What is your preference when it comes to salt mix?

[LegendaryCG]

Yeah, I am a blue bucket guy now. I wonder how much kick back do the folks at the ICP testing center get for recommending Tropic Marin Pro and Red Sea?

I’m a don’t fix what isn’t broke type of guy. It might cost a little more but it’s working well so why mess with it. I change about 1 gallon a day with my AWC.

 

[Lostreefin]

This is my story

I use tropic marin pro but used to use Red Sea coral salt only switched when I got more into sps and desired a lower Alk.

This^^^

 

[Lostreefin]

Yeah, I am a blue bucket guy now. I wonder how much kick back do the folks at the ICP testing center get for recommending Tropic Marin Pro and Red Sea?

My corals told me, "it's worth it!"

 

[vlangel]

I like IO because its reliable, a good value and is lower in CA so does not grow a lot of coraline algae. For me coraline algae is a nuisance that eventually stops powerhead and pumps if not dealt with plus I hate scraping it.

 

[Deezill]

My corals told me, "it's worth it!"

I am a man of science. I am actually pursuing an advanced degree in the science field. As long as my salt has the
ions from Calcium, Mag, and can give me the proper alk and the main thing is to dissolve in a decent amount of time I'll use it. IO is great but it does not dissolve TMP dissolves really quick but I figure I can cut a corner and buy a calcium reactor like I recently did and switch from TMP to the blue bucket. works for me

 

[Deezill]

Listen the salt debate can and will go on for ages to come. The three I used were TMP simply because the testing folks recommended that I switch from IO purple box. Great salt and I must admit I do like it. I don't like the price though so I found a balance and the blue bucket is great for me at this point. If the blue bucket goes up in price then I am back to IO. I don't like to keep switching things up. THe only reason I switched from IO was because of the ICP test. I even question the validity of that some time.

 

[Tyler Miceli]

Probably going to stick with red sea blue bucket for a while, thought coral pro was a little over kill for my tank , not as stocked as I want it to be yet

 

[Deezill]

Probably going to stick with red sea blue bucket for a while, thought coral pro was a little over kill for my tank , not as stocked as I want it to be yet

Same.

 

[Potatohead]

I use Red Sea blue but the alk is still a little higher than I would ideally like. If IO came out with a 'pro reef' type of salt with alkalinity in the 7-8 range I would probably just use that.

 

[Deezill]

I use Red Sea blue but the alk is still a little higher than I would ideally like. If IO came out with a 'pro reef' type of salt with alkalinity in the 7-8 range I would probably just use that.

IO salt alk is somewhere around 9.0 to 9.5 maybe higher

 

[homer1475]

And when all these other salts go out of business(seen it many times before with the "salt of the month), and no one can find them anymore, IO will be around another 60 years.

And the debate continues. lol

 

[reefviper101]

I work at an LFS that uses fritz. Our tank parameters are always shifting. And we had one box mix with unreadable MAG. I personally use brightwell. Used IO for a long time as well. Most of the people really into reefing have told me any salt mix works, besides fritz that stuff sucks. (Direct quote from WWC employee). Not to discredit any brand specifically. I everyone that I know who uses it eventually has issues. It does mix very fast though.

Absolutely brightwell parm grade reef crystals

 

[reefviper101]

Sorry pharmaceutical grade

 

[stephj03]

I am a man of science. I am actually pursuing an advanced degree in the science field. As long as my salt has the
ions from Calcium, Mag, and can give me the proper alk and the main thing is to dissolve in a decent amount of time I'll use it. IO is great but it does not dissolve TMP dissolves really quick but I figure I can cut a corner and buy a calcium reactor like I recently did and switch from TMP to the blue bucket. works for me

I never understood the "dissolves better" selling point either. It's not like you're suppose to use it to do water changes right away.

Are ppl really sitting there watching salt dissolve every time they mix? I usually throw it in with the pump on and come back to check temp a few hrs later.

Is that really worth 2x the price???

The parameters are kind of a weird thing to hang your hat on. It really surprises me that ideal parameters printed on the box matter so much more that the reliability of those parameters.

Even TMP has gone through seasons of bad batches. Fried several reefs in my area a few yrs ago.

IO is known for reliability, IMO that is so much more important.

 

[Jfast]

Fritz for the past year. Before that I used coral pro . I’m happy with the fritz never had a problem would like to try tropic Marin pro if brs gets any in stock

 

[Ziggytzag]

I have used three different mixes and originally thought they were bad ( really low alk of 5dkh in fresh mix) until I realized that my pump was creating to much heat and precipitating out the elements.
I don't think this gets talked about enough. I only realized what was happening when repeated water changes on my small frag tank didn't bring the alk back up like I expected so I tested the new water an the alk was low even though it should have been 9 dkh.
How we prepare our mix is actually more important than the brand we use.

 

[Jfast]

I have used three different mixes and originally thought they were bad ( really low alk of 5dkh in fresh mix) until I realized that my pump was creating to much heat and precipitating out the elements.
I don't think this gets talked about enough. I only realized what was happening when repeated water changes on my small frag tank didn't bring the alk back up like I expected so I tested the new water an the alk was low even though it should have been 9 dkh.
How we prepare our mix is actually more important than the brand we use.

What salt mixes were u using?

 

[Phil D.]

I have always used Red Sea Pro and my tank loves it. I follow Red Sea's guidelines on the bucket and don't let it mix more than 4 hours. Generally, I run a pump and heater in the RO till it comes up to temp, (78degrees), and the add salt. I let it mix for a half to 1 hour then do my W/C. I don't have issue with residue and funny thing is even though the mix is at 12dkh, my tank runs around 9dkh.

 

[Ziggytzag]

What salt mixes were u using?

I used IO reef, Aquaforest, Fritz RPM Blue box. Using Fritz RPM now because I like the 9.0 dkh starting point, and is my target for my tanks.

 

[Fink]

Reef Crystals don't stick to the glass very well when making margaritas... any suggestions?