Best Salt to use

[Money Pit]

I just recently purchased a new RO system and would like to start mixing my own salt. I know there is a pending salt study but from what I can tell it may never come to fruition. So what is considered to be the best salt mix for a reef tank?

 

[K9coral]

Ive tried most of them and I think they are all damn near the same. However - Instant OCean seems to be the salt of choice. IMO

 

[seatom]

Hello Money Pit,

I use the salt from Tropic Marin " Pro Reef " ( it's an new one from Tropic Marin ) and I very content with this one. Because this salt has a good dissolubility, without any backlogs.
One another benefit is, that this salt has a higher Calcium- and Magnesium-Content than the most reefsalts.
The most Reefkeepers here in Europe use Tropic Marin " Pro reef " or " Classic " or HW-Salt, Preis, Red Sea or Crystal Sea Salt.

 

[Money Pit]

Thanks for the input, I think I will give Tropic Marin Pro Reef a try. Does anyone know where I can purchase it? Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Instant ocean I hear is the best. I use Natural Salt Water Baby!!

 

[Money Pit]

The water I have been using (from my LFS) has been great and they use Tropic Marin Sea Salt, but not the new "Pro Reef". I've been looking around for it without any luck. Is it so new that it's not yet available in the U.S.?

 

[Aquarist20]

I have been useing Coralife for about a year now and I like it.

 

[elpescado]

I have used just about every salt on the market save a few. Unless Instant Ocean (now owned by Marineland) has changed its formula in the last 6 to 10 years it actually is no longer the best on the market (it used to be). One way to look at it is that you won't overdose on minor trace elements when you use it because it lacks many of them. Most salts nowdays are very much alike in many respects, but with some differences. They try to simulate natural sea water as much as possible. Some dissolve more rapidly than others. Some leave a large amount of precipitate at the bottom of the mixing container (Marine Environments), and some leave none at all (the new Oceanic salt). Most give you an ammonia reading of arround 0.5ppm after mixing. Oceanic doesn't do that (I did a few tests on it).
At the Pet Store I use what ever the wholesaler had on sale that month and haven't seen to much difference in the overall performance, but then again I run calcium reactors on many of our systems.
At home I use Red Sea salt because it has a higher Iron content (I want to keep Dendronephthian and Scleronephthian corals (carnation corals), and they require a higher iron content.
My advice is to choose a salt and use it for a few months. If you don't get the results you want with it then try a different salt.

***If anyone knows whether or not Instant Ocean and Reef Crystals has modernized their formulas in the last few years please enlighten me.

 

[romunov]

From what I've heard, every salt lacks something... If there is a "complete" formula out there, which one is it then? From what I've heard of InstantOcean... It's not so much the best as it's popular...

 

[Ben1]

Reefs.org has a salt poll showing which is the most popular. I used to use instant ocean but switched to tropic marin. I am going to tr the Oceanic on my next run.

If you really want to know we will have to wait god knows how long for the salt study to be complete.

 

[Money Pit]

I gave up on that salt study months ago. I will take a look at the salt poll though. I am interested in trying the new Tropic Marin Reef Pro however I can not find it anywhere. Does anyone know where I can buy some?

 

[Baianotang]

IO

 

[hillbilly]

I've always used IO until last week. I've read about the bad batches of IOand besides, I felt the quality of IO was not what it used to be. So after lots of inquiring and talking to other reefers I made the switch to Oceanic. I was really impressed with how well it mixes, and it doesn't leave the "garbage" in the bottom of the mixing bucket like IO. To early to tell, but so far I like it better. It's cheaper too!

 

[Fastmarc]

I have found that Instant Ocean was good, but nothing beats NSW which is what I use. Literally taken from the sea and into my tank in about 15 mins.

 

[Anonymous]

if i were to say not based on any scientific study, i would go with IO or Tropic Marin...Ive only used IO but i hear Tropic Marin makes good products..there Ca supp is pretty good...