Which salt to get, and why

[JJIM]

I have narrowed a few salt choices that I would like feedback on. Hopefully I can get some scientific information/data coupled with anecdotal experiences from reefers. These are the salts I am considering at present.

1. Instant Ocean ~$40 for a 200 gallon box
2. Red Sea Coral Pro Salt ~$75 for a 175 gallon bucket
3. D-D H2Ocean ~ $80 for a 23.3 Kg bucket
4. Tropic Marin Pro ~ $90 for a 200 gallon bucket

Q1- Outside the obvious, price, is there a reason to buy the more expensive salts? I am looking for a clean salt that is consistent from batch to batch.

Q2- After the salt is in ones aquarium for a period of time, will the numbers (Alk, Ca, Mg.) not alway come back into balance? At which time the lighting and aeration is what affects the water chemistry. Thus, why buy a salt with a higher Ca, Mg, or Alk concentration?

On a prior post ( http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2150298&page=2 ) I saw these numbers. Not sure of the accuracy in data, but it does show significant differences between the mixes. I put those in bold I am considering.

Red Sea Coral Pro 490 7 1300
Marine Environment 480 7.5 1450
Aquatic Gardens 430 8 1240
Red Sea 400 8 1300
Oceanic 580 8.5 1650
Tropic Marin Pro Reef 450 8.5 1380
CoraLife 560 9 1380
Crystal Sea Marinemix 340 9 1050
Crystal Sea Marinemix Bio-Assay 340 9 1050
Tunze Reef Salt 420 9.5 1350
D-D H2Ocean 450 10 1380
OceanPure 510 10 1320
SeaChem Marine Salt 500 10 1400
SeaChem Reef Salt 540 10 1450
Tropic Marin 375 10 1230
Brightwell Neomarine 370 11 1140
Instant Ocean (new) 400 11 1350
Kent 540 11 1200
Reefer's Best 420 11 1200
Reef Crystals (new) 490 13 1440

I have been reefing for 10+ years, but I am always seeking to expand my general knowledge. I appreciate all your feedback in helping me tease this out.

 

[Pablos RSM 450]

I have narrowed a few salt choices that I would like feedback on. Hopefully I can get some scientific information/data coupled with anecdotal experiences from reefers. These are the salts I am considering at present.

1. Instant Ocean ~$40 for a 200 gallon box
2. Red Sea Coral Pro Salt ~$75 for a 175 gallon bucket
3. D-D H2Ocean ~ $80 for a 23.3 Kg bucket
4. Tropic Marin Pro ~ $90 for a 200 gallon bucket

Q1- Outside the obvious, price, is there a reason to buy the more expensive salts? I am looking for a clean salt that is consistent from batch to batch.

Q2- After the salt is in ones aquarium for a period of time, will the numbers (Alk, Ca, Mg.) not alway come back into balance? At which time the lighting and aeration is what affects the water chemistry. Thus, why buy a salt with a higher Ca, Mg, or Alk concentration?

On a prior post ( http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2150298&page=2 ) I saw these numbers. Not sure of the accuracy in data, but it does show significant differences between the mixes. I put those in bold I am considering.

Red Sea Coral Pro 490 7 1300
Marine Environment 480 7.5 1450
Aquatic Gardens 430 8 1240
Red Sea 400 8 1300
Oceanic 580 8.5 1650
Tropic Marin Pro Reef 450 8.5 1380
CoraLife 560 9 1380
Crystal Sea Marinemix 340 9 1050
Crystal Sea Marinemix Bio-Assay 340 9 1050
Tunze Reef Salt 420 9.5 1350
D-D H2Ocean 450 10 1380
OceanPure 510 10 1320
SeaChem Marine Salt 500 10 1400
SeaChem Reef Salt 540 10 1450
Tropic Marin 375 10 1230
Brightwell Neomarine 370 11 1140
Instant Ocean (new) 400 11 1350
Kent 540 11 1200
Reefer's Best 420 11 1200
Reef Crystals (new) 490 13 1440

I have been reefing for 10+ years, but I am always seeking to expand my general knowledge. I appreciate all your feedback in helping me tease this out.

