Whatis considered the best salt?

[vetteguy53081]

I don’t agree with that part at all unless water changes are the sole means of ion and trace level maintenance. If you are dosing any balanced additive system, the salt base levels really become irrelevant.

You disagreed without knowing what My standards are. I change water daily and have a crap load of coral with a mixed reef having different nutrient and ion requirements. Everyone will have a specific need and love a specific blend and there is no wrong answer for the most part. We have so many on this site that do daily, weekly and monthly water changes with their own reasoning.
I dont dose especially with a CA reactor in place and have over 40 fish and focus my tanks on water quality as large as they are.

 

[NewCaliCaptives]

i like the ESV B-Ionic, corals are happy and extremely consistent. Never a bad batch, couldn’t ask for more after experiencing bad batches after many brands. Id recommend choosing a salt that suits you (some people want to store some don’t, mixes to similar Alk you keep your tank, etc.)

 

[Bridgerdean]

That’s like asking grandma who’s her favorite grand kid

My grandma says I’m her favorite

 

[Derrick0580]

Hands down the best salt is whatever brand mixes closest to the parameters you intend to keep your tank at!

 

[dpfriedman]

Good afternoon guys and gals, I'm just getting into this hobby and would like to know what is considered the best salt to use?

I use Fritz RPM blue box and love it. Mixes up fast, no residue and keeps well. I can purchase at my LFS for $55 for the 200 gal box. Corals and fish are popping’

 

[BeanAnimal]

You also need to take into account if you are doing auto water changes and storing premixed salt for an extended period of time like a week or so

I am (no joke) using saltwater that was mixed over 5 years ago

 

[BeanAnimal]

Hands down the best salt is whatever brand mixes closest to the parameters you intend to keep your tank at!

Not really relevant for average size water changes where dosing Is used to maintain levels.

 

[BeanAnimal]

You disagreed without knowing what My standards are. I change water daily and have a crap load of coral with a mixed reef having different nutrient and ion requirements.

My impression was that we were discussing general advice and part of the context of my advice was if one was dosing and NOT using water changes to maintain levels.

Everyone will have a specific need and love a specific blend and there is no wrong answer for the most part. We have so many on this site that do daily, weekly and monthly water changes with their own reasoning.

There is no wrong answer, you (anybody) can use whatever salt they wish, even if their reasoning behind the decision really doesn’t make sense. Somebody asked for advice and we are simply discussing our reasons for our answers. I think some of the reasoning is flawed. Mostly due to marketing and partly due to a lack of applying common sense with a good bit of reef-bro nonsense mixed in.

TLDR: my opinion is that a whole lot of people waste money on salt, thinking they are getting something special out of it that they are not.

 

[albano]

i like the ESV B-Ionic, corals are happy and extremely consistent. Never a bad batch, couldn’t ask for more after experiencing bad batches after many brands …

While talking to the owner of ESV a couple weeks ago, at Andrew Sandler’s 17000g tank… he mentioned that he is ‘tweaking’ his formula to make it even better, based on studies done at Andrew’s tank.

 

[BeanAnimal]

While talking to the owner of ESV a couple weeks ago, at Andrew Sandler’s 17000g tank… he mentioned that he is ‘tweaking’ his formula to make it even better, based on studies done at Andrew’s tank.

I always felt that the ESV stuff was superb quality… just way too expensive.

 

[NewCaliCaptives]

While talking to the owner of ESV a couple weeks ago, at Andrew Sandler’s 17000g tank… he mentioned that he is ‘tweaking’ his formula to make it even better, based on studies done at Andrew’s tank.

that’s awesome! My corals are super happy with it and it stores rock solid stable for me. Plus i love that it mixes to 9 dkh which is what i keep my tanks at, it blows my mind a lot of other salts mix at 7 or 11!? It is a little on the pricey side, but considering how much we all spend on other equipment, i don’t mind paying a bit more.

 

[NewCaliCaptives]

I always felt that the ESV stuff was superb quality… just way too expensive.

not too big of a hit for me since i have relatively small tanks, but i do use IO for my quarantine and LR holding tanks

 

[brandon429]

there is no best salt. nimble reefers make any salt work, I've seen failing systems on every brand of salt. the nicest pico reef on earth runs instant ocean.

 

[spectral_ranger]

I'd just say don't go chasing after the perfect salt, or whatever the hot salt flavor of the day is. Too many issues with newcomer brands getting bad batches for various reasons and ruining systems. Instant Ocean and Red Sea have been around forever, people have great success with them, so I stick with it and don't look back. Red Sea Coral Pro for me based on current SPS dominant system.

 

[Matheurisley]

I have been using Seachem aquavitro salinity for about a year now. Also on the more expensive side but I absolutely love it.
it mixes well and has good parameters. Not nearly as easy to come by but my LFS always has it.

 

[hexcolor reef]

Whatever salt you can afford, and mixes to the parameters you are looking to keep.


Among the major brands, salt is salt.

 

[EyeShadows]

If you're running a small system you could go with one of the premium brands as cost won't be such an issue over time. I use reef crystals. I run 2 big tanks so cost is way better on that end but I've used the high end stuff I don't think my corals ever noticed a difference. Just my opinion but on a small system you would benefit by running a premium salt and you could be successful by doing small weekly water changes without dosing. But on larger mature tanks dosing is essential as water changes will have a hard time keeping up with essential nutrients. So I don't think the brand matters as much at that point. Thus I opt for the cheaper reef crystals.

quite right

 

[Darksidevenom6]

I use Fritz RPM blue box and love it. Mixes up fast, no residue and keeps well. I can purchase at my LFS for $55 for the 200 gal box. Corals and fish are popping’

See I saw saw someone say this is good stuff if youd like to dose parameters, instead of salts like Red Sea that already have them in it

 

[mortimersnerd]

I like tropicmarin, but they're all pretty good.

 

[Nonya]

Turkish blend Tropic Marine... it must be good because its so hard to find now

Wow, that's a stretch. Consider yourself lucky that you can't find it. It's hard to find because Tropic Marin closed the Turkish facility that put out a sub-par product.

https://www.reef2rainforest.com/202...h-facility-and-offers-users-replacement-salt/