Salt recomendation for SPS tank

[drdoolittle]

Hey guys,

I am about to place an order for a large amounth of salt, (6-8 buckets).

Before I do, i would like to know your opinion or experience on the brand of salt most of you guys are using. I dont want to get stuck with this much salt and find out its not any good.

I know there was a study done about salt a while back. But i could not find it.

If you guys could give me some recommendation on which salt to use and why? that would be great.

Thanks in advance.

PS tanks spec, i just read i have to put it with my post.

250 Tank water volume, with 300lb Live rock/ 100 live sand, 20 frags of SPS.

Lighting 3-250 XM 10K with 4X 160 VHO
Aquacontroller pro
Aqualogic chiller 1/3
2 tunze 6100
2 SEIO 1500
Euro reef skimmer
Schuran cal reactor
Geo Kalk reactor
DIY Phos reactor
Litermeter III
20 gal refuge.

 

[reefnetworth]

Instant Ocean for over 17 years, and ive never had a bad batch. though i choose to increase the Mg and Ca to my parameters. have a great weekend!
JDM...:rollface:...

 

[Cubman777]

Yeah, I agree with the IO, but sometimes I use the ReefCrystals brand, which is made by the same people who make IO. It has slightly elevated levels of Ca and trace elements. I can tell you that I used to mix IO with Oceanic (becuase it has high CA and Mg), but had to stop because it had such low levels of alkalinity that it almost crashed my tank.

 

[reefnetworth]

sorry, i should have added that i make my own supplements for about $0.08 per gallon. Reef Crystals would be my second choice, only beacause of the higher price. the other popular brands listed in the thread "drdoolittle" is asking about (i forgot the title also, but it was in the reef chemistry forum) were either to low in minerals and to high in borate, or other negatives. Dr. Randy Holmes-Farley also recommends and uses only I.O.
JDM......

 

[DrBDC]

I use IO too. Most of the time I do the petsmart online price match so it's 31.99 a bucket. But occasionally DrsFoster will have it onsale for that much and with a shipping deal too. I think last time I got a few buckets it ended up being about 35-36 bucks a bucket. I usually just use some of the homemade 2(3) part to bump the ca and mag of IO.

 

[sjj80]

Tropic Marin for sure. It has all the trace elements, calcium, mag, everything you would otherwise have to dose. My SW once mixed contains calcium reading of 420! Which is great when starting a new tank 'cause you save $ by not having to use additives, just replenishing w/ water changes, until your tank has enough corals to necessitate dosing. HTH

 

[SDguy]

I like IO. High alk. Just add some CaCl2 (cheap) and you are good to go.

 

[mcurl98]

I use tropic marine pro but am switching to reef crystals for my next buy. TMP is great but the Alk is 6 at 1.25. I need to add buffer or it will drop my Alk. Reef Crystals doesn't need anything added to it.

 

[HowardW]

Have always had excellent results with Seachem Reef Salt, and it doesn't need to be supplemented with anything.

 

[ljsreptiles]

I've used all different salts, my tank has flurished best when using reef crystals

 

[jdieck]

Over the last 5 years I have tried Kent, Instant Ocean, Oceanic, Tropic Marin, Tropic Marin Pro and Reef Crystals thoroughly testing all of them.
The best ones IMO are Kent, IO, Reef Crystals with which I did not get any increase in Diatom algae blooms and the only one balanced enough to give the recommended levels of Calcium, Alkalinity and Magnesium at 1.026 sg without the need for supplementation before a water change has been the Reef Crystals. This is the one I will stick on to for the moment basically until they screw it up which seems to happen with all salts every couple of years or so.

 

[old salty]

I tried reef chemistry and sucked at it. Add this, measure that....more of a headache than I cared to sustain. I switched to Marine Environment a while ago and now, instead of spending 99% of the time fiddling with water quality, I spend 99% of my time watching the tank. Not to mention my test kits last longer!!

 

[kappaknight]

I really like Reef Crystals... ever since I upped my coral counts, I switched from IO to RC.

 

[michaeldaly]

I always use natural sea water.

 

[davidryder]

Reef crystals IMO are the best for coral tanks.

 

[davidryder]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9498538#post9498538 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by michaeldaly
I always use natural sea water.

We don't all have that luxury

Actually though I read somewhere that synthetic salt has a longer life span, meaning that it doesn't lose it's buffering ability as fast as natural sea water.

 

[marinelife]

if ordering that much go Reef Crystals, it is only a few dollars more the IO and you do not have to add anything before you use it.
I used IO for 11 years and just switch 6 months ago to RC and my corals have thanked me for it

 

[fish like me]

I use NSW as well without any problems.

 

[chkra_hp]

Im currently using IO. Sound like RC is good way for reeftank. I might need to switch after my buket run out

 

[Salty Brother]

Instant Ocean, www.Drsfostersmith.com usally has it for pretty cheap too.