What's your favorite brand salt mix ?

[Dapg8gt]

I switched to of all salts Kent. It was on a recommendation of a fellow old school reefer and it's cheap. Been consistent for the last 6 months. Mixes clear in about an hour and no residue left behind.

Switched from IO. Didn't like always having to dose each batch. I never seemed to get the levels stated above. Cal was around 370 max. Alk was 11-12 and mag was usually below 1100.


Kents numbers
Alk 9-10
Cal 450
Mag 1350ish
What I'm not too happy about is the potassium is at about 500. a little high so since the switch my levels have been 450 and a little above. I havent noticed any negatives but I have read some negatives on elevated levels and sps.

 

[Peter Eichler]

I go back and forth between IO and RC, usually RC since with the LFS 2 time a year group buy it's super cheap. I'd love it if only the alkalinity was lower. But, shutting my reactor down over night usually fixes matters.

 

[basser1]

Been using Red Sea Coral Pro for the last couple of years. I have a small tank, 29 gallons, so I don't mind the extra cost.

My SPS look great with fantastic growth!

 

[Arkayology]

I've used TM and TMPR for the last three years. Both have worked very well for me.

 

[slimm]

I have been using RC. So far so good.

 

[Real Reefer]

RC here

 

[Jettareefer]

Thanks everyone for all the input!

For the people who mentioned the ESV salt mixing quickly that is awesome attribute, from what I can tell you have everything separate bags and you mix it to your desired levels ? Correct me if I am wrong I have only seen pictures online. I still have a hard time justifying spending double. But it sounds amazing.

Redsea pro salt I have heard mixed reviews people loved it or had problems while using it.(I have personal friend who like it a lot but he is a softie/Lps guy)

Kent is always a good choice I have used the buffers and supplements since I started salt water when I was in grade school hah.

Instant ocean still pulling my hand the price is right, it seems most have been using it for years . For me that speaks for the quality.

Let's keep it going!
-Addison

 

[Jfannin]

IO and RC leaves a very bad brown residue on everything in the mixing containers. Ill never use it again because i believe the brown crap ends up in the DT as well. Ive had issues in the past from this.

ESV does come with each part of the mix in separate containers. 2 of witch are in powered form bagged up. the other 2 parts come in liquid form in 1 gallon containers. The mixing is easy and is a nice and clean result. Can say it worth the cost but its better then IO or RC

Im going to be trying Kent Reef as soon as it come in. i actually just ordered it earlier today. I will be depending on WC for my dosing and as a major part of my filtering / export. So we'll see.

 

[MBMAX]

Red Sea coral pro here

 

[Jettareefer]

Jfannin:IO and RC leaves a very bad brown residue on everything in the mixing containers. Ill never use it again because i believe the brown crap ends up in the DT as well. Ive had issues in the past from this.

ESV does come with each part of the mix in separate containers. 2 of witch are in powered form bagged up. the other 2 parts come in liquid form in 1 gallon containers. The mixing is easy and is a nice and clean result. Can say it worth the cost but its better then IO or RC

Im going to be trying Kent Reef as soon as it come in. i actually just ordered it earlier today. I will be depending on WC for my dosing and as a major part of my filtering / export. So we'll see.[/QUOTE]


Let me know how the kent reef work out whenever you get around to trying it out.

 

[sirreal63]

IO and RC leaves a very bad brown residue on everything in the mixing containers. Ill never use it again because i believe the brown crap ends up in the DT as well. Ive had issues in the past from this.

Im going to be trying Kent Reef as soon as it come in. i actually just ordered it earlier today. I will be depending on WC for my dosing and as a major part of my filtering / export. So we'll see.

With IO I don't get the residue but did with RC, and this seems to be the norm. The brown residue is thought to be from the chelators that RC has and IO does not. RC also adds vitamins that are not needed in the tank and can be a problem for having mixed saltwater on hand.

I never used Kent salt but I have a rule against any Kent or Brightwell products in my tank. I know a lot of people have used Kent salt with no real issues over the years.

 

[Jettareefer]

Sirreall63 Just out of curiosity why have you ruled against bright well products ?

 

[sirreal63]

They employ gimmick marketing. Look at the myriad of products they offer and ask yourself why is that needed? They will gladly try to convince you that these products are necessary and eagerly take your money while not actually providing you with anything your tank really needs. Shiny labels and hyped up pseudo-science and repackaged existing products does not create a healthy tank, it creates a healthy bank account for Kent and Brightwell. You can have a healthy tank without adding all of those crazy products. A perfect example of this is MB7. I encourage you to try and keep bacteria out of your tank, you cannot do it, so why buy a "supposedly" live bacteria strain and add it to your tank?

