What Is the Best Aquarium Salt on the Market?

[Glitchfish]

Hello ! This is just a quicky! I have been researching new salt brands lately as the salt I've been using (D&D H2Ocean) Is an absolute nightmare, Never consistent and honestly I'm quite annoyed with it. I mean a fresh batch of salt had magnesium of 800, Alkalinity of 5.6 and Calcium of 385! I have never changed my dosage and my salinity is a strict 1.025! In my old aquarium I used to have tropic marin but that salt brand is hard to get a hold of other than from the internet.

 

I have also looked into Aquaforest, but it's just so new that I don't know if i should risk it! I just want a salt mix that's stable everytime and is suitable for Carbon Dosing with biopellets. I have also seen many manufacturers creating pro-biotic salts and was wondering if it would react with biopellets? Idk if it's needed either?

 

Also is there a phone number for D&D, I'd love to rattle their brains!

[freemandnj973]

I've been using reef crystals and tired of the high alk (13/14) at 1.025 so I'm going to try Aquaforest reef salt and carbon dose since the alk is nsw. I've noticed sps brown out for me with alk that high and faded zoas...just my experience with reef crystals for the past 7-8 years. Originally used Tropic Marin reef salt and it was great but it became too expensive over time with 30-50% water changes.

[markalot]

The one that works best for you. There is no best salt, only one that matches what you are trying to achieve. I prefer low KH salts that mix fast.

[Cencalfishguy56]

Hello ! This is just a quicky! I have been researching new salt brands lately as the salt I've been using (D&D H2Ocean) Is an absolute nightmare, Never consistent and honestly I'm quite annoyed with it. I mean a fresh batch of salt had magnesium of 800, Alkalinity of 5.6 and Calcium of 385! I have never changed my dosage and my salinity is a strict 1.025! In my old aquarium I used to have tropic marin but that salt brand is hard to get a hold of other than from the internet.

 

I have also looked into Aquaforest, but it's just so new that I don't know if i should risk it! I just want a salt mix that's stable everytime and is suitable for Carbon Dosing with biopellets. I have also seen many manufacturers creating pro-biotic salts and was wondering if it would react with biopellets? Idk if it's needed either?

 

Also is there a phone number for D&D, I'd love to rattle their brains!

either Aquaforest reef salt or Red Sea blue bucket is what I would recommend to you, I personally use Aquaforest and love the stuff, consistent numbers everytime and mixes super quick, I'm talking 10-15 minutes to have crystal clear water and never any residue at the bottom

[vision]

i started with red sea coral pro and switched to reef crystals.

 

i knew eventually i would need to dose. i didn't see it cost effective to purchase a premium salt for additives i would eventually end up needed to manually add.

[Glitchfish]

either Aquaforest reef salt or Red Sea blue bucket is what I would recommend to you, I personally use Aquaforest and love the stuff, consistent numbers everytime and mixes super quick, I'm talking 10-15 minutes to have crystal clear water and never any residue at the bottom

So the aquaforest reef salt and not the probiotic salt? Sorry for a stupid question, I have seen the red sea salt but after hearing it comes from the same factory as D&D I don't want it XD! It's probably better quality though so maybe if aquaforest isn't any good which i doubt X)

[tk3445]

Asking what salt on the market is best is like asking what is your favorite fast food chain... haha

 

 

I have been in the hobby for about 10 years Reef crystals was the "best" at the time and I have never had an issue with reef crystals. So I have never tried anything else... I don't fix what isn't broken, so to speak.

 

I catch a lot of grief from the guys locally who love the D and D and the coral pro.

 

I also know a lot of guys who like plain old instant ocean and dose what is missing and have had a ton of success.

[jcreefer]

So the aquaforest reef salt and not the probiotic salt? Sorry for a stupid question, I have seen the red sea salt but after hearing it comes from the same factory as D&D I don't want it XD! It's probably better quality though so maybe if aquaforest isn't any good which i doubt X)

Her is your answer regarding the Red Ses and D-D salt:

 

http://www.theaquariumsolution.us/red-sea-and-h20-same

 

Jeff

[Cencalfishguy56]

So the aquaforest reef salt and not the probiotic salt? Sorry for a stupid question, I have seen the red sea salt but after hearing it comes from the same factory as D&D I don't want it XD! It's probably better quality though so maybe if aquaforest isn't any good which i doubt X)

well I use probiotic because it has added aminos and vitamins for coral growth and color as well as the bacteria gimmick lol but I may switch to the reef salt but then again I may not because it's not much of a price difference

[tibbsy07]

None of them are that close to real sea water but scientific analysis published in the late 90s showed that IO standard is closest (or was, that may have changed). Most public aquariums and research labs use IO because of price. i like basic salts because you can control additives and dosing a lot more.

[Zircon]

Seachem Aquavitro Salinity salt. This salt buffers better than any salt on the market. The only problem is you cannot order this salt online you have to get your local fish store to order it for you.

http://aquavitro.com/

[Clown79]

I used IO - low numbers all the time.

