Change salt brand or not.

[Paul31733]

Hey everyone.
I am almost down to the end of my bucket of Redsea coral pro salt. I was told to use this salt while setting up my tank from my lfs who sold me my tank.
I know now that this salt has a very high alkalinity.
My question is, I am thinking of switching to Tropic Marin pro-reef as it still has all the elements and a lower dkh. Is it worth it for me to switch salts? Or should I just stick with the high dkh?

I would be switching it slowly with weekly water changes.
Thanks for your advice!
Paul.

 

[Crashnt24]

I prefer lower alk, I have seen better results with my coral after switching away from that salt.

 

[Billldg]

I also prefer lower Alk. This is not to make your choose my brand, I just feel its a cheaper alternative to Tropic Marin, but I use HW Marine Reefer mix. It mixes to 8.7 Alk, 430 Cal, and 1380 Mag at 1.026. If BRS stops carrying HW Marine then I will switch to Tropic Marin as it is a awesome salt mix as well.

If you do switch, do it slowly, maybe 10 to 20 percent water changes weekly until you reach your goal.

 

[WIReefer]

Also prefer lower Alk, I was using the Red Sea salt as well. As soon I started to get more into sps I decided I had to switched made the switch to tropic marin and would never look back love it.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Let your fish and corals answer that. If they are happy why change salt?
If your car is running great, why tune it up. It will tell you.
If you suffer from high alk or mag- yes, a change in salt may be warranted. If not. . . Stay with the chemistry

 

[Paul31733]

I did an online search for hw marine salt but I cannot find a supplier in Canada (ontario). I could get tropic marin or aquaforest.
Also as far as watching my tank for problems with fish or coral, I am very new to this hobby and would not want to miss warning signs and be hurting my animals without knowing. I appreciate everyone's input!!

 

[Ippyroy]

If you only mix salt for each water change you could easily switch to Instant Ocean. If you make extra and hold it then it will be worth using HW Marinemix or Tropic Marin. It all comes down to how much you want to spend and how much NSW you make each time.
Here is a great salt

 

[bigjgmac]

The only thing I have ever used is Instant Ocean Reef salt. It seems to work well and I don't have any issues. I do a weekly 10% water change and have never had to supplement magnesium.

 

[Spare time]

I use coral pro salt and perfer a higher alk. Running alk at 11 or 12 is only a problem if you have fast growing acros and similar and are running a ULNS tank where you are not providing enough nitrogen and phosphate to keep up with the corals demand. Higher alk will most likely lead to fastet growth, but not all tanks can keep up with that growth (which is why they recommend reef energy daily if you follow their recipes). I keep nitrate between 5-10 and phosphate at 0.1 and I have excellent growth with the coral pro salt.

 

[madweazl]

Hey everyone.
I am almost down to the end of my bucket of Redsea coral pro salt. I was told to use this salt while setting up my tank from my lfs who sold me my tank.
I know now that this salt has a very high alkalinity.
My question is, I am thinking of switching to Tropic Marin pro-reef as it still has all the elements and a lower dkh. Is it worth it for me to switch salts? Or should I just stick with the high dkh?

I would be switching it slowly with weekly water changes.
Thanks for your advice!
Paul.

It's 100% personal preference. I used Instant Ocean (typically mixes around 10.5 dKh) for 3 years and just added muriatic acid to get down to the alkalinity I was after (roughly 7.5). Everyone was raving about Tropic Marin Pro so I gave it a shot for about 6 months in that same tank and never saw a difference (it mixed at 7.5 dKh but it also cost 3 times as much). I continued to run it in the 150g for a few more months and ultimately switched back to Instant Ocean because there really is no difference. Dont expect anything to change when changing salts; if you're having issues, it isn't the salt. If you're successful, it isn't the salt. Spending 2-3x more just to have the alkalinity where you want it just isnt worth the money (much better spent somewhere else).

 

[Ippyroy]

Salt is salt and you can make the parameters whatever you want. I personally don't have the time right now to do it. I also do no hold premade saltwater. I am willing to spend the extra money now for the convenience. Also if you mix large batches, like for the whole month at one time, a lot of brands will leave a residue and/or the parameters won't hold up. The easiest way to fix this is just make what you need when you need it.

 

[Billldg]

If you can't find a supplier, as I know BRS doesn't ship to Canada, still haven't figured out why we can ship to each other as we are the same continent, then Tropic Marine will be a great choice as they are a great salt.

