what is the best salt
 

what is the best salt out there for a reef tank with good trace minarils ?

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1714505

Depends, what are you looking for in a salt?

I use Tropic Marin Pro and have used the standard Tropic Marin. I've used Tropic Marin for 19 or the 20 years of reefing. Everytime I use something else my tank does not do as well.

I like red sea pro because its made from actual ocean salt

I mix Oceanic 50/50 with Instant Ocean. Oceanic has high calcium and trace elements, but the IO kind of balance the final saltwater mix. This mix is quite common in my area.

We don't know much about the trace mineral content of salt products, really. Some tests have been done, but the contents of the salt could change quite a bit from batch to batch.

just finished my last batch of the old red sea coral pro salt mix. It worked good for me. Dissolved quickly and gave good results. I'm going to start with the new version of red sea coral pro in my next water change and i heard that it has higher alk so we'll see.

I like red sea pro because its made from actual ocean salt


FWIW, it is not just dried ocean water, despite what you might read or hear. One cannot make an artificial salt mix that way. All they seem to really claim is that the sodium chlroide comes from the Red Sea. All of the other ingredients presumably have other sources.

In reality, I think almost all sodium chloride basically derives from dried ocean water in some fashion. So I don't see the difference here, despite the marketing by Red Sea.

Tropic Marine Pro and DD H2Ocean

red sea PRO....it comes in the black container....works great for me

I like IO reef crystals. I honestly think i could see a change in one WC.

+1 on the higher Alk of the new Red Sea Coral Pro. I've had to dial back the two part dosing since using this salt. Be prepared for some serious residue in your mixing container, though.

After using RC for sometime, I tried Seachem Salinity. I like how much easier it mixes up without residual leftovers. Is better for the added cost? Hard to say...probably paying extra for the fancy lab test report stuck the side of the bucket.

FWIW, I choose to use Instant Ocean. I've not been convinced anything else is better. :)

Hi Randy, Good to have a chemists opinion! I just wondered why IO instead of RC since you have a reef tank.
Hope you don't mind me asking since I've been using RC.

Thank you much

I'm gonna finish my DD H2Ocean bucket and return to Marine Environment. Was able to grow coraline algae with ME but none appeared for the DD salts. I do not dose anything with the 2 salts, just relying on water change.

I just wondered why IO instead of RC since you have a reef tank.
Hope you don't mind me asking since I've been using RC.





Here's my standard commentary on salts. Some of it may be a bit dated as I've not kept up on every formulation change to every brand:


I do not think there is a "best" salt mix. Nearly all of them will work fine as long as you know their pros and cons.

I don't want excessive borate, which leaves out Seachem.

I don't want vitamins or anything else organic in my mix (because I doubt their utility, they degrade with time to who knows what, bacteria may thrive on them as I store new salt water for a substantial period, they are totally undescribed with respect to amounts or identity, they are often not naturally present in natural seawater at appreciable levels, and because I've occasionally had them mess with my skimmer), so that tosses out some like Reef Crystals, hW Marinemix Plus BioElements, Kent, Coralife, and Nutri-SeaWater.

I don't want excessive calcium (long term use of limewater as I use drives up calcium, so I do not want it starting high), so that tosses out a bunch, such as Kent, Seachem, Coralife and Oceanic.

There are certain companies that I will not support due to their misleading claims and/or product lines. That tosses out a few which I won't detail here since it is my personal thought as opposed to a specific issue with their salt mix.

I won't use certain lines of natural seawater due to excessive metals in it.

That only leaves a few to choose from, such as Instant Ocean and Tropic Marin Pro. The remaining ones might all be fine for me, but IO is lower in cost, especially if you get it when it goes on sale (which it frequently does). It also has a very long track record of success in many aquaria with relatively few concerning issues of bad batches.

Good info thanks and point well taken I have a few friends that are super die hard IO followers that have grown amazing sps reefs. My self in the past I have used red sea on my current tank I am trying out IO

Thank you so much Randy
 

Best post ever on salt! I really appreciate your time and expertise. thanks again!

Talking of salt does one get the exact amount of water after its mixed. Some people in South Africa claim they get like maybe 450 to 500L when its stated to make up 600L. One aquarium shop changes to Brightwell salt as they say gives the exact amount as stated at salinity of 1025. A friend of mine started using the Trpoic Marin Bio Activ salt and his tank looks amazing, too expensive for me. I just purchased the Red Sea Pro and got a bucket of Sera Salt this week. The Sera was using for years and worked for me and is very cheap. Red Sea is my first time going to use and want to see the results.

I've never measured how much I get, but from what I've seen others report, some of the manufacturers are either a bit overly optimistic about their salts, or expect the salinity to be less than 35 ppt when mixed.

Interesting new datum to add to the choice:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2011/3/aafeature

"Red Sea salt, on the other hand, does appear to bring with it a not insignificant bacterial load. Once again, there was little increase over 5 days, indicating that sufficient nutrients for growth were not available under these "sterile" conditions. What is so special about Red Sea salt? This salt, uniquely among the six mixes tested, is made, at least partially, by drying authentic seawater. Thus, it appears to retain some viable bacteria from the drying process. The other five salt mixes are prepared from mixing strictly chemical sources of the components. "

Yes, good point. I'm not sure whether it is a pro or con, but it is a difference. :)

Also, the data in Figure 13 would seem to support my concern for bacteria growing in Reef Crystals, although whether that extends to other salt mixes (with or without added organics) we do not know.

When I started in the hobby (10 or so years ago) I started with Red Sea by default.
(the regular one)
It happened to be at the pet store. :)


Had great results and used it for years. Switched to RC, due to price, and have not been as happy or had as great of tanks.

With that said.... anyone know the major differences between Red Sea and the Pro version?

What about esv salt ? Anyone ?

I'm happy with tropic pro but price yikes! So I
Going to try esv salt soon

Jake