Salt

[chicken]

Hey guys what are you using now a days for salt. I just finished up the 1-1/2 pallet order I did a few years ago of aquavitro salinity. It's a decent salt but a pain to mix up. I used to buy from a guy out of south San Francisco but it looks like he is no longer around. Where can I find a deal for 1 - 1-1/2 pallets of salt and what brand should I go with? Thanks.

 

[scuzy]

instant ocean or reef crystals cheap and works. just adjust additives

 

[greengeco82]

I also use reef crystals. The price is right, especially when you find the online sales. I switched when I saw another tank with absolutely beautiful and thriving sps corals. They said they were using Reef Crystals, and doing 20% H2O change every 2 weeks. My tank is nowhere near theirs, but everything has been happy since I copied their schedule and salt. I did notice that a 5 gallon bucket of Reef Crystals weighs a lot less than Instant Ocean. Strange, and I dont know why.

 

[Reefnub]

Same, i'm using reef crystals. I didn't have good experience with Aquavitro, switched and saw instant improvements.

 

[bee505]

I have very good results with instant ocean or Reef Crystals. Sometimes you can find really good discounts on petco or other online sites. I did try a couple buckets of Aquavitro few years back, but didn't get good results, at least not compared to Reef Crystals.

 

[mirkus]

What are the issues you all are seeing with Salinity? I use it too. i don't like that the longer you keep it in a bucket mixing the parameters (alk) fall, especially when heated.

Other than that I think it is fine

 

[Reefnub]

What are the issues you all are seeing with Salinity? I use it too. i don't like that the longer you keep it in a bucket mixing the parameters (alk) fall, especially when heated.

Other than that I think it is fine

IME the aquavitro leaves a lot of brown residue and metals or some type of minerals at the bottom of my container. I saw improvements in my corals when I changed to reefcrystal, so I stuck with it ever since.

 

[africangrey]

My experience with Aquavitro Salt is the same, brown residue which the manufacture claims it's normal. High Cal >550ppm tested using both Elos and Salifert kits. while Alk is at 9-10dkh but still too high for a Zeovit tank.
I've then switched to Aquaforest which is synthetic salt, not only it's expensive but with high aluminum concentration (toxic).
Then I got a batch of IO easy to mix in 2hrs and no residue to speak off, I like the parameter much better but alk is really high >12dkh which can to be adddressed with some muretic acid, while Ca++ is at 380. I will stick with IO salt for the time being, but I've heard IO salt has problem with batch to batch consistency.

 

[mirkus]

thanks and OP sorry for the hijack.

 

[quan325i]

instant ocean or reef crystals cheap and works. just adjust additives

yep...at least since 2009 for me.

 

[swk]

I use IO. I raise cal, and depending on the batch, mag. I also drop alk with muratic acid. Much better and cheaper than the expensive salt I was using before.


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[WLachnit]

I use IO. I raise cal, and depending on the batch, mag. I also drop alk with muratic acid. Much better and cheaper than the expensive salt I was using before.


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So,do you be to test every batch of salt you mix up, or do you know how much Ca, Mg to add?

 

[DivingTheWorld]

So,do you be to test every batch of salt you mix up, or do you know how much Ca, Mg to add?

I do the same thing as SWK, regular IO and dos to spec. I do 10g water changes but mix up 40g at a time. I test and adjust the initial batch to match what I want, raise Cal & Mag, drop Alk. For subsequent water changes using the same water, I again test the Salinity, Cal, Mag & Alk, but I usually find they haven't changed enough to matter.

I found that I was testing and adjusting no matter what salt/batch I was using. So it just made sense to use the cheapest one with the least additives.

 

[ReefLover1230]

Hey guys what are you using now a days for salt. I just finished up the 1-1/2 pallet order I did a few years ago of aquavitro salinity. It's a decent salt but a pain to mix up. I used to buy from a guy out of south San Francisco but it looks like he is no longer around. Where can I find a deal for 1 - 1-1/2 pallets of salt and what brand should I go with? Thanks.

I personally just switched to aquaforest. Noticed a huge change. Not to mention it mixes up so nice and all my parameters stay more stable. It's a new company in the US but has been around a while in Europe. They also offer a probiotic salt for more demanding reef tanks.


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[swk]

So,do you be to test every batch of salt you mix up, or do you know how much Ca, Mg to add?

No. I'll test every time I crack open a new box. The only one that varies wildly is mag. Calcium is always between 350-380.


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[tri4god]

Reef Crystals