 

Reef crystals- inconsistent. My mag in newly mixed water at 1.026 has been 1050, 1110, 1170, 1200. Its never been higher than 1200!

I dose, get my numbers to around 1230, do a water change and back down to 1050, 1170....thats a major drop in mag in 1 day.

 

Reef crystals also leaves a nasty brown residue on my bucket.

 

The only plus: cheap, readily available, clears quick

[Cintax]

I used IO - low numbers all the time.

 

Reef crystals- inconsistent. My mag in newly mixed water at 1.026 has been 1050, 1110, 1170, 1200. Its never been higher than 1200!

I dose, get my numbers to around 1230, do a water change and back down to 1050, 1170....thats a major drop in mag in 1 day.

 

Reef crystals also leaves a nasty brown residue on my bucket.

 

The only plus: cheap, readily available, clears quick

 

 

I used to use a 4- part which you would weight two powder components and measure two liquid components. I wish I could remember the name of it. I really liked that stuff but it was hard to find and it meant a trip to Toronto or paying stupid shipping. Right now I use Reef Crystals and I get that brown residue as well. It gets all over my mixing pump and its just a mess. No idea what it is, but no harm seems to come from it that I can tell. I might try this Aquaforest stuff since Amazon.ca has it for $59.90 CDN with free shipping (how is that possible even??).

[Clown79]

Thats the problem. In cda we have limited choices, especially with small tanks.

 

All the stores sell huge buckets only, I don't want to purchase 150g bucket, it could go to shits before its used up.

 

Shipping is ridiculous here!

 

The brown sediment on the bucket is a binding agent in the salt. I've only read this issue with reef crystals.

[Cintax]

Thats the problem. In cda we have limited choices, especially with small tanks.

 

All the stores sell huge buckets only, I don't want to purchase 150g bucket, it could go to shits before its used up.

 

Shipping is ridiculous here!

 

The brown sediment on the bucket is a binding agent in the salt. I've only read this issue with reef crystals.

 

I used to buy the 50 gallon bags of Reef Crystals for that exact reason, but they have gone up to $27 or so a bag at Big Als which is the closest big name store to where I live. I have thrown away quite a bit of salt because it is hard as a rock from absorbing minute amounts of moisture from the air.

 

I change about 5 gallons a week in my 30 gallon breeder, so it takes around ~30 - 32 weeks to use the amount that comes in the 5 gallon pail. I see there are a few varieties of the Aquaforest brand. I was looking at the Aquaforest Reef Salt. It's about half the price as the one with probiotics.

 

Shipping always kills me. I ordered two heat sinks from MakersLED in the USA. They retail fro $15 or $16 USD each plus shipping, so landed at my door it came to around $75 CDN. Ridiculous. Future Electronics lighting website has some nice heat sinks, I only noticed after the fact unfortunately.

 

That brown sediment is awful, I am going to try something else after I use up this pail of Reef Crystals. I really wish I could remember the name of that 4-part salt. I bought it at Sea-U-Marine in Markham a few years back. It sucks that they are appointment only. I liked walking in and just looking at everything.

[chipmunkofdoom2]

I was using Tropic Marin Pro Reef, but am in the process of transitioning to plain old IO.

 

TMPR worked fine and mixed up consistently, however the levels were just too low. I test every new batch of water I mix, and here are the results for my bucket of TMPR:

 

Tests were done with Salifert test kits with 0ppm TDS RO/DI as source water. Overall, the results are remarkably stable, considering that most hobby-grade test kits have a margin of error of about 10%.

 

The reason I switched to IO is because the numbers are not where I wanted my tank to be. Ca was averaging around 420 ppm, Alk was around 7.75 dKh, and Mg was around 1,200 ppm. These values are okay, and they're close to NSW, but I want to run higher Ca, Alk and Mg.

 

So I figured if I'm dosing each new batch anyway, I might as well use a salt that's $50 for a 200g box instead of one that costs $90/200g. I'm testing the IO every time I mix it and surpisingly, the numbers are a lot higher than the TMPR. Almost too high, but they're very consistent. Mg hovers around 1,420 ppm, Ca around 460 ppm, and Alk around 12 dKh.

 

Whichever salt mix you use, I'd strongly advocate mixing the mix well before adding it to your water. I do this religiously and always have rock solid numbers. All of the different elements in salt mixes can be different densities, meaning some will sink to the bottom and some will rise to the top. If you don't mix your salt mix, you could use all of the elements at the top and have water that's very high in one element, such as Ca, and low in all the others (Mg/Alk). As you get to the end of the bucket, the mix will shift, and the proportions will be inverse. This is just an example, but the point is you want to make sure you mix your mix.

