Aquavitro Salinity Salt

[Skim]

Just wondering if Salinity is still considered one of if not the best salt being sold today.

[scuzy]

Salt is subjective. Lots are raving on fritz rpm pro lately. Including myself. Just get the one that matches your parameters you run your tank.

[Alfrareef]

Yes. Definitely One tank, one salt.

[d2mini]

No matter what i try i seem to end up back with Salinity.
On my second box of Fritz Pro now and wondering why my tank Mg is 1600-1700.
Tested the fresh mix and it's 2000 ppm.

[Skim]

The reason i asked the question is, I presently use Salinity and I really like it. I believe I only had a problem once with heavy clouding and that was my fault as I add it a little too quickly. I am just trying to justify the cost, as in Canada a 225 mix cost 134.99 plus tx. Researching any test done and post that I could find and talking to LFS and yes speaking to Seachem, I have in my IMO, found Salinity to be the " Best Salt on the Market ".

A. The Salt in designed to mixed at 35 ppt which is what we should all go by not SG ( 1.026 ) as SG is sensitive to water temp. So as it is designed for 35 ppt all other levels of salts( Cal,Mag,Alk, ) will fall into into very close levels to NSW. Most salts are designed for 1.020 to 1.023, so when wanting 1.026 the many of the additives become elevated, example Cal. not unheard of to see 480 to 580 depending on brand.

B. The most efficient Salt, as in Quantity used to mix to 35 ppt. A hair over 36 grams/l or little less than 1/2 cup/gal. 7 cups will make 15 Gal. Closest salt I seen that comes close is Fauna Marin at 39-40 grams/l.

C. The Mix itself is made in small batches and tested in house and sent out also. Batch is made and put in holding area until all test are done. I believe the results that are put on the buckets are not the inhouse tests but are the results from the ones sent out.

D. Ingredients- 75% is of Food Grade, which is not cheap. I am assuming the 25% would be in the Trace Elements.

E. Consistency of mix. Well the best I could find other than my own, were from jason 2459 from right here on RC. Look at the end AVG. on the salts and find ones that comes closest to NSW and the add the comments above. Do come to the same conclusion as myself, that it seems that Salinity is the best?
A little cloudiness does not bother me nor does a some crystals on bottom left after mixing ( apparently if you end up with what looks like crystals on the bottom and not powder you have mixed properly ). I think I will stay with Salinity!


