Salt recommendation for reef tanks

[bucfan]

Looking to switch from Reef Crystals/Instant Ocean. Causes brown residue in mixing container. Also finding recent batches take more salt to get to correct SG. Any suggestions on a different salt mix which will not cause the residue and is reasonably priced?

 

[fearless_fish]

I use tropic marine pro reef it’s more on the pricy side but if you have a small tank it’s worth it.

 

[bucfan]

I use tropic marine pro reef it’s more on the pricy side but if you have a small tank it’s worth it.

I have 2 tanks, 200G and 100G
So that will not work

 

[cshouston]

Tropic Marin Pro Reef. BRS did a price breakdown based on weight, amount used to hit 1.026, and cost per bucket. TM Pro was .55 cents/gallon versus .50 cents/gallon for IO Reef Crystals. If you want a high quality, CLEAN salt, then Tropic Marin Pro Reef is the ticket.

 

[fearless_fish]

I have 2 tanks, 200G and 100G
So that will not work

it would work but it will be more expensive in the long run.

 

[bucfan]

Tropic Marin Pro Reef. BRS did a price breakdown based on weight, amount used to hit 1.026, and cost per bucket. TM Pro was .55 cents/gallon versus .50 cents/gallon for IO Reef Crystals. If you want a high quality, CLEAN salt, then Tropic Marin Pro Reef is the ticket.

Good to know. Is this from their site?

 

[cshouston]

it would work but it will be VERY expensive in the long run.

it really wouldn’t be much more expensive than using reef crystals. Pro Reef is a bigger bucket, makes more gallons, and with less salt. See my post above.

 

[cshouston]

Good to know. Is this from their site?

yes, they did a BRStv Investigates on salt mixes and this graphic is from their video on the cost breakdown of different options.

My one caveat is that if your system is used to the higher Alk from reef crystals, you’ll need to factor in the cost of buffering the Alk of ProReef since it mixes around 7.5 dKH. The Red Sea buckets mix higher and are a few cents cheaper per gallon, but I did notice brown residue in my mixing container over time despite heating and circulating the water. Still, it was very minor and probably a step up from Instant Ocean while still giving you higher base alkalinity levels.

Brightwell is also a good, clean option, but also mixes at relatively low alkalinity. I just use the Pro Reef personally.

 

[excell007]

I have used reef crystals before, not anymore though, but the BRS pricing comparison is misleading because it is base on their price of RC which is $62.99 per 160G bucket. You can buy this 160G bucket of RC from amazon for $35, even if this bucket only makes 125G at 1.026SG the cost per gallon will only be 28 cents and not 50 cents.

 

[Randallh99]

i know what BRS says about pricing, but real world I can pick up a 200 gallon box of Reef Crystals for about $55 and TMP costs about $100 for the 200 gallon box. This doesn't consider salinity of course but TMP is noticeably more expensive. I have a 25 gallon nano so I do now use TMP (from I/O).

 

[vetteguy53081]

Tropic Marin is My choice but based on My needs.
Instant ocean suffiecient for fish and basic corals. . . reef crystals good for mixed reef with fish.

 

[Tiki Reef Joshua]

I used to use IO. I use FRITZ RPM blue box now.

 

[cshouston]

You guys make a good point about the pricing structure they used. I suppose if you can get other salt at a bargain, it’s definitely going to be significantly cheaper.

Still, the OP’s goal is to find a salt that doesn’t junk up the bins, so Brightwell or TM Pro are what he’s looking for.

 

[Cell]

What the BRS cost breakdown tells me is that the only significant cost savings for salt comes from using I/O. Outside of that, all the prices are relatively comparable, even the seemingly expensive TMP.

 

[BZOFIQ]

if not IO then either TM or ESV. If it wasn't for the cost I'd be ESV exclusive.

 

[X-37B]

I run esv but do not do scheduled water changes.
My future build will be at least 3x my 120 and I will setup around 2 gal a day auto change.
I will go with standard IO and doctor it to my parameters.