I have tested many brands and posted my results on the forums and youtube. From your options I would recommend Red Sea Coral Pro. I had issues with Instant Ocean (Regular and Reef Crystals) super low on magnesium and when you contact IO they will request you send them 4 cups of salt for them to test at your cost. I have tested Red Sea Coral Pro, CoraLife, Tropic Marin Pro Reef, Red Sea, SeaChem Reef Salt, Instant Ocean, and Reef Crystals. Best salts so far are Red Sea Coral Pro for the premium salts and Coralife for the cheaper salts. You can check out some of my test results.

https://youtu.be/ha_-eFjLIJw (Instant Ocean vs Coralife)

https://youtu.be/k-COeM32hmY (Red Sea Coral Pro vs Tropic Marin Pro Reef)
https://youtu.be/k-COeM32hmY (Seachem Reef Salt vs Reef Crystals)

 

[BlackTip]

I tested SeaChem Reef Salt few times, and I found the alkalinity to be around 8.5 dkh. Mixed at 35ppt for 12 hours.

 

[tyleratl]

I have used Coralife salt in several tanks over the years. I just got back into the hobby and went back to Coralife. It is inexpensive, mixes very clean, and seems to provide everything my tank needs. I don't see any reason to spend more on any of the premium mixes.

I don't dose anything except for Seachem Reef Builder for alkalinity. I just keep up with my water changes and that seems to be enough.

 

[JJIM]

For what it's worth, this would be for a reef tank with SPS and LPS corals. The fish are secondary to the corals.

I know that Randy Holmes-Farley uses IO, or at least he did up until a few years ago. He also did a quick write up on this thread as to why he likes certain salts, in particular IO and Tropic Marin Pro Reef. Maybe this has changed in the past few years, and if so, please help me understand.

 

[Potatohead]

If it's a full on SPS tank you are going to be dosing anyway in which case all salts sort of become equal. Most people run their alk in the 7 - 9 range with SPS tanks so I'd probably use a salt in that range or where you want to run your alk.

BTW - Your numbers on the RSCP are not correct, that stuff wouldn't dream of mixing at 7, it's more like 12.

 

[JJIM]

Those were not my numbers, but maybe my initial post wasn't very clear. There was a link that was associated with those numbers. I too did notice some numbers that looked quite suspicious, and not at all in line with what I have read in the past.

 

[GimpyFin]

IMO, I would pick a salt that has levels close to what you want your tank to be at. Also, the online comparison charts for salt mixes are generally quite dated and contain some inaccurate measurements, IME. Manufacturer websites often have more accurate data. I like Kent because of the lower alk but slightly buffered cal and mag. At 1.025, I get around 550 cal, 1400 mag, and 8.5 alk pretty consistently.

 

[bertoni]

Lots of Tanks of the Month run on IO, but all salt products seem to have issues from time to time.

The alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium parameters won't "come into balance" in any meaningful sense. Corals consume them, mostly alkalinity calcium, and so the parameters will tend to drop over time at a reasonable fixed ratio. Higher initial parameters might allow you to save a bit on supplements, but not very much.

 

[JJIM]

Ahh, there we go. Well said Johnathan.

I always wondered if one is buying a premium salt mix might it buy an extra day or two without adding supplements? I get that all SPS/LPS tanks will need to be dosed. I do water changes weekly, thus outside of using Kalk I like to keep it simple.

When factoring in the salt premium cost to save a day or two of adding supplements is it worth it? This does not seem likely.

I had been using Reef Crystals, and before that I was using Red Sea Coral Pro. I liked RS Coral Pro better that RC. RC seemed to leave more brown residue in the container. To me, it appeared to be a cleaner salt.

Anyone able to provide some input on Tropic Marin Pro Reef? The resident chemist RHF mentioned IO and Tropic Marin Pro Reef as the two he liked, but he was sticking with IO. Just wondering if there is any appreciable difference between that two that you could justify paying 2-3 times the cost.

 

[bertoni]

I think an extra day is optimistic for all but very large changes. There's not going to be a savings cost unless you choose a very expensive supplementation scheme, like the calcium acetate products (one-parts).

 

[nereefpat]

Just wondering if there is any appreciable difference between that two that you could justify paying 2-3 times the cost.

Not as long as baking soda and pickling lime are cheap. I don't mean to sound snarky, but I think this is what you're getting at. For the extra price of some of the premium salts, you can use that money on adding alk and Ca, and the leftover can go toward coral frags and such. just my opinion.

