Salt Help?

[fredro]

I'm about to start my new 46 bow off, i've heard of people having different opinions on which salt to use. Negatives about Instant Ocean, any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
thanks.

 

[Deanos]

You won't get a consensus on salt here either Numerous polls and threads have proven that.

 

[tomzpc]

IMO, you can have a successful marine(fish and/or reef) tank using any of the commercial brands of salt mix. You'll get recommendations for every brand when you ask a group of reefers. I'm a happy IO user of many years but I realize that you can do just as well with another brand. We make such a big deal about it sometimes when in fact it's probably one of the least important decisions that we make in regards to our systems.

Just my two cents.

Probably best to do what Eric Borneman does and go with whatever bucket is on sale this week. :wink1:

 

[ZANYMASTER]

I use Seachem and it buffers it for you.

 

[reefs4life]

Although a lot more expensive then mixing your own salt water, when I started my tank I used an already mixed saltwater solution. It's called Real Ocean Saltwater and it's from off the coast of California. I bought it at Petco for $10 per 5 gallons. Seems crazy but I think it's a good and safe way to start. When you think about it you wont really need much saltwater after the beginning because when water evaporates most of the salt stays behind so you just add fresh RO/DI water. You can always keep an extra 5 gallons for when your salinity is running low.

 

[digitalreefer]

I say get something your closest pet store stocks. This way if you ever have an emergency, you can run and get it locally.

 

[Henrye]

No one has ever put forward a practical study showing a clear advantage of one salt over another. I started with Tropic Marin based on generally good feedback and no complaints, but it is more expensive. I only deal with 24g, so the cost differential is not that big an issue for me. If I needed to make a lot more SW, I would bargain shop for the least expensive "brand name" salt I could find. Regardless, if you buy a salt and find for some reason you don't like it for whatever reason, it's not a big deal to switch. After several regularly scheduled partial water changes, your tank will hold mostly new salt, so there's no need to view your initial choice as a lifetime commitment.

Henry

 

[e.muehlbauer]

I'm a big fan of Instant Ocean, but I agree that the brand you use is really not that big an issue....I even used Coralife once with no destruction of my tank. Its not an issue with switching brands either. What is more important is where you get your salt from. Ideally, the best is a large bucket from mailorder...(Dr. F & S still has IO for $29 and only $9.95 shipping) But we all have emergencies, and that's where the LFS comes in...Buy your salt from a place that does business in SW, and will have a high turnover. If you buy from a local Petland that ordinarily does zilch in terms of salt water business, there is a good chance that the salt has been sitting around forever...regardless of brand, old salt, especially in a bag, will screw up your alkalinity, etc. That happened to me once...for an emergency water change, I picked up a 25 gal bag of Reef Crystals at my local Petland, only to royally mess up my tank. I called up the manufacturer, who explained very nicely that the salt was too old, and sent me a free 50 gal bag so that I could see what their salt is really like. I appreciated that! (But I still prefer IO....) Take care, Eric

 

[fredro]

thanks guys

 

[tosiek]

That happened to me once...for an emergency water change, I picked up a 25 gal bag of Reef Crystals at my local Petland, only to royally mess up my tank.

Yeah, same happened.

I went RC for about a month (from a better source) and didn't notice any difference that really stood out from Tropic marine which i used since the start of the tank. Only thing is tropic marine dissolved quicker and left no granules on the bottom of the bucket while Reef Crystals left alot and the mix seemed "cleaner" for some reason when mixing the water, TM was cloudy for a few seconds when mixing while RC was cloudy for 5-10 mins.

 

[fredro]

went with Tropic Marin thanks all..... PS Very Happy, at least as happy as you can be with mixing salt and water

 

[reefman]

just dont use table salt :smile: :joke:

 

[Henrye]

Reefman, I have some coarse sea slat for cooking I picked up at Gristedes. Before using it, is it OK to use the iodized version, or do I have to go back for the non-iodized one? :scratchch :lol2:

 

[KathyC]

Nope, can't use that salt.

Take a look
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/reefs-beginners/21776-table-salt-vs-saltwater-salt.html

 

[Henrye]

Kathy, thanks for the link to that thread. I can't believe that one. It just goes to show you, always run a search first, no matter how impossible it would be that a real thread might exist on a topic.

So, was the issue whether it was iodized or not?:sgrin: :sgrin:

 

[Gisela]

Hi. Is Instant Ocean any good? I see that a lot when I go to Petco.

 

[e.muehlbauer]

I've always done well with Instant Ocean...and a study a few years ago of various salt mixes concluded that IO was the best brand (at that time)...I believe Coralife was the worst. Just make sure the salt is fresh...that's more important than brand. Take care, Eric