sps tanks salt choice

i use instant ocean due to research shows that instant ocean is the closest thing you can get to natural sea water. hope this helps and happy reefing.
 
Thanks for all the info. I ordered Red Sea pro. I will try it for now then maybe IO I'm looking for closed to nsw I can get to
 
I have used it all pretty much. I preferred RC before they changed it now it is too high in alk. I have been using Seachem Reef and Seachem Marine both with good results, mixes fast and cleaner than most any salt I have used. In the end IME salt is salt you just need to find the one that you and your tank both can agree on.
 
Red Sea salt because the calcium of it is neutral meaning that it won't increase your calcium parameters every time you do a water change and also because it has lower nutrients for sps corals, however you can ge some Red Sea products to increase the nutrients.
 
I to have a balancing act with RC higher alk and ca. Its true this salt is much higher which is nice but when your balancing alk with a doser its pretty tricky when doing water changes.

With this said i'm interested in trying IO and trying to hold a steadier alk/cal balance.

Guys what is the alk and ca of the IO anyway? I do know I've seen 10+ alk and 470 cal with RC last time I checked. Seems the RC is a great salt for reef stores etc... do to the needed repletion alk and cal demand.
.
 
ESV here. Nothing I have ever tried comes close in terms of consistency and water clarity as it is mixing. The other thing that is/was really huge for me is the fact that ESV mixes so quickly. I recently had a situation where I required a 100 gallon WC asap (very large anemone of many years decided to blend himself in an MP40. In a perfect world I would have had standby water but I only had about 10 gallons of RODI since I have a small apartment. I went to home depot, bought 100 gallons of DI water in 5 gallon jugs, brought them up to my apartment, measured out 5 gallons of ESV into each bottle and rolled them on the floor for about 30 seconds and did a 100% change as fast as two people without a large WC system in place could do it. I know I wouldn't have felt comfortable with many other salt brands in the same situation.
I'm not sure about the prices in other places but in NYC (where ESV is located) it is not much more than other salts.
 
Since I dose, I have no need to have the salt replenish my Ca, Alk, and other trace elements so I use IO
 
Well I'm a little nervous switch to IO since I'm having decent results with RC, just wish the alk and cal weren't so damn high.
 
rogergolf66 said:
So the 31 people that viewed this in the sps forum don't have an opinion on what salt they use. Maybe u don't use salt? Why no responses from 31 viewers :(
Click to expand...

Probably because this question has been asked over and over.




I have used Instant Ocean, Reef Crystals, Seachem Reef, Seachem Marine, Coralife, H2 Ocean, Tropic Marin, Tropic Marin Pro, Red Sea Coral Pro, Brightwell, Tunze, Marine Environment, BIO-SEA, and natural sea water.

Those are just the ones I can think of right now.

Honestly could not tell much of a difference with any one of them. Nothing worth worrying about anyway.

So your newly mixed up saltwater, of whatever brand you are using today has a slightly higher or lower Alk or Ca level than your DT.

So what?

How much is that really going to change the levels in your DT by doing a 10% water change?

Unless you are doing a 50% to 100% water change does it really matter?

So if for example you have a 100 gallon system and your Alk is at 8.
You do a 10% waterchange with some kind of crazy high Alk salt mix. Let's say its 14.

How much is your DT Alk level going to go up to, from this 10% change?

8.2 ?

8.5 ?

I know one you chemistry guys will chime in with the correct answer.

:)
 
reidcrandall said:
This is also what I use. Doesn't seem all that popular!
Click to expand...

Yeah I know. I started getting it online because Drfoster had it on sale a while back for really cheap. I have liked the results from it so far, consistent, clean, fast mixing and unlike so many other salts it does not leave a build up in my mixing bucket. Alk is about 10 dkh, ca is 450-500 and mag is 1380.
 
i have been using ESV since i started my tank, and it definintley mixes well and quickly, but im getting tired of all the measuring and testing to get a batch right. I use the measuring spoons and cups they give, but I have heard that the best way to go for simplicity is to use a scale to measure each component, but im considering switching brands anyway. I was thnking about the Red Sea Coral Pro, but am going to keep researching...
I live in NY, long island, and at pets warehouse in mineola, its about $75 for a 200g mix. If i could buy ESV direct at a bulk discount (i live about 15 minutes from their shop), id fill my 4runner up with boxes of the 25g mix, but they wont sell direct to end users at a discount, they quoted me higher than retail...?
 
Ok so here is a question, if RC is higher Alk and CA values at say 35 points can I lower the salinity a little to bring down the alk and ca?
 
REEF SMAC said:
Probably because this question has been asked over and over.




I have used Instant Ocean, Reef Crystals, Seachem Reef, Seachem Marine, Coralife, H2 Ocean, Tropic Marin, Tropic Marin Pro, Red Sea Coral Pro, Brightwell, Tunze, Marine Environment, BIO-SEA, and natural sea water.

Those are just the ones I can think of right now.

Honestly could not tell much of a difference with any one of them. Nothing worth worrying about anyway.

So your newly mixed up saltwater, of whatever brand you are using today has a slightly higher or lower Alk or Ca level than your DT.

So what?

How much is that really going to change the levels in your DT by doing a 10% water change?

Unless you are doing a 50% to 100% water change does it really matter?

So if for example you have a 100 gallon system and your Alk is at 8.
You do a 10% waterchange with some kind of crazy high Alk salt mix. Let's say its 14.

How much is your DT Alk level going to go up to, from this 10% change?

8.2 ?

8.5 ?

I know one you chemistry guys will chime in with the correct answer.

:)
Click to expand...

And the answer is!: (90x8) + (10x14) / 100 = 8.6
 
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