 

[tmz]

I've used Coralife for over 10 years.

 

[C.Eymann]

I am a long time Coralife salt user as well, its probably the only product Coralife makes these days that isn't complete rubbish. I have used HW, Tunze, RSCP. HW and Tunze were great, RSCP had way too high of levels for me, also $$$ and not able to find it locally.

Went back to good ol' Coralife, cheap, widely/locally available. Always mixes at a consistent Cal- 450 alk-8.5 MG-1350.
Its a wonderful salt IMO.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

I use IO. I've used expensive salts such as RSCP, Kent and Tropic Marin. I found that the more expensive salts were a little more consistent, but I still had to adjust at least Alk & Mag before a WC. I find my SPS do better when my WC water closely matches where my tank is at.

I figured since I'm adjusting anyways, I might as well just go with IO. I feel my tank is cleaner now with IO (less cyano and algae) and my SPS are more healthy than ever.

 

[nmotz]

I use IO. I've used expensive salts such as RSCP, Kent and Tropic Marin. I found that the more expensive salts were a little more consistent, but I still had to adjust at least Alk & Mag before a WC. I find my SPS do better when my WC water closely matches where my tank is at.

I figured since I'm adjusting anyways, I might as well just go with IO. I feel my tank is cleaner now with IO (less cyano and algae) and my SPS are more healthy than ever.

All of the salts in the hobby, from IO to designer reef salts that cost twice as much, are really not all that dissimilar. The way that companies market these products is designed (engineered, in fact) to tempt consumers based on well determined criteria that normally make people want to buy stuff. These criteria may include: the color of the box (for real), some type of claim that the product will outdo the competition, a competitive price point, good reviews, something special about the way the salt is produced, and on and on.

If you spend long enough sifting through opinions about salt, it's hard to come to a different conclusion than this: salt is salt, and really doesn't make or break anyone. Regardless of how its marketed, all salt brands do pretty much the same thing.

Everyone is going to have different experiences. Some people get a bad batch of IO and are permanently against IO even though there are many TOTM quality tanks that use it. The same is true of almost every other brand.

What matters is application. This is where looking at the parameters comes in handy. For me, I can't use Red Sea Coral Pro because the alkalinity is through the roof (above 12) and it screws up my tank chemistry. Other people might want to avoid dosing by using this brand of salt. That's just one example of what I'm talking about.

The only other personal observation I'll add is that cheaper brands seem to leave a bit more "crud" in the mixing bucket while more expensive salts mix a little easier. That isn't a big deal to me, but might be to someone else. Just food for thought.

 

[Gagonzalez]

I have used ESV B-Ionic for years now and I have thought about changing to reduce cost but when it comes down to it, I don't want to risk the control I get by mixing everything myself.

I have not had a single issue in the 3+ years I have used ESV B-Ionic. I guess for the extra cost, I am just buying myself piece of mind. The way I see it, it already cost a fortune to be in the hobby as it is. What's an extra $40 every 6 months???

 

[ReefTeacher]

I think there are two things at play here. I used Tropic Marin for a few years. As a chemist, I was pleased with their halogen profile at the time; particularly when a lot of salts were showing that their fluoride levels were low and bromide was practically absent. The latter was done purposely for aquarist who use ozone, as bromine can cause problems in the presence of ozone. So theoretically I was pleased to have NSW levels of these biologically important compounds.

But at twice the price did I see a difference? Not discernable. Maybe our creatures get their halogens from food instead of the water, and the concentrations make little difference. My data is old, and I know that IO has been reformulated, but I suspect that bromide is still low since so many public aquaria use ozone. Still, I switched to IO simply for price, and did more frequent water changes. It does mix a little dirtier, but my tank liked the extra water changes and responded very positively.

So I guess we need to look on paper at concentrations, in the bucket during mixing, but most importantly at our tanks to see what is working. Also what you supplement and your water change frequency might come into play. This summer I switched from plain IO to Reef Crystals because I moved my tank and had to sell my corals and anemones. I got a bucket of RC for trade at the local store. So far so good, and I like the results for a reasonable price.....but WAY too many factors changed in the move for me to say it was the salt.