Brand Date Taken Temp Salinity Calcium Alkalinity Magnesium
Aquaforest Reef 5/12/2016 77F 35ppt 475 8.6 1590
8/13/2016 77F 35ppt 450 8.16 1560
8/19/2016 Triton 34.64ppt 448 NA 1553
10/12/2016 AquaForest 33.59ppt 437 NA 1514
10/12/2016 77F 35ppt 440 8.3 1530
AVG 450.00 8.35 1549.40
Aquaforest Sea Salt 10/12/2016 Triton 33.54ppt 465 NA 1532
10/12/2016 AquaForest 32.84ppt 437 1482
10/12/2016 77F 35ppt 440 8.9 1515
AVG 447.33 8.90 1509.67
Aquaforest ProBiotic 5/14/2016 Triton 32.63ppt 387 NA 1278
8/19/2016 Triton 33.97ppt 413 NA 1512
8/19/2016 77F 34.9ppt 420 7.04 1485
10/12/2016 Triton 33.53ppt 412 NA 1516
10/12/2016 AquaForest 33.52ppt 390 NA 1446
10/12/2016 77F 35ppt 420 7.3 1500
AVG 407.00 7.17 1456.17
Aquatic Gardens 9/30/2009 77F 35ppt 430 8 1240
AVG 430.00 8.00 1240.00
Brightwell Neomarine 9/30/2009 77F 35ppt 370 11 1140
AVG 370.00 11.00 1140.00
Coralife 9/30/2009 77F 35ppt 560 9 1380
6/13/2014 NA 1.026sg 450 9.5 1340
9/8/2016 Triton 34.25ppt 535 NA 1449
9/8/2016 77F 35ppt 515 8.96 1395
10/12/2016 AquaForest 34.06ppt 540 8.7 1354
10/12/2016 77F 35ppt 520 8.96 1380
AVG 520.00 9.02 1383.00
Crystal Sea Marinemix 9/30/2009 77F 35ppt 340 9 1050
AVG 340.00 9.00 1050.00
D-D H2Ocean 9/30/2009 77F 35ppt 450 10 1380
AVG 450.00 10.00 1380.00
E.S.V. 1/30/2016 77F 1.026sg 450 9 1400
AVG 450.00 9.00 1400.00
Fritz Pro Reef 3/14/2016 78.9 1.026sg 440 8.5 1500
5/5/2016 25C 35ppt 430 8.95 1410
AVG 435.00 8.73 1455.00
Instant Ocean 9/30/2009 77F 35ppt 400 11 1350
1/25/2016 77.2F 35ppt 410 10.4 1320
8/24/2016 Triton 34.07ppt 409.4 NA 1351
3/2/2016 77F 35ppt 405 10.9 1275
3/3/2016 77F 35ppt 410 11.2 1275
3/3/2016 Triton 35.67ppt 423 NA 1309
10/12/2016 AquaForest 33.94ppt 412 10.4 1304
10/12/2016 77F 35ppt 405 10.2 1320
AVG 409.30 10.68 1313.00
hw-Marine Mix Reefer 3/14/2016 78.6 1.026 440 8.6 1380
5/8/2016 77F 1.026 430 8.6 1260
5/9/2016 78F 1.026 420 8.9 1280
AVG 430.00 8.70 1306.67
Kent 9/30/2009 77F 35ppt 540 11 1200
AVG 540.00 11.00 1200.00
Kordon Coral Sea 3/15/2016 82F 34.5ppt 360 10 1200
AVG 360.00 10.00 1200.00
Marine Environment 9/30/2009 77F 35ppt 480 7.5 1450
AVG 480.00 7.50 1450.00
Oceanic 9/30/2009 77F 35ppt 580 8.5 1650
AVG 580.00 8.50 1650.00
OceanPure 9/30/2009 77F 35ppt 510 10 1320
AVG 510.00 10.00 1320.00
Red Sea 9/30/2009 77F 35ppt 400 8 1300
5/15/2015 ~20C 35ppt 434 8.8 1280
11/7/2015 ~20C 35ppt 446 8 1288
AVG 426.67 8.27 1289.33
Red Sea Coral Pro 9/30/2009 77F 35ppt 470 12.5 1400
5/9/2016 78F 1.026sg 480 12.32 1470
8/19/2016 Triton 33.08ppt 441 NA 1436
8/19/2016 77F 35ppt 460 12.16 1440
sleepdoc's 10/12/2016 77F 35ppt 450 8.9 1350
sleepdoc's 10/12/2016 AquaForest 33.55ppt 440 9.3 1340
10/12/2016 77F 35ppt 440 11.84 1410
10/12/2016 AquaForest 34.6ppt 434 9.5 1363
AVG 451.88 10.93 1401.13
Reef Crystals 9/30/2009 77F 35ppt 490 13 1440
1/30/2016 78F 35ppt 440 15 1240
2/25/2016 1.027sg 450 10.3 1350
3/14/2016 77F 35ppt 550 11.8 1560
3/15/2016 77F 35ppt 530 12.2 1530
3/22/2016 Triton 34.99ppt 574.6 NA 1510
10/12/2016 AquaForest 35.25ppt 517 10.7 1378
10/12/2016 77F 35ppt 510 11.68 1485
AVG 507.70 12.10 1436.63
Reefer's Best 9/30/2009 77F 35ppt 420 11 1200
AVG 420.00 11.00 1200.00
SeaChem aquavitro salinity 9/30/2009 77F 35ppt 422 9.8 1336
5/29/2015 1.026sg 430 9.2 1225
1/31/2016 35ppt 435 8.3 1310
5/10/2016 77F 35ppt 425 8.6 1335
5/20/2016 Triton 37.18ppt 466 NA 1234
9/20/2016 Triton 33.05ppt 395 NA 1350
9/20/2016 AquaForest 35.06ppt 410 NA 1336
9/20/2016 77F 35ppt 420 8.96 1335
AVG 425.38 8.97 1307.63
SeaChem Marine Salt 9/30/2009 77F 35ppt 500 10 1400
AVG 500.00 10.00 1400.00
SeaChem Reef Salt 9/30/2009 77F 35ppt 540 10 1450
5/9/2016 78F 1.026sg 527 10.47 1200
10/12/2016 Triton 35.39ppt 528 NA 1520
10/12/2016 AquaForest 33.91ppt 504 NA 1409
10/12/2016 77F 35ppt 520 8.3 1515
AVG 523.80 9.59 1418.80
Triton's Pure Salt 10/12/2016 77F 35ppt 705 0.96 1620
10/12/2016 Triton 35.06ppt 728 NA 1663
10/12/2016 AquaForest 34.45ppt 691 1.7 1549
AVG 708.00 1.33 1610.67
Tropic Marin Pro Reef 9/30/2009 77F 35ppt 450 8.5 1380
3/22/2016 77F 35ppt 445 7 1350
4/9/2016 77F 35ppt 465 7.3 1425
4/9/2016 Triton 34.74ppt 475.3 NA 1442
5/9/2016 78F 1.026sg 470 6.6 1350
5/16/2016 Triton 35.41ppt 460.6 NA 1381
AVG 460.98 7.35 1388.00
Tunze Reef Salt 9/30/2009 77F 35ppt 420 9.5 1350
AVG 420.00 9.50 1350.00

Sorry as it did not copy with dividers, but I think you can figure it out.

