Salt

[sir bonkers]

I it is time to buy a bucket of salt. Just wondering what you guys would suggest. I have a 120 gallon tank with zoas SPS and LPS. I do want to get more into SPS so I'm wondering what the best type of salt would be for those corals. What are you using?

 

[Downbeach]

There are a lot of good choices for salt mix, and over the years I have tried many different brands. In that time, I haven't found one that I felt was any better than plain IO, or RC if you needed higher levels of Ca, Mg, and Alk.

 

[redfishbluefish]

+1 with the exception that I'll stop at IO.....I dose two part anyway, so no need for RC.

 

[sir bonkers]

I was told red sea coral pro is the best for SPS. True? I don't dose btw

 

[redfishbluefish]

Please, someone slap me if I'm wrong, but I am not aware of a successful reef tank (containing hard corals) that doesn't receive some sort of supplementation for maintaining calcium carbonate numbers (that is not done on water changes alone). If you want hard corals for the long term, you need to do something in your tank to maintain proper steady levels of alkalinity and calcium. This can include things like a calcium reactor, kalkwasser (lime water), two part.....am I missing any? It's not unreasonable to see alkalinity drop 1 dkh / day, and I can't see that being maintained by water changes alone.


As far as Red Sea Pro being the best.....as far as I'm concerned, it's the salt that works best for you that is the best. For me, it's IO.

 

[143MPCo]

I don't dose btw

they only way I could see that working would be to do large daily water changes but even with doing that you run the risk of of causing other issues to the stability of the over all system, not to mention the cost of the salt, your time if not automated, etc.

 

[sir bonkers]

So I would need to start dosing. You guys made that clear. Although That's not what I'm asking. I just wanted to hear opinions on what salt works best for people.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I was told red sea coral pro is the best for SPS. True? I don't dose btw

There is no best salt mix for any setup. If you do not dose alkalinity, then you must not have much growing SPS yet.

 

[sir bonkers]

I don't have many SPS corals. Maybe 1 or 2 small frags. And compared to what they were when I got em they're growing. I do want to get more that's why I'm asking about salts. But it sounds like I need to worry more about dosing than the type of salt I'm using.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Sir Bonkers, you might find THIS post of interest....a poll of R2R members on what salt they use. The top three were Reef Crystals, Red Sea Pro and Instant Ocean. Also, if you do a search of "What salt are you using," you'll find many posts that you might find of interest as well. Hope this helps.

 

[sir bonkers]

I'll check it out. Thanks redfishbluefish.

 

[Deep_Six Corals]

I use red sea coral pro. It's a GREAT salt. Miss clear in under an hour,and my corals have never looked better. Here's the problem, my tank is loaded with sps and I dose a large amount of two part daily to maintain steady parameters so when I do a Wc with this salt that has such high concentrations of alk and Cal, I get a swing and have to adjust my doser. For this reason I'll be switching to red sea blue bucket. In conclusion, if you plan on having lots of sps, you're gonna have to supplement alk, Cal, and mag anyways, there will be no reason for a salt mix with such high numbers.

 

[twf0369]

I use RED Sea, the blue bucket. I've found that this salt mixes closest to what I keep my alk, cal and mag at in my tank. Best of Luck to you!