Worth switching salt brands

TheWalkman99 · Oct 18, 2018

new to reefing so still a lot that I hand to learn. I’m currently using reef crystals for my salt mixing at 1.025 I have elevated levels which people say is normal. The tank seems to be doing fine. But it is still new.
I have considered possibly dosing with red seas products in the future because I’ve seen great results from people using Red Sea.
So would it be worth it to switch to Red Sea salt so their whole program works as a whole?

Js.Aqua.Project · Oct 18, 2018

What salt to use has been one of the most recurring threads I have seen on here with everyone having their experience/opinion on just about all of them.

But, what I have seen that everyone agrees on is to find a salt that has the Ca, dKH, and MG parameters that you like and can keep stable. I personally use Red Sea Coral Pro (black bucket) salt because I have had success the last two years following their Mixed Reef recipe and it has the levels they recommend, but that doesn't necessarily mean you will see the same results.

What I would suggest is if you are interested in their products (like I am), check out their Reef Care Recipes and choose the one you like as they list parameters and products used to maintain different tank types.

Waters · Oct 18, 2018

There really isn't one brand of salt that is better than another. You need to use a salt that mixes up to the numbers closest to what you want to keep. Red Sea Blue for example is meant for low nutrient tanks, and mixes up at a lower ALK than Reef Crystals. If you are using RC and everything is going good, switching salts isn't going to make much of a difference.

rhymechizel · Oct 18, 2018

I just switched to Red Sea from reef crystals because my alk and Ca are higher than I want. Instant ocean would be another good choice IMO. My tank was doing fantastic with reef crystals but my tank just isnt consuming a lot of Ca and alk yet and I want to be able to do a water change without my Ca and Alk running higher and higher.

marinesnow · Oct 18, 2018

@reefrf uses reef crystals. Check out his tank:

Recent 250 upgrade
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sh...reads/Recent-250-upgrade.257376/&share_type=t

Oshengems · Oct 18, 2018

I switched about 6 months ago from Red Sea black bucket to Instant Ocean did not see any change whatsoever mixing it at 1.026 gravity both dissolved pretty fast IO had higher Kh and Ca that was all but other than that no changes in corals, growth, color etc it all stood the same

Jeremy K.A. · Oct 18, 2018

I started with Oceanic 3 years ago and switched to RSCP and loved it, then I won a free bag of Live aquaria's salt and use that on my nanos now and am very pleased with it, and got some Brightwell NeoMarine super cheap so I'm using that currently on the 55 gallon and am pretty happy but the Alkalinity and Calcium seem lower.

Flippers4pups · Oct 18, 2018

It really depends on personal preference on salt. Trying to find a salt that matches the numbers you want to keep, can be like splitting hairs.

I'm old school and have been using just plan old Instant Ocean for years now and have been perfectly happy with it.

I found by trying different salt that it really didn't matter in the long run for me. To each their own. Personal preference.

TheWalkman99 · Oct 18, 2018

Thanks for all the replies. Just started with reef crystals because my LFS recomnded it as a cheap option for a reef tank. Went cheap because figured I would be doing a lot of water changes to get my nitrates down after a cycle.
See a lot of successful tanks ran on the Red Sea program. So should I switch salt brands now while the tank is still new if I end up using Red Seas program or is switching salts not a huge issue if done slowly?

Waters · Oct 18, 2018

TheWalkman99 said:
Thanks for all the replies. Just started with reef crystals because my LFS recomnded it as a cheap option for a reef tank. Went cheap because figured I would be doing a lot of water changes to get my nitrates down after a cycle.
See a lot of successful tanks ran on the Red Sea program. So should I switch salt brands now while the tank is still new if I end up using Red Seas program or is switching salts not a huge issue if done slowly?

Switching salts isn't a huge issue......you can just start using the new salt at your next water change if you wanted to.

TheWalkman99 · Oct 18, 2018

Waters said:
Switching salts isn't a huge issue......you can just start using the new salt at your next water change if you wanted to.

Alright thank you. Some people made it seem like it was a major change.

Waters · Oct 18, 2018

TheWalkman99 said:
Alright thank you. Some people made it seem like it was a major change.

Nope.....if you were doing enormous water changes (changing 50-100% of your water for example), depending on the differences in water chemistry (ALK specifically), it could cause issues. If you are doing normal, small water changes, you won't have any problems. My last salt switch was from Reef Crystals to Red Sea Blue, which is a huge difference in water chemistry. I continued my normal 20% weekly water changes with the new salt without any issues whatsoever.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 20, 2018

TheWalkman99 said:
Alright thank you. Some people made it seem like it was a major change.

It isn't. You may just need to account for differences in alk and calcium in how you maintain the tank levels.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 20, 2018

TheWalkman99 said:
new to reefing so still a lot that I hand to learn. I’m currently using reef crystals for my salt mixing at 1.025 I have elevated levels which people say is normal. The tank seems to be doing fine. But it is still new.
I have considered possibly dosing with red seas products in the future because I’ve seen great results from people using Red Sea.
So would it be worth it to switch to Red Sea salt so their whole program works as a whole?

All salt mixes work just fine if you know what is needed by the tank. It can be a little easier in some circumstances to use a mix that matches your desired tank levels, but that isn't "necessary" by any means.