Best Salt

[cpagego]

Are the different ratings on Salts?

[drummereef]

Yes there are. I use Instant Ocean. It's tried and true and does the job for my purposes well. I do however add 70ppm of calcium to boost the level during water changes. IO salt generally reads on the low side for calcium.

[kau_cinta_ku]

there are diff. in salt mix, but as said i use IO also as they seem to be very reliable, and i just boast my cal. and mag up using the 2 part when doing a water change. also it is a cheaper salt and the additions i add are very cheap so a cheap salt with good qualities

[kenny77]

for a begginer a new system IO is a good choice. BUT! if you want crystal clear water, calcium level at it best level, and no extra metal Tropic Marine is teh choice. I woul't recomend anything over this salt.

Is has been teste tha IO is a good salt, but it cary a lot of metal wich are not found in the ocean, at least no in the level it come in the salt.

there is a article about this that you can search

[aquarius77]

Im using reef crystals, it is decent IMO.

I guess whats best is really what you can afford, this question gets asked alot and it seems to go between tropic marin and instant ocean products.

[cpagego]

Thanks everyone.

[mnestroy]

Don't listen to what anyone tells you on which salt is better

Pick any brand and you'll find 100 people that love it, and another 100 that hate it.

There are a million threads on the subject, and several studies have been done... there is no clear best/better salt.

[LarryW]

Here is a quote from one of our LFS in the area.

"I spoke with the Seachem rep a few days ago, and this is what he told me. There is a lot of propaganda about salt, which one does what, which one is better and so on. After 3 years of testing every salt base in the world, Instant Ocean is the best base salt on the market period. What you add to it is what makes the difference.

Seachem, you may not know uses the IO base salt, and then mixes there own from there and has two salt mixes. The one we know about is there Reef Salt the other is there Marine Salt. The Marine salt is very easy to describe, it is comparable to Instant Ocean’s Reef Crystals and that is it, a very good salt. The Reef Salt is more comparable to Tropic Marin with these main differences, first TM does have more trace elements in the salt, they are chelated so they release over time. This is great if you can use the salt within six months from its mix date, if not they break down in the mix are rendered useless. The Seachem salt is also rich in trace elements that can be subsidized with additives. In addition it will buffer the PH to 8.4 and uses a Boron level that is three times that of natural seawater to help maintain a high KH. And no!!! There is no study or evidence in any way that has determined that this is too high of a level for anything, in fact if you look into TM you find the same thing. Also the Seachem Reef Salt has elevated levels of Calcium, Strontium and Iodide (not toxic iodine) for advanced coral propagation. So for my money, I will use the Seachem Reef Salt, with TM at an average of $70-75 a bucket and the Seachem at an average of $45-55 a bucket plus $10-15 for a 250mL bottle of Reef plus. To me it is an easy choice, and for those whom prefer the TM by all means, it is an excellent salt!!! I just can’t justify the expense when the Seachem is as good and cheaper."

That being said, I plan on using Seachem Reef.

[Shagsbeard]

The best salt is the one that's on sale... ok... that's not exactly true, but it's about as close as all the other claims. I buy the one on sale.

[MyPartOfTheSEA]

The best advise that I can give you is the one from your LFS.

I go to my LFS and they sell it for 50cents a gallon. It is water from the ocean.

It is a lot cheaper than any salt bag, and more natural...

Plus a lot easier!!!!

[fareforce]

I use Red Sea, Red Sea Proffessional (I love it!), and Reef Crystals (I love it too).

I dont however like plain Instant Ocean. You have to add to much to it for a reef tank.

[smackwater]

Hi,


I've always used IO. I have to add calcium and mag to it though.

[bllfish]

Bucket of IO 160 gallons = $31.00
160 gallons of LFS @ .50/gallon = $80.00
10 gallons per week = 520 gallons
Mix your own = around $100.00 per year
Buy at LFS = $260.00 per year
My LFS charge .85/gallon

[saltman123]

.50 cents at your local store???
Try $2.79 around here...

MIX REEFCRYSTALS ON YOUR OWN.