I personally just like to mix salt and it be, parameter wise, what I want it. I don't like to make changes to the salt mixture itself parameter wise.

 

[madweazl]

Salt is salt and you can make the parameters whatever you want. I personally don't have the time right now to do it. I also do no hold premade saltwater. I am willing to spend the extra money now for the convenience. Also if you mix large batches, like for the whole month at one time, a lot of brands will leave a residue and/or the parameters won't hold up. The easiest way to fix this is just make what you need when you need it.

For the sake of argument; what has that "residue" done to negatively effect your tank? I'm getting a bucket of Instant Ocean for $31 delivered every 6 weeks and I paid $99 and change for a bucket of Tropic Marin at the same interval. Is it really worth it?

 

[Ippyroy]

I don't use it, but you would have to clean your mixing station. I work 80 plus hours a week so every second I have off of work is worth a lot more than the 60 dollars I spend on the more expensive salt. For now. When I go back down to 40 hours things can change. More free time means I am willing to do more things like cleaning a mixing station or adding items to NSW to get the parameters I want. It all comes down to your free time.

 

[ichthyoid]

I’ve done a lot of research on salt. They will all work. I’ve used several over the years.

That said, what is put into them differs. Some have anti caking agents like clays added to prevent clumping. Some have chelating compounds to help mix quickly. Still others are reconstituted sea salt, etc.

The HW Marinemix & Tropic Marin are the only brands which use pharmaceutical grade ingredients. (I suspect HW Marine may even make the salt for TM). HW was the first salt I ever used & comes from Germany, one reason for it’s cost.

I want the best, so bought 3 bags of HW Marinemix on sale. It comes to $0.41 per gallon at 1.025, which is maybe $0.15 more than Instant Ocean on sale.

BRS did a great video comparison of salts . They also explain in a video why they use HW Marine Reefer, it’s what sold me.
Watch here-

Purely Synthetic Salt - HW MarineMix | Product Spotlight

Marinemix has been around for over 50 years. Popular in Europe, they not only manufacture their own salt mixes but are also the actual manufacturer for many popular brands of salt. The hw-Marinemix is a unique aquarium salt because it uses no evaporated or mined salts. It also does not use salt...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[Ippyroy]

I’ve done a lot of research on salt. They will all work. I’ve used several over the years.

That said, what is put into them differs. Some have anti caking agents like clays added to prevent clumping. Some have chelating compounds to help mix quickly. Still others are reconstituted sea salt, etc.

The HW Marinemix & Tropic Marin are the only brands which use pharmaceutical grade ingredients. (I suspect HW Marine may even make the salt for TM). HW was the first salt I ever used & comes from Germany, one reason for it’s cost.

I want the best, so bought 3 bags of HW Marinemix on sale. It comes to $0.41 per gallon at 1.025, which is maybe $0.15 more than Instant Ocean on sale.

BRS did a great video comparison of salts . They also explain in a video why they use HW Marine Reefer, it’s what sold me.
Watch here-

Purely Synthetic Salt - HW MarineMix | Product Spotlight

Marinemix has been around for over 50 years. Popular in Europe, they not only manufacture their own salt mixes but are also the actual manufacturer for many popular brands of salt. The hw-Marinemix is a unique aquarium salt because it uses no evaporated or mined salts. It also does not use salt...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

They have recently switched to Tropic Marin. I use HW now because it is a lot cheaper and it saves me time. It also mixes quicker than IO or reef Crystals.

 

[madweazl]

I don't use it, but you would have to clean your mixing station. I work 80 plus hours a week so every second I have off of work is worth a lot more than the 60 dollars I spend on the more expensive salt. For now. When I go back down to 40 hours things can change. More free time means I am willing to do more things like cleaning a mixing station or adding items to NSW to get the parameters I want. It all comes down to your free time.

I don't clean it. I don't care about some build up on the mixing tanks; it doesn't change parameters and it doesn't bug me. For what it's worth, Instant Ocean doesn't have much of said build up.

 

[Ippyroy]

My phosphates have been dropping by .02 every day or two and are now at .10. I will not be doing any water changesfor a while. If I do have to order new salt it will probably IO or reef crystals since I will have more time. But, if I have to order more in the next month or so I will do another box of HW marinemix. It all comes down to free time for me now, but money usually wins out when I plenty of free time and actually doctoring the saltwater I would think would help get me into better tune with my tank and help get me deeper and better understanding of it.

 

[dbowman5]

im looking at switching to fritz reef pro redline any comments?