Moving from Natural Seawater to mix.........which one?

[miggs76]

I've been getting Petco Natural Seawater delivered to my house for a year for my biocube water changes and it has been fantastic......problem is I moved up to a 60 gallon recently and finally got an RO/DI unit so I'm going to start mixing my own water. Price is not an option as I spent a lot of $$ on this 60 gallon and I don't want to skimp on salt. What is the absolute best salt mix brand? I am really clueless on this and yes I already google'd it but I am looking for more opinions. Thanks so much.

[GokesReef]

Instant Ocean Reef Crystals gets my vote.. all the different mixes should list the Ca, Mg and possibly other macros on the box somewhere. That's a good place to start.

[Veng]

Reef Crystals or Red Coral Sea Pro Salt are the two popular options around here. People report RCSPS leaving residue on mixing pumps and buckets and it has made several people switch salts, but it also has really good natural levels of dKh and Ca. I've got a bucket of it I'm going to be trying out soon and I'll try to let ya'll know how it goes.

[pablom617]

I use ReefCrystal, it is okay but a little high on most params... I will be switching to Coralife when my bucket is finished. I also get the clay deposits during mixing...

 

I think if you stick to any of the major players you will be fine.

 

RC

RCSP

Coralife

Kent

[Tenor]

It's depend how you like to use them. There are 2 types of salt mixed. Natural product from sea water like Red sea pro salt or synthetic salt like Tropic marin.

[Rymah]

Salinity by Seachem. Switched a couple moths ago... never going back to anything else.. My Cal, dKh and Mag tests are showing up to be almost exactly what is on the label (Right inbetween the Min and Max on the site)... i have tried a couple others.. IMO Salinity is the best.. But im sure everyone will say that about the salt they use...

 

http://www.aquavitro.com/products/salinity.html

[jbb]

Salinity by Seachem. Switched a couple moths ago... never going back to anything else.. My Cal, dKh and Mag tests are showing up to be almost exactly what is on the label (Right inbetween the Min and Max on the site)... i have tried a couple others.. IMO Salinity is the best.. But im sure everyone will say that about the salt they use...

 

http://www.aquavitro.com/products/salinity.html

 

 

+1 to this

 

I switched from red sea pro, and I love this stuff. Pricey, but the best I have used so far, levels are always spot on.

[Riotjock]

H2Oceans salt is consistently rated as the best salt in independent tests and consistent in quality and trace elements levels.

[revaltion131]

What salt is best really depends on you and your system. I have always done very well with just plain old Instant Ocean. So, what's the goal with your tank?

[pete33]

I have always been using regular TM and lately had an issue with the mag levels. Using a whole bottle to get it up to 1350 then finally testing my make up water - 1050 mag, wow. Got tired of dosing this after every wc and switched to DDH2Ocean pro. Almost instantly my skimmer was performing better, and after 3 wc's and no supplements my numbers were still right on. Yes, it does leave the mixing bucket a bit nasty, but it just clings to the bucket (the water is crystal clear). A soft pad and it comes right off. Personally, so far, I like this salt much better than TM (also love the no dosing part, just doing weekly wc's). I'm sure I'll have to start dosing at some point, but right now I enjoy not doing that daily task.

[Euphyllia]

Coral Pro Salt killed my thriving SPS reef. Not for sure, but when I switched from Reef Crystals to Coral Pro, all of the SPS started to RTN/bleach/retract/ect. Kept doing water changes trying to fix it and I couldn't get whatever was in it out of the tank.

 

Go with Reef Crystals. It got my SPS from brown (how I bought them) to super colorful and more than fully extended in just a few months. You don't need to waste $50 more to buy a salt deemed better just because its more expensive and has parameters listed on it.

 

I say Reef Crystals and actually do your dosing.

[TeflonTomDosh]

H2Oceans salt is consistently rated as the best salt in independent tests and consistent in quality and trace elements levels.

about time you gave some good advice, without being a d*ck about it. I'm about to switch to this salt myself. I use IORC now.

 

What is the absolute best salt brand?

[hannahs]

If you want the best, I would say ESV's salt system. It is a 4 part system and you mix it yourself. This salt mixes very fast and all the stats test the best IMO.

[Singlefin]

Thanks for the tips. I'll be switching to reef crystals. My regular IO is almost empty.

[aquatect]

I have used Reef Crystals and you can't beat it for the price.

However, I use Seachem now and it is amazing. It is so fine and dissolves so easily. Also, it brings my nutrient levels to exactly where they should be. No excess, either.

 

It's fantastic.

[dling]

You are not going to get the answer your looking for .There's not one salt that everyone's using. Your going to get as many answers as there are salts. Just pick any one of them and use it there all good enough to do what you want. As time goes on try different kinds till you land on the one that when someone ask "which salt is the best" you will answer with which ever one you like.

[Swanwillow]

Salinity by Seachem. Switched a couple moths ago... never going back to anything else.. My Cal, dKh and Mag tests are showing up to be almost exactly what is on the label (Right inbetween the Min and Max on the site)... i have tried a couple others.. IMO Salinity is the best.. But im sure everyone will say that about the salt they use...

 

http://www.aquavitro.com/products/salinity.html

 

That's what I use too. Only issues I've ever had are user error, NEVER salt issues.