Salt recommendation 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 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.

 

[reefnetworth]

Instant Ocean for 17 years, never had one bad batch! Ca is usually around 350 ppm, and Mg is around 1150. i dose Mg to 1350 & Ca up to 450. have a great afternoon!
JDM...:smokin:...

 

[650-IS350]

Ive used both Tropical Marine Pro and now using Red Sea Salt PRO.. corals look good.

to me both are good besides using Kent.

And know that you will have TONS of people giving you different ones as well... I have heard IO is good too.. I used it as well but not my taste.... You've seen my tank so you can make a decision on what you think.

 

[Natterjak]

I've been using a combination of IO and Oceanic, but only for the past few months, so I can't really say if it's great or not. Corals are growing though.

I believe in the salt study that was done, Reef Crystals was the one that came out on top. I just ordered a bucket of that myself to try.

 

[MSAreef]

I have been using Instant Ocean for about 3 years. My SPS are doing fine. Nice growth and good color. You can also look in the article in this month's reefkeeping magazine on Salinity and it mentions the brands of salt the Tanks of the Month have been using.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-03/rhf/index.php

 

[sfsuphysics]

If you want a SPS dominated tank, getting a calcium reactor is almost a must, so the calcium/alk level of the brand you use is really not that much of an issue.

I however do not have a calcium reactor.. yet (lazy), so I use something with a little more "juice" as far as calcium, which is Oceanic.

I personally think what you do with your tank as far as filtration, etc, is usually going to have a much greater impact on the overall health of your tank more so than choosing a particular salt mix.

 

[650-IS350]

Dosnt Oceanic put out way more calcium levels than what you want at max of 450.... when I used oceanic for a month 1/2 my calcium levels were way too high.. sometime tested at close to 600.

 

[otterpop510]

50/50 oceanic/rc(io), works for me in terms of balancing out calc and alk..

 

[drdoolittle]

Thanks guys. My first choice is IO, then second is Reef crystal..

I have been using IO for while now and it haven't failed me yet.. i guess im sticking with it.

Looks like im going with IO.

Thanks again.

 

[ViPeR_930]

RC is made by the same company as IO but it's formulated with higher Ca, alk, and Mg. I'd use RC for a reef. It's only a couple bucks more.

 

[joecos]

Reef Crystals for me. I tried Oceanic but noticed my corals were not too happy. I also noticed while using Oceanic, coraline algae growth at the back of the tank wall slowed down and colored dull. I switched back to Reef Crystal and coraline growth was back and colored up to pink/purple again.

 

[Mr. Ugly]

Switched to Reef Crystals recently. IO plus dowflake and epsom salts previously for several years.

 

[sfsuphysics]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9497572#post9497572 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by delsol650
Dosnt Oceanic put out way more calcium levels than what you want at max of 450.... when I used oceanic for a month 1/2 my calcium levels were way too high.. sometime tested at close to 600.

Perhaps if you start a whole new tank on it, however with regular water changes I wouldn't see any difference between this and putting in a dose of randy's two part calcium mix.

 

[Elite]

Just do WC everyday using Oceanic salt and you don't need to dose anything ..

 

[Ti]

oceanic for me

 

[drdoolittle]

Thanks guys, I know i could count on you guys...

I am placing an order on Reef Crystal this week..