 

In addition to mixing your salt mix, I would also strongly recommend testing each new batch of water before putting it in your tank. Salt mix sometimes gets blamed for causing a tank crash, but really, the reefer is responsible for testing to make sure the water they're putting in the tank is not vastly imbalanced. This is why I test each new batch. It's a bit of a pain, but once you use the Salifert kits enough, you can usually do one in a few minutes. This means testing Alk, Ca and Mg should take less than 10 minutes. A small price to pay for knowing that the water you're putting in your tank is relatively safe.

 

TL;DR: any quality salt mix by a big manufacturer will probably do fine. Always test and make sure the water you're putting in your tank at least loosely matches what's already there.

 

EDIT: Additionally, some people are mentioning a brown reside in their mixing bucket. Try mixing your salt mix with unheated RO water. The calcium carbonate portion of the salt mix in particular tends to precipitate out in warmer water. I mix my IO into unheated water and never have any brown sludge or precipitate.

[Clown79]

Intant ocean won't get you high numbers. I used it on all my tanks.

 

My 55g - needed dosing

 

15g - my params dropped well below normal with very little coral in the tank.

10g - same.

 

Switched to IO reef crystals(supposed to be higher levels) NOT.

 

My mag has been consistently inconsistent with reef crystals.

 

I test premade water for the last 4 weeks.

 

Results change all the time:

 

Mag: 1050, 1120, 1140, 1170 - i have spent a fortube in mag testers and mag doser, which was a waste since every water chsnge lowered my tanks mag levels.

 

Ca and alk: every other week, 420-440/8-9

 

My mag in my 15g today is 1200 and 10g is 1230. I will do a water change today and it will drop. It has been this way for over a yr and different salt bags didn't chsnge the results nor did shaking, rolling, or mixing bags.

 

 

I am not buying IO again. I will be switching to a more consistant salt and stop spending $$$ on mag tests and dosers

[Cencalfishguy56]

 

 

I used to use a 4- part which you would weight two powder components and measure two liquid components. I wish I could remember the name of it. I really liked that stuff but it was hard to find and it meant a trip to Toronto or paying stupid shipping. Right now I use Reef Crystals and I get that brown residue as well. It gets all over my mixing pump and its just a mess. No idea what it is, but no harm seems to come from it that I can tell. I might try this Aquaforest stuff since Amazon.ca has it for $59.90 CDN with free shipping (how is that possible even??).

was it esv b-ionic? You mix 4 parts

[Cintax]

was it esv b-ionic? You mix 4 parts

 

Yes! Thank you!

[drexel]

I agree with markalot, I stay away from mixes with high dKH values, too many problems associated with high dKH. I used to use RC, but the batches were so inconsistent and unreliable, that I made the switch to Salinity and haven't looked back. Honestly, if I had a large tank, I would use IO and dose the missing elements. A good regime would be to find a mix that doesn't alter your current parameters after a w/c, but only slightly elevating them, slightly.

Just my two pennies.

[Bcb577]

I use kent marine,other than getting a "bad" batch once it keeps my levels pretty consistent and I've never had to dose except one time I got the bad batch,I'm trying to think what the issue was but haven't had a problem with it since

[CronicReefer]

Two salts I really like are made by Brightwell Aquatics and Fritz Aquatics. Both salts mix with an alkalinity between 8-9 and have good calcium/magnesium levels as well. Fritz calcium/magnesium is slightly higher than Brightwell if you prefer to keep those numbers higher. I tend to stay away from salts that mix with a high alkalinity like others have said just to avoid any alkalinity issues with SPS.

[squamptonbc]

Because of how they stock one has to be flexible, but Amazon sells smaller boxes of salt, if a prime member shipping is free, if not then free over $25.

 

I have seen smaller packs of Red Sea Coral Pro which was the last one I am using now.

 

They also sell small sizes of Aqua Forest.

 

Haven't seen IO or Reef Crystals, the cost on Amazon tends to be more on what they have, however the free shipping makes it cheaper, I dont live in a city where any stores sells salt, so closest one is an hour away and a round trip bridge toll of 6 dollars, so I just went with Amazon and buy whatever they happen to have when I need salt.

 

Keeping saltwater tanks in Canada can be challenging, especially if in a smaller city/town where nobody sells salt.

 

 

 

 

Thats the problem. In cda we have limited choices, especially with small tanks.

All the stores sell huge buckets only, I don't want to purchase 150g bucket, it could go to shits before its used up.

Shipping is ridiculous here!

The brown sediment on the bucket is a binding agent in the salt. I've only read this issue with reef crystals.

 

[ezcompany]

http://reefhub.pl/test-soli-drugie-starcie/

 

click on top right corner for english

[Clown79]

I don't live in a small town and close to Toronto.

 

Everyone sells

 

Instant Ocean

Io Reef Crystals

Red Sea Coral Pro

And some Tropic Marin

 

The biggest issue - most sell the huge buckets and only offer Io in smaller bags.

I wanted to try Red Sea not the Coral Pro(don't like the high dkh in pro) can't find any 50g buckets here, anywhere in cda.

 

I hear Salinity is good.