped half a degree you might be below 6. Careful at what you are aiming for...
Battlecorals for example maintains 8-9dKH and has some success with sps.
RedSea Blue and TM are both good ~8 dKH salts. With the RedSea you get a lot of desert in the mixing container.

got it thanks for the advice, if i don’t try rs blue then i will keep my parameters the way it is and let my tank mature and use them up some