 

[dowtish]

I have noticed that if I mix my salt for 20 minutes and let it dissolve and mix well, and then turn on my heater I dont get hardly any brown residue, as compared to heating the water prior to adding the salt.

BTW, I use Red Sea salt. the regular Red Sea, not the Coral Pro. I like that it mixes at 8dkh

 

[jda]

Take good pictures of your brightest, and most contrasting SPS before, and after, switching to Kent salt. IMO, and many will agree, that the brightest will not pop as well as they did on other salts, and the contrasts will not contrast as well. IMO, it is excess metal in the salt, but what do I know? I can run some metal-remoiving resin after mixing a fresh batch and it will turn colors - which do not happen with other salts. In any case, and I am probably wrong about the cause, I can tell a substantial difference with kent and coralife salt, which I believe to be equally bad for SPS, so I avoid them. I cannot tell any difference with any other type of coral or fish using Kent. IO is the same money (mostly), so I just stick with it.

I also avoid any salt with the bio stuff in it.

I have never got any brown residue with any salt as long as the water volume is in place before I add the salt, and the salt is mixed (or bags added). I have had issues adding 44G of salt to 10G of water and then adding more water later, and stuff like that. I do it like this... dry mix salt, if not in a bag equal in volume => full volume of water => salt mix in => mix for 20-30 minutes => heater in the water.

 

[Allmost]

They employ gimmick marketing. Look at the myriad of products they offer and ask yourself why is that needed? They will gladly try to convince you that these products are necessary and eagerly take your money while not actually providing you with anything your tank really needs. Shiny labels and hyped up pseudo-science and repackaged existing products does not create a healthy tank, it creates a healthy bank account for Kent and Brightwell. You can have a healthy tank without adding all of those crazy products. A perfect example of this is MB7. I encourage you to try and keep bacteria out of your tank, you cannot do it, so why buy a "supposedly" live bacteria strain and add it to your tank?

oh come on !

this is an old argument, which we have gone over many times.

sure, there are a million ways to run a reef tank, but really ! why judge other methods that get result ? sure, u cant keep bacteria out of tank, but how do u make sure you have bacteria X in your tank ? how about those that see benefit ? we are ALL wrong ? science is wrong too ? ....

I personally am against bright well, and dont use their products. my reasoning is different though. I do not like how they copy other ppls research, and name it as theirs.

sorry, didnt want to derail the thread, but these comments really get to me ...

 

[sirreal63]

Granted, however if you get results with or without a product, then how do you know the product you are adding is doing anything? If you did not get results without adding it then it would be probable the product is doing something. It is kind of a simple thing to deduce.

Which of their products are necessary?

 

[GroktheCube]

Thanks everyone for all the input!

For the people who mentioned the ESV salt mixing quickly that is awesome attribute, from what I can tell you have everything separate bags and you mix it to your desired levels ? Correct me if I am wrong I have only seen pictures online. I still have a hard time justifying spending double. But it sounds amazing.

It comes as solid sodium chloride, solid magnesium sulfate, and two liquids containing cal, alk, and minor/trace elements. It's slightly higher alk/cal than NSW, but pretty close.

It's more expensive than IO, but the added convenience makes it worth it for me personally . I don't think it has any magic that makes corals grow better, but it does mix up with params identical to my system in a few minutes, doesn't need any dry mixing, has no batch to batch variation, and always mixes clear without leaving any residue in my mixing brute.

 

[Allmost]

Granted, however if you get results with or without a product, then how do you know the product you are adding is doing anything? If you did not get results without adding it then it would be probable the product is doing something. It is kind of a simple thing to deduce.

Which of their products are necessary?

okay never mind, I see how u will try to turn this around and change the discussion ...

dosing organic carbon is an example ... but if you have not tried it, I dont think it would be wise to comment about it, right ? ask those that have tried vodka dosing, and also have tried dosing something like Zeostart ...

I know your corals can not look better than they do now as they are just perfect, but if by luck the universe changes, and you do something different and your corals start looking better than before then how would u make a conclusion ? just luck ? or does that mean u werent doing it right before ? answer is none of the above for me, for me, it means the product did that. or what ever the change was.

I run alot of experiments, I have experimented with every single product I use in my tank, I take months trying each product. I started with simple berlin, and took my reef to next level. there are pictures on here of my tank from many years back with just berlin style.

 

[sirreal63]

Neither Kent or Brightwell are responsible for the Zeo method and have nothing to do with Zeo, but you already know that. I have been carbon dosing since 2005, way before it was cool. I don't see your point? They did not invent carbon dosing. Exactly which Kent or Brightwell product is needed in your tank? The answer is simple, none of them, so why buy them? Most of the time the same exact thing is available without buying a shiny bottle for way too much money.

No one is attacking Zeo and it has nothing to do with Kent or Brightwell.