What salt do you use?

McReeferNista · Aug 11, 2020

Joey G said:
After a decade of using IO/RC, and fussing about having to clean the brown film from my mixing vats, I switched to Tropic Marin Pro Reef. I have a much larger mixing tank now, and dreaded the thought of having to lug it out of my basement, scrub it, and set it back up. The BRS investigates sold me on TM/PR. I can now mix up enough saltwater for three water changes, and not have to worry about parameter swings in storage, but most of all... it mixes CLEAN with no residue. Yeah, I'll pay more for those bonus features.

I have heard nothing but great thing regarding Tropic Marine Pro. I am a Red Sea lady, but the pars it gives are either to high or too low. I do water changes every week on two tanks. I have the Tropic Marine Pro sitting, waiting it's turn. I will introduce the new salt slowly until 100% has been used. I believe it takes 6 weeks to go 100%.

jmcdona6 · Aug 11, 2020

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Does the best salt mix cost the most? The least?

Matter of opinion obviously and depends on what you are looking for (value, specific parameters, mixing performance, etc.). There is no argument that IO Reef Crystals is cheaper per gallon than say Tropic Martin Pro. I did a cost breakdown earlier in this thread, on 100G/Mo consumption, its around $20-$25 per month more.

I think most people would say that for example Tropic Martin Pro has advantages over IO Reef Crystals such as a cleaner mix, better consistency, etc. Several people including BRS have done tests, albeit non-scientific, to time how long it takes for each type of salt to visibly dissolve, parameter variation between buckets, etc. Salts such as Redsea, Tropic Martin, and ESV perform better in these regards compared to IO.

The best salt to me is one that is good enough to get the job done for the lowest price. For me, that is IO, especially considering the fact I go through 200+ gallons of saltwater a month.

Texas Rick · Aug 11, 2020

Red Sea Coral Pro

greg 45 · Aug 11, 2020

This post about salt comes up every so often . It seems we only want to match calcium , mag , alk. What I would like to see is that each salt company sends in a icp test . Doesn't matter what company they agree on . I would then pick a salt that matches ocean water the best . This would include all major and minor trace elements. Every tank is different and they should not be treated the same .

135reef · Aug 11, 2020

jmcdona6 said:
Matter of opinion obviously and depends on what you are looking for (value, specific parameters, mixing performance, etc.). There is no argument that IO Reef Crystals is cheaper per gallon than say Tropic Martin Pro. I did a cost breakdown earlier in this thread, on 100G/Mo consumption, its around $20-$25 per month more.

I think most people would say that for example Tropic Martin Pro has advantages over IO Reef Crystals such as a cleaner mix, better consistency, etc. Several people including BRS have done tests, albeit non-scientific, to time how long it takes for each type of salt to visibly dissolve, parameter variation between buckets, etc. Salts such as Redsea, Tropic Martin, and ESV perform better in these regards compared to IO.

The best salt to me is one that is good enough to get the job done for the lowest price. For me, that is IO, especially considering the fact I go through 200+ gallons of saltwater a month.

Agree. In our small scenario I'm think 200g system capacity @10% per week automated change is $22.19/month from TM to RC. With the said, $266/year for TM assuming you could find it to buy could be worth it. Supply availability is another piece of the equation. Granted we are in strange times, what are all the TM users doing for WC these days?

Everything Aquatics · Aug 11, 2020

Instant ocean

kkarvelas · Aug 11, 2020

I used to use instant ocean and never had any problems, now I use Coral Pro salt and I;m pretty happy with it!

Randy Holmes-Farley · Aug 12, 2020

jmcdona6 said:
Matter of opinion obviously and depends on what you are looking for (value, specific parameters, mixing performance, etc.). There is no argument that IO Reef Crystals is cheaper per gallon than say Tropic Martin Pro. I did a cost breakdown earlier in this thread, on 100G/Mo consumption, its around $20-$25 per month more.

I think most people would say that for example Tropic Martin Pro has advantages over IO Reef Crystals such as a cleaner mix, better consistency, etc. Several people including BRS have done tests, albeit non-scientific, to time how long it takes for each type of salt to visibly dissolve, parameter variation between buckets, etc. Salts such as Redsea, Tropic Martin, and ESV perform better in these regards compared to IO.

The best salt to me is one that is good enough to get the job done for the lowest price. For me, that is IO, especially considering the fact I go through 200+ gallons of saltwater a month.

