Salt Mix User Poll ?

[427HISS]

I did a search on salt mix poll's, but did not find one. There has to be, but I did not find any.

There are so many today, so I'm wanting a discussion on brands used, the chemical mix, ease of disolution, calcium etc,......And, why you like a paticular brand ?

Differences for fish only, what's needed if any differences for softies, LPS & SPS corals ?

If you have a link to one, please post it. If not, I may start one.

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[Salt Empire]

I like Instant Ocean Reef Crystals decent price I find it mixes great in warm water the particles dissolve almost instant lol Every batch Is really consistent calcium always being 400-420ppm , PH @ 8.1-8.3 , dkh @8-10 . that being said Ive heard/seen alot of hype over the aquaforest probiotic reef salt and hearing not much of a price difference..havent checked . Im thinking of trying it out mainly because people are saying they see a difference in the sps.. but im not really an sps guy soooo.. we'll see ! if anything im sticking with IO Reef crystals !

 

[427HISS]

I've always used Reef Crystals for the reasons you mentioned. Aquaforest is a thought, don't know yet ?

 

[Frop]

Start it up. Lets vote

HWmarine mix here.

 

[Frop]

I like Instant Ocean Reef Crystals decent price I find it mixes great in warm water the particles dissolve almost instant lol Every batch Is really consistent calcium always being 400-420ppm , PH @ 8.1-8.3 , dkh @8-10 . that being said Ive heard/seen alot of hype over the aquaforest probiotic reef salt and hearing not much of a price difference..havent checked . Im thinking of trying it out mainly because people are saying they see a difference in the sps.. but im not really an sps guy soooo.. we'll see ! if anything im sticking with IO Reef crystals !

My theory is instant ocean will win but I have no idea. I hear that one mentioned the most.

 

[cracker]

I use Red Sea. It dissolves quickly & the levels are hight than the last brand. I doesn't taste as good on my salads though .

 

[Flippers4pups]

I'll play. Coralife salt here. Been using it for years. Mixes clean, consistent, cheap. Does the job, corals like it.

I use to use IO years ago , but needed to dose more calcium and magnesium back then. Goes without saying.

 

[FMF0331]

REEF CRYSTAL SALT HERE ..

 

[cracker]

Flipper, I used the same but found levels of Alk low. Do You have the same? Do You dose? Thanks !

 

[GoVols]

I just finished my first box of Fritz RPM. It's was really good.

But... I'm back to the old faithful regular IO and dose up.

Tried about all of them and I can't tell any difference.

Just can't beat regular IO on price and you can store it forever.

 

[Waters]

I will start by saying that there is really no one better salt than another...just depends on what numbers you are looking for once it is mixed. I used to use Reef Crystals but switched to Red Sea Blue for the lower Alk.

 

[GoVols]

Aquaforest is a thought, don't know yet ?

I used it for about 9 months when it first hit the USA.
I'll let this thread speak for itself. Take time to read AF Poland's last responce to their QC issues on post #69.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2605639&highlight=aquaforest

 

[GoVols]

I will start by saying that there is really no one better salt than another...just depends on what numbers you are looking for once it is mixed. I used to use Reef Crystals but switched to Red Sea Blue for the lower Alk.

+1
There's no magic potion salt mix.

 

[ahiggins]

I use Red Sea (not coral pro).
My take on it:
The regular salts are used for fish only or coral that don't have a lot of uptake of cal and alk (i.e. Most soft corals). I have countless sps and lps frags and I don't need to dose or anything to keep parameters stable.
The coral pro or reef crystals make up at higher alk cal mag ranges to accommodate for that uptake. Possibly dosing less often. I imagine that people who have colonies of sps would use it to keep parameters more stable or use less dosages.
Personally, when I ran low nutrient system, high alk wasn't a problem. But when I got nutrients to elevate (talking 5-8ppm) I had a whole new batch bleach on me.
This is by no means a "rule" because 10 people run their systems 15 different ways lol it's all about balance and what works for you. If you're starting out and just want everything to be stable, I would stay away from higher alk salts.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Flipper, I used the same but found levels of Alk low. Do You have the same? Do You dose? Thanks !

I use kalkwasser in my ATO, so alk stays fairly stable. If it goes low overtime, I hand dose NA2CO3 to keep it between 8 - 9dkh, with a little boost of ph, which I need from time to time. (Newer house, CO2 goes up during winter and summer months)

 

[cracker]

Thanks !

 

[Flippers4pups]

 

[tangerine3486]

Sounds like aquaforest has very responsive customer service

 

[salty150]

Start it up. Lets vote

HWmarine mix here.

+1

HW-Marinemix - there is a reason it is used by the EPA in their marine bio-research labs as well as public aquariums and university marine research.

 

[Salt Empire]

I just finished my first box of Fritz RPM. It's was really good.

But... I'm back to the old faithful regular IO and dose up.

Tried about all of them and I can't tell any difference.

Just can't beat regular IO on price and you can store it forever.

You use regular purple IO & just dose to get levels straight? OR reef crystals orange IO