[homer1475]

I've recently switched to plain old Instant Ocean.

How can you go wrong when its been around since 1964, most large aquariums use it, and it's been the industry standard for salt mixes for years? It also mixes up quite well with very little fluctuation in parameters.

I simply add a little muriatic acid to bring down the ALk to my liking, and add a tad bit of Cal.

The very minute amount of dosing and testing I do it, still brings it in much cheaper then those "premium" salt prices.

[jda]

Salinity settled in the bucket for me. It needs to be dry mixed like crazy, IME.

I am an IO guy too. I consider it the best because it has been rock solid since before most of were born. I like the 50G bags too since I use them all at once and don't have to dry mix it.

IMO, parameters don't matter. If you are going to specialize, any mix is going to need to be doctored. Consistency is the main factor to me and I can add the same out of Muratic and Dowflake every time for decades.

[scooter31707]

Salinity is a great salt, but I can't get over the residue that is left behind in the Brute container. I recently just finished a bucket of it and brought a box of Fritz. I can wow there is a difference in mixing, but I have not seen a difference in livestock. So I have not decided on which I am going to stick with.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Another IO user here. Honestly, I really hope this doesn't sound insulting, but your post above sounds like it was written by a marketing expert, not a hobbyist. I don't see the point in spending more than $45 on 200 gallons worth of salt. If you want to spend more because it makes you feel good then go ahead, but it's hard to argue with the overwhelming number of marine aquariums that have run totally fine over the decades on what is basically the cheapest mass-market salt in the industry.

[Potatohead]

Originally Posted by der_wille_zur_macht

Another IO user here. Honestly, I really hope this doesn't sound insulting, but your post above sounds like it was written by a marketing expert, not a hobbyist. I don't see the point in spending more than $45 on 200 gallons worth of salt. If you want to spend more because it makes you feel good then go ahead, but it's hard to argue with the overwhelming number of marine aquariums that have run totally fine over the decades on what is basically the cheapest mass-market salt in the industry.

I don't really care what salt one person uses or doesn't use, but this argument is a bad argument. Huge aquariums use a certain salt for two reasons. One, it's actually available in pallet loads and huge quantities on a consistent schedule - And two, it's cheap.

GM has been around for a million years too but that doesn't mean they make the best cars.

[d2mini]

I'm having a problem focusing on that list of stuff in post #5.
What are the salts that offer NSW-like levels.
Nothing elevated.
Something along the lines of Alk 8.0, Calc 450, Mg 1350.
I need to be able to dose things in equal amounts and I don't want to have to do anything to it when mixing it up other than mix the salt with water.
I will pay more for that.

Salinity is one that has always worked well for me in this respect, and I believe Tropic Marin Pro is similar.
Two of the highest price salts.

[Potatohead]

Originally Posted by d2mini

I'm having a problem focusing on that list of stuff in post #5.
What are the salts that offer NSW-like levels.
Nothing elevated.
Something along the lines of Alk 8.0, Calc 450, Mg 1350.
I need to be able to dose things in equal amounts and I don't want to have to do anything to it when mixing it up other than mix the salt with water.
I will pay more for that.

Salinity is one that has always worked well for me in this respect, and I believe Tropic Marin Pro is similar.
Two of the highest price salts.

I always wonder why more companies don't make these salts. I guess it's a niche but there's really not much out there that mixes at NSW at 1.026

Tropic Marin Pro
Red Sea Blue
Aquaforest Reef
Fauna Marin (virtually impossible to find in NA other than eastern Canada)
Brightwell kinda sorta

That's about it.

[jda]

Originally Posted by Potatohead

I don't really care what salt one person uses or doesn't use, but this argument is a bad argument. Huge aquariums use a certain salt for two reasons. One, it's actually available in pallet loads and huge quantities on a consistent schedule - And two, it's cheap.

GM has been around for a million years too but that doesn't mean they make the best cars.

The Atlanta Aquarium uses IO salt because it is the most consistent batch to batch of anything that they can buy and the metal content is almost non-existant. There is an article out there somewhere on it... They care more about consistency and purity than cost since replacing a $20K boxfish, or hiring a diver to go gather some starfish at 250 feet is WAY more expensive than salt. They use it because they think that it is the best. They know how chemistry works, though, and that the salt mix is just a starting point, not an ending point.

