Salt Sale @ SF!!!

[trodder]

Do you think that $59.99 for 2 buckets of I/O salt is a good price for the 160 gallon buckets??? What size does are the Oceanic buckets and what do those run??

[Sea monkey]

thats not the normal IO is it ? the sale is for reef crystals i think. or are they almost the same ? i thought some people had problems with reef crystals

[trodder]

Both are on sale... the Reef Crystals is on sale for $49.99 for 2 buckets I think... I wouldn't touch Reef Crystals with a 10 foot pole based on things I have heard on the boards all around... others though seem quite happy with it.

Does anyone think there is an advantage to using the Oceanic over IO??

[redwinger]

I used to use IO but am now using oceanic. I prefer the oceanic over the IO for the oceanic dissolves much faster. I have not noticed any adverse effects since I switched over. Plus you can't beat $38.99 for a 200 gallon bucket!

[redlion4]

We have used mostly IO, with a bucket of Reef Crystals now and then. $30/bucket for 160 gal IO is about as good as it gets. That is usually the "everyday price" at Har-Mar pets though.

$25/bucket for Reef Crystals would be a great deal. If it is the same RC that was made by IO/Aquarium Systems, it used to go for at least $10 more per bucket than IO did - sometimes even more! Would confirm that this is actual RC made by Aquarium Systems though...I thought they were stopping its production and sticking only to IO.

I have not tried Oceanic, nor do I have any plans to. I know one can find horror stories regarding all the salt brands, but I read too many ones regarding Oceanic in the Reef Central forums (mainly in RHF's chemistry forum). Do a search there if you want to read about them.

[trodder]

Thanks for the info guys.... keep it coming if anyone else has more to share.

[trodder]

It looks like the OCeanic then goes about $.0195 per gallon and the IO on sale at SF (possibly Har Mar normal price) is at about $.0188 per gallon. So the IO is definately cheaper but certainly it is make the difference by any means... so I guess I would like to hear more about the pros and cons about both....

[Sea monkey]

i think the most common problem with oceanic is low alk. rest of the problems are really open to interpretation.

one big reason to use IO is because it has been tried and tested for so long with out issues . unless another company can "prove" they make a better product with no harmful effects i see no reason to not use IO unless ya just like change...

personaly i use kent salt but thats only because thats what i got the first time i bought salt and i didnt know much about it at the time . i am kind of hesitant to change because i have had no problems with kent but for the reasons above and the huge price difference i think i may change to IO next time i buy salt.

[Sea monkey]

another good reason to use IO is because RHF uses it . I will take his advice over 1000's posts from random individuals and thats pretty much what ya get when ya start looking into what is the best salt.

[JnS]

salts salt...all salts have differnet ratings....or lack of ingrediants. so you will always be adding buffers, etc. no matter what

I have used Kent, IO, crystal sea, corallife none of which seemed any better then the other. just pick one you like and stick with it.

[Jeremiah]

I just picked up my last bucket of salt at Sea Dreams in savage. It was $40 for a 200 gallon bucket of oceanic and 30 for 160 gallon bucketts of IO and some other brand as well. I really haven't noticed much difference in my tank using different salts (hardly ever test anything) but I do like the way oceanic disolves so fast. I also like their bucket. It has that rubber gasket in there. (Maybe the other ones do too, haven't bought big buckets of those.) Just my$0.02

[stacerbean]

JnS, thanks your thoughts on Coralife. I just started my tank about a month ago with Coralife. I haven't heard of many people using this. So I've been worrying a little that it may have been a mistake. Any idea on the chemistry of coralife and what it might be lacking?

[trodder]

Coralife is what I started with and I never really had any issues with it... FWIW

[windsor3773]

I also started with Coralife. I didn't have any major problems. I've been thinking of switching to oceanic as well. one of the things I have found is no matter what salt you use someone always has a problem with it. I believe many times its just user errors. Last time I checked there is no miracle salt. We still need to work at it. The one thing about Oceanic I found out that it is recommended only people with tanks smaller than 75g should try to avoid it and sometimes even then a 75g needs to be heavily stocked.

[mmclain]

Just a little correction on the price at SF. The Reef Crystals is $70 for 2 buckets. Can't remember for sure but I belive it was the IO that was 2 buckets for $50.


Mike