What's your favorite brand salt mix ?

[Allmost]

I understand the science behind it, I just choose to get low nutrient levels without carbon dosing.

thanks

I dont judge different methods, they are all great in their own way. what counts is getting to the final result and I am glad that you understand and respect my and many others method now as well.

PS. seems like you employ another method, to lower nutrients to a point where corals look good, and then feed the tank ... and not have algae ISsues so at heart, both methods are very similar.

 

[sirreal63]

Allmost, this may be a good example of what I was talking about with the endless variety of unnecessary products from Kent and others. I found this while browsing and the surprising thing is this isn't even all of the bottled nonsense they offered.

 

[Allmost]

lol wow yes, those I can not disagree with
specially the foods !

I am guilty of having tried them ... [all ]

 

[Jopalmighty]

I use coral pro. I've been planing on changing to io reef crystals to save a little money over time but I'm too scared to switch. Maybe next batch I'll pull the trigger. I do have the brown residue in my mixing container that people talk about and I am hoping to get rid of that with io.

 

[Lubeck]

Salinity here. If I wasn't lazy I would stick with esv

 

[albano]

I do have the brown residue in my mixing container that people talk about and I am hoping to get rid of that with io.

I don't think the switch will help! I believe that IO and RC both leave the residue

 

[psykobowler]

I found only reef crystals leave the residue. I use a bag of each weekly.

 

[Feelingsalty33]

Tropic marin

 

[Nanook]

I don't think the switch will help! I believe that IO and RC both leave the residue

No, IO doesn't leave the residue that RC does. Our LFS was out of 200g boxes of IO a couple years ago, so I mixed up 225g in my tall clear-white water holder and it's been dis colored ever since . I've used IO for 14 years and never got the dark residue that RC leaves behind.

 

[Ty1e]

Reefers best salt for me.

 

[Ty1e]

Aquavitro salinity leaves crazy amounts of white residue, can't even get it off the maxi jet pump or buckets.

 

[SeasonedReefer]

My LFS used to carry Tropic Marin and within the last year or so moved over to Reef crystals. (Changed distributors would be my guess) IMO Reef crystals is complete garbage! My first 200 gal box I purchased would not mix for s***. It left white particulates on the top of the water and on the sides of the bucket, not to mention it had this scuzzy looking brown foam on top of the water. It just would not mix! I literally let my water sit In my brute mixing can for over a week @ 76 degrees with a mag drive 7 circulating the water and the particulates would not dissolve! It almost looked like pvc shavings thats how big these particles were! Now, I've been reef keeping for quite sometime. I clearly know what I'm doing here and honestly I think Reef crystals clearly has a problem. I've talked to several other reefers in the area that had the same issues. Bad batch? Maybe? But regardless this product should have never left the facility. I refuse to use RC and now order my salt online. I hate to do that to my LFS but he says he can no longer get Tropic Marin. One last thing I wanted to mention about Reef crystals is it drys your hands out. I know this sounds silly, but after mixing my salt my hands are so dry it's not even funny. I know it's not scientific and sounds silly but with Tropic Marin if you mix by hand your hands feel nice and smooth. Almost rejuvenated. Crazy I know but..... If it make my hands feel like that how abrasive is this crap on my fish and corals? I'm not a scientist or marine biologist but its just a thought.

 

[rogerwilco357]

I get that soft hands feel from my reef crystals . I tried a lot of the fancy stuff and came back to IO's RC. The Red Sea Pro didn't work out for me mainly because of the alk issues and how high they where at 15dkh..thought it was a bad batch but they sent me another one after mixing it and putting it in the brute it yielded the same results ..

 

[jdamon]

Anybody using Red Sea regular? They seem to have given that one a facelift recently, as it has the lower alk and calcium that is favored here in the SPS forum.

 

[Allmost]

Ive used IO for years, only complaint was having to pull the alk line for a day every WC.

Now I use Fritz salt. The alk mixes to 8 dkh, wich is still a smidge high for me but I could care less so long as i dont have to fiddle with my doser anymore. It mixes quickly for me, once its clear it goes in. My sps seem to like it too.

Fritz ? never seen them locally, where do u buy it if you dont mind me asking.

Id be okay with KH of 8 !

 

[tmc1313]

Regular Instant Ocean for me. I just add some mag and calcium to it.

 

[Jfannin]

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.

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


Sorry for not responding back sooner. I actually forgot to fallow the thread. I havent used the Kent yet, but it did come in a few days ago. I should be mixing it up after this weekend and ill be sure to post how well it mixes. Of course ill post the numbers once its mixed. I wont able to post actual effects on corals just because because their are to many new things that will be happening with my tank all at once that will play a major role in the corals, such as all new lighting ect.... But the mixing results will for sure be posted.

I always mix the same way. Someone posted that adding a lot of salt to a little bit of water is bad. Yes its not good and not the best way to mix salt. It can actually cause perspiration and this can cause calcium to drop out of solution as the water becomes saturated locally. Long story short, this is how you end up with a Calcium Carbonate issue. A decent read that relates to this can be can here: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-07/rhf/

I have 2 40g brute containers that i use and they are connected to my 7 Stage RODI unit. I use one for FW and the other for SW. twice a year both get used for SW. I my self always and recommend very slowly your salt mix to the water and slower is better. I always have a pump running and water temp at about 76 degrees for my temp. An increased temp increases perspiration plus my system happens to run at 76 degrees. I tend to do this Fri night after work and then do my WC Saturday. My point is dont ever just dump a hole bag of salt to small amount of water.

 

[fishguy597]

I use oceanic . I use to go back and forth with tm until they had some bad batches with high alk. plus the last few times I used it there was a white film on top that I would have to strain out. For the money tm is I expect it to be perfect every time ,doubt ill use it again.
I like the oceanic since it mixes nice and clear with in 10 min. Only downfall is its a little low on the mag. other than that I like it.

 

[jayjerk]

tropi marin bioactive

 

[Dolmo5000]

I use Red Sea regular. Love the stuff. Keep my Alk at 7 and never have to worry about spikes. Mixes nice and clear, and quickly. That residue doesn't bother me. For sps tanks focused on color, it's a very good choice.