[jda]

For anybody who wants a mix-and-use salt, the Tropic Marin Pro-Reef is fantastic. It is 90-95 a pail around here and mixes crystal clean.

For those who want NSW parameters that are solid every time and cheap... 50G bag of IO into a 44 G brute, 2 tbsp of dowflake, stir, heat, 20 MLs of Muratic acid, stir for a day. Takes a few days, but perfect every time without any residue. You can alter the muratic and dowflake to your liking.

Salinity was OK. It REALLY needed to be dry mixed, IMO. Most salts are like this. This is why some only use the whole 50G bag at a time and just keep the extra water once it is mixed.

[scuzy]

Everytime I mix io or rc I get this brown build up in my brute. I stop using it.

[Bill Nye]

I like Red Sea blue bucket.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Originally Posted by Potatohead

I don't really care what salt one person uses or doesn't use, but this argument is a bad argument. Huge aquariums use a certain salt for two reasons. One, it's actually available in pallet loads and huge quantities on a consistent schedule - And two, it's cheap.

GM has been around for a million years too but that doesn't mean they make the best cars.

I'd add a third reason why big aquariums use certain salt - it performs well at keeping tens or hundreds of thousands (or millions?) of dollars of livestock alive and healthy.

I get your point with the comparison to GM but I don't think that's really valid. Cars are inherently emotional purchases driven by qualitative feelings. I like the way this car feels, I like the seats, I like the touchscreen, I don't like the color, and so on. It's a complex process and there are naturally lots of different brands at different price points, because there is legitimately a wide market of consumers.

Salt is very different, which was my point. It's a handful of basic chemicals in a well known proportion. There's no magic, there's no feelings, there's no qualitative aspect. You mix the salt with pure water and you get an end product that falls within a reasonable range of parameters.

I could see an argument about buying one salt vs another because the parameters we care about for coral (say, Ca Mg and alkalinity) mix to the desired target you want, but even that is weak, IMHO. Anyone who cares about those parameters is likely dosing their display tank, which means it's trivial to adjust the newly mixed water to your target, and likely at a much cheaper cost and with a known and very specific end state. I can mix IO and dose it to whatever parameters I want, and it's still in the realm of a third of the cost of some of the boutique salt brands that come and go over the years.

Let me restate my earlier post. If Instant Ocean (or any other cheap, mass market brand) has the correct elements in roughly the right ratios, is stable and consistent, is readily available, and has decades of success in the market, why would anyone pay two to three times more for something else? If a cheap product doesn't meet your criteria, then fine - don't buy it. But I don't think that's the case here, if your criteria are "a salt mix that can reasonably match typical target values, especially when supplemented with typical dosing regimens."

Sometimes, people in this hobby have a way of over-complicating the most basic things.

[dzjr1188]

Just get the store use barrels of salinity. 1050 gal (@1.026). IO is rated at a lower salinity so not sure what exactly your getting for the "200gall box". But anyway my lfs will order me the 308lb barrel and it comes out to like 380$. Just be ready for some heavy lifting lol.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[jda]

You get 176 gallons out of IO at 1.026. It is $32 a box around here... so $190 for 1050 gallons.

[Tripod1404]

I use RS coral pro. Not because it is any better than other salt mixes but because it comes with the ICP analysis of the batch of salt you get. So I know what I am putting into the tank. For me their ICP analysis has always been spot on. I tested freshly mixed saltwater with ATI ICP and results were within 5-10% error range of what I got from redsea ICP data for the batch.

I like numbers. I know that most other salts from other brands would probably mix very close to those numbers. But I just like being able to check them out.

Plus it is very easy to dissolve. I just add the salt all at once, it clears in ~45min. I continue stiring it for 2-3, let it rest overnight and use it the next day.

[Conor_K]

Is there a solid online source for the salinity?
Google is failing me...


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[shred5]

Had odd readings and to much settling with salinity...

I/O or TMP for me...
I have also had good luck with Tunze, aquaforest and HW marine.

[ramseynb]

Originally Posted by Conor_K

Is there a solid online source for the salinity?
Google is failing me...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think the aquavitro line is only sold in stores.

On salt mixes, most every salt mix I've used is about the same, with two exceptions. First, IO left nasty brown film on everything which is some sort of binding clay from what I read. Second, ESV salt mix is a cut above every other brand I tried. It comes in 4 parts and you need a food scale to measure everything out, but it mixes super fast, is clear as can be and has spot on parameters every time.