Salt mix without corals?

[pseudorand]

Do I care what salt mix I use if I'm not planning on stocking corals?

I'm setting up a new 120g that will have fish, easy inverts (snails, hermits, hearty species of starfish) and liverock. I may try a soft coral or two and perhaps an anemone, but I have no plans to stock any stony corals any time soon. Does it matter what salt mix I use? Should I start out with a reef mix like IO Reef Crystals in case I change my mind, or should I avoid such fortified mixes until I'm decide to try stony corals?

I'm not so much concerned about cost, but if I have no corals for a year or two, what happens to all the extra calcium,etc. in the reef mixes? I'm concerned it builds up if it's not used and causes problems. But I'm equally concerned that switching salt mixes at some point in the future will stress the tank inhabitants unnecessarily.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

If you are not concerned about corals than instant ocean is probably the best bet. It is inexpensive and well balanced.

The difference in most salt mixes is mostly consistancy and price.

 

[EmdeReef]

+1 for IO

 

[Nanoreefer4ever]

IO sea salt is the best choice for no corals tank. Most salt manufacturers has both versions for fish only or mix reef, if money is not your concern by all means use whatever you like for fish only system.

 

[mattzang]

i use regular IO on a reef. regular IO is cheaper and seems to pop up in the $30-40 range a lot. that's what i'd go with. if you ever want to get corals just test to see where you're at and adjust them

 

[ScottR]

IO is obviously a very popular choice. Does it matter? No. You can use whatever salt you want. As long as you’re mixing it to the correct salinity.

 

[pseudorand]

How about the question of adding stony corals in the future. Is changing salt mixes disruptive to tank inhabitants? If so, is there any downside (other than price) to using a fortified reef mix without corals?

 

[Nanoreefer4ever]

They will do just fine with regular salt, if have a special parameters in mind then u can dose 2 part to maintain that mumber. Or just slowly do water change to new salt.

 

[mattzang]

BRS has a bunch of videos on salt, i'd give those a watch if you want to learn more

 

[Jamo7]

I think the answer your looking for is salt to water ratio maters for fish and coral. But if you adjust other levels later it won’t really matter to fish in the long run. So mix whatever you would like for now. If you want to adjust things later go for it.