what is the best salt for a reef??

[Loverotties]

Originally Posted by whatevva

I use Tropic Marin Pro Reef. Yes, it's expensive, but it works for me and I never have to dose anything.

You get what you pay for!That's good stuff!That's what I used before using NSW by Catalina.

[Mark_Winn]

Started the tank with IO, use RC now for all WC's. Funny the RC's has a different smell than IO. RC keeps my CA levels pretty well.

[kv2wr1]

I just started using Aquacraft Marine Environment and have been really pleased with the results so far. The great thing about this is that if you do regular water changes, you don't have to use a two part or kalk to keep up the calcium and alk levels. It has a buffer already in there. The numbers on their site are just the salt (part 1) mixed up alone without the little bottle (part 2). When you add the little bottle, it gets even better.

[fihsboy]

OHh jeeze. Heres the link.
http://www.aquariumwatertesting.com/...lysis_0208.pdf

I use coralife. Im happy as anything with it, I was using IO, then I switched to Reef Crystals. Reefcrystals is a waste to me.....I believe it was tropic marine that bought out IO and Reefcrystals...........buy a small pack of both........test both things of water......and the IO (the cheaper one) is more stable. Mag is in the correct proportion with alk and ca++. I dont understand how they can charge more for reef crystals. Lot of people here locally have switched to Coralife for that very reason. Its one of the oldest salts on the market.......and its been around this long for a reason.

[Elegance Coral]

If you have been using RC's and they work well for you I think you should stick with it. You know what to expect form RC's. I've been using RC's forever. Every time I've tried a different brand, I get paranoid thinking that somethings going to go wrong. I just like the piece of mind that comes from using a salt that's been around long enough to prove itself. There will always be some new designer salt that claims to be "better", but none of them will be able to beat the track record of IO and RC's. There's a reason these are the top selling salts on the market. IMHO anyway.

[fihsboy]

I agree with that too...........if you have been using one salt for a while.........stick with it unless its giving you trouble or unwanted results. Dont fix something thats not broken. Due to massive amounts of magnesium, my lfs as well as a few local reefers were getting a lot of precipitate on the side walls of the mixing barrels. If its in the barrels......its not in the water...which means somethings unbalanced. Its all prefrence though, stick with what you know.

[cutietwo]

I use IO. Seems to be the most popular and so far i really like it. I just learned that IO is low on magnesium so i have been dosing magnesium. MY pH is also hard to keep on the higher side it keeps wanting to drop to like 7.8. Hopefully adding magnesium now will help. Maybe I will try another and see how I like it.. Glad everybody's corals are "bangin".

[three90s&125sump]

I started my tank out with Coralife due to a shortage of funds and I was having explosive coraline growth. Now, mind you, I have not tested or dosed anything other than temp and SG. I have always used IO or RCs in the past and never used coralife. So when I had the extra loot to throw down on some IO I sprung and got it. When I started using it I instantly noticed that it did not mix as well as the coralife. It was already precipitating Calcium carbonate out in the bucket. A little while after I began using it I noticed my coraline's growth started to slow down and I'm about 2/3rds of the way through it now and my coraline has almost completly stopped growing.


There is no doubt in my mind that I will be switching back to coralife when this bucket of IO is gone.


Plus I get a free shirt in every bucket.

[fihsboy]

Jason, see if you can get your lfs to order you a case of it. I paid 100 bucks for 90lbs of salt. (But no t-shirt comes with the box) haha

[Elegance Coral]

Originally Posted by three90s&125sump

I started my tank out with Coralife due to a shortage of funds and I was having explosive coraline growth. Now, mind you, I have not tested or dosed anything other than temp and SG. I have always used IO or RCs in the past and never used coralife. So when I had the extra loot to throw down on some IO I sprung and got it. When I started using it I instantly noticed that it did not mix as well as the coralife. It was already precipitating Calcium carbonate out in the bucket. A little while after I began using it I noticed my coraline's growth started to slow down and I'm about 2/3rds of the way through it now and my coraline has almost completly stopped growing.


There is no doubt in my mind that I will be switching back to coralife when this bucket of IO is gone.


Plus I get a free shirt in every bucket.

I've had the same thing happen to me. At least it sounds like the same thing. If you add the salt first, then add water, the solution can become supersaturated, and begin precipitation calcium carbonate. Then the new salt water will be low in calcium. This can have a devastating effect on coraline growth. If you fill the mixing container with water first, then add salt, the solution doesn't become supersaturated. The calcium will stay in the water until the coraline pulls it out. This can happen with any brand of salt.

[Tyyrlym]

Interesting thread. Definitely the kind of thing someone starting out wants to read. I think I'll be using Coralife salt. Funny thing though, I bough a coralife digital thermometer and it turned me off to the company.

[VWD]

I have used IQ and reef Crystals for years, No plans on changing brands, I have used coralife and it was ok as was kent. but then even kent had a bad batch a few years back and had to recall the salt

[three90s&125sump]

EC,


I meant that it is percipitating out in the salt bucket before I even scoop it out.

I always mix my salt in a 5 gallon bucket with a 3000GPH power head in it. I slowly sprinkle a cup at a tme. 2.66 cups in a 5 gallon bucket yeilds a SG of 1.026.

[dv3]

hmm precipitate never really new what that was ...but i guess this explains what i called scum in my mixing tank when using rc ...and maybe why my mag is a bit on the low side ...i'm gonna try coralife next