I certainly agree it is a matter of opinion. I'm just poking at your assumption that the best mixes cost more. I don't agree with that.

FWIW, I'm not a fan of Reef Crystals due to the addition of organic matter into it. If I want to add organics like vitamins, I'll specifically add what I want in amounts I want, not unknown amounts of unknown vitamins added only at water changes.

Doglips56 · Aug 12, 2020

Cudaman said:
That’s actually the problem ... you can only mix it for 2-3 hours max otherwise you will get residue. Wondered why I was always getting residue all over my pump, mixing tanks etc ... then I actually read the label on the bucket ... says not to over mix ... only mix for a couple hours max and then use immediately. I’ve been following their directions for the last 5 water changes and ... yup no residue when I mix for 2 hours.

Good to know. I keep a power head in there all the time so that’s probably what the issue was. Otherwise we were happy with it.

Cudaman · Aug 12, 2020

Doglips56 said:
Good to know. I keep a power head in there all the time so that’s probably what the issue was. Otherwise we were happy with it.

So if I’m not mistaken you said you switched to Brightwell ... how do you like it ? I was considering switching to Brightwell myself as Salinity sometimes is difficult to get from my LFS and the price keeps going up every time I buy it .

Doglips56 · Aug 12, 2020

Cudaman said:
So if I’m not mistaken you said you switched to Brightwell ... how do you like it ? I was considering switching to Brightwell myself as Salinity sometimes is difficult to get from my LFS and the price keeps going up every time I buy it .

I actually started out with Brightwell and loved it but I had ordered it from Amazon and needed some before it was being delivered so I got the Salinity a few times and wasn’t terribly happy with it. We would mix it to the specific gravity we wanted it at but the pH would be low. It’s already a struggle to keep the pH at a decent level, don’t need to start low. I really have no complaint with Brightwell. I have it on Subscribe and Save through Amazon

Palegic · Aug 12, 2020

I try not to dose. I switched from IO to Reef Crystals and noticed an improvement. 2-3 years ago I swapped to RS Coral Pro and had tremendously positive results in both growth and color. I could be making it up but I feel RS may not mix as easy though.

OceanDiver · Aug 12, 2020

Red Sea Blue Bucket mixes fast and the same everytime

Arabyps · Aug 12, 2020

jmcdona6 said:
Matter of opinion obviously and depends on what you are looking for (value, specific parameters, mixing performance, etc.). There is no argument that IO Reef Crystals is cheaper per gallon than say Tropic Martin Pro. I did a cost breakdown earlier in this thread, on 100G/Mo consumption, its around $20-$25 per month more.

I think most people would say that for example Tropic Martin Pro has advantages over IO Reef Crystals such as a cleaner mix, better consistency, etc. Several people including BRS have done tests, albeit non-scientific, to time how long it takes for each type of salt to visibly dissolve, parameter variation between buckets, etc. Salts such as Redsea, Tropic Martin, and ESV perform better in these regards compared to IO.

The best salt to me is one that is good enough to get the job done for the lowest price. For me, that is IO, especially considering the fact I go through 200+ gallons of saltwater a month.

There is a lot more to the hobby than getting the job done for the lowest price. Obviously, not in your case. And, I am taken aback by your reference to BRS as performing a "non-scientific study". Knocking one of the most trusted and valuable resources in the hobby is beyond the pale. The BRS salt evaluation was very professional and scientific as it relates to the hobby.

jmcdona6 · Aug 12, 2020

Arabyps said:
There is a lot more to the hobby than getting the job done for the lowest price. Obviously, not in your case. And, I am taken aback by your reference to BRS as performing a "non-scientific study". Knocking one of the most trusted and valuable resources in the hobby is beyond the pale. The BRS salt evaluation was very professional and scientific as it relates to the hobby.

I still think their results are completely worth using and reference them myself in this thread. More importantly, I have used their testing on salt and other products to drive my own purchasing decisions...which is a pretty big vote of confidence.

That being said, when I say they aren't scientific I stand by that based on what I have seen. In the salt example, how many buckets of each brand did they test? What did they do to control user-driven variation? Did the same person do all the tests? Were their scales calibrated before use? You could go on and on, and maybe they did some or all of those things. I wouldn't know because they didn't publish their procedures or controls for scrutiny. Also, no one else has reviewed or duplicated their study confirming its accuracy. Calling them non-scientific isn't an insult. Saying something is scientifically proven is a somewhat high bar to achieve. I also don't think that is the point of their channel or most of us as reefers.