What salt should I get?
- Thread starter Plankton
- Start date
Mike Yasin
Guest
I use RS Blue Bucket. Always a consistent mix for me. I run 36ppt and Alk @ 8.1-8.4.... What I like most about it is that there is not a lot of fuss with variability between batches
rygh
Guest
I use regular Instant Ocean (not crystals), and tweak it by adding a bit of Magnesium. But I have a large tank and I really
like the cost plus the 4 x 50 gallon bags in the big 200G box. Plus I have a lot of softies so like the extra Alk.
That said, I usually recomment RS blue bucket. Reasonable price, good reliable salt. Very close to normal sea water.
No need for tweaking Mg like I do.
The "premium" salts have advantages, but have issues with mixing and variability. Plus some have organics.
So I usually recommend avoiding those.
like the cost plus the 4 x 50 gallon bags in the big 200G box. Plus I have a lot of softies so like the extra Alk.
That said, I usually recomment RS blue bucket. Reasonable price, good reliable salt. Very close to normal sea water.
No need for tweaking Mg like I do.
The "premium" salts have advantages, but have issues with mixing and variability. Plus some have organics.
So I usually recommend avoiding those.
xCry0x
Supporting Member
I use reef crystals.
I used to use red sea coral pro for a long time. But then found it hard to justify the cost when seeing how many very very successful tanks just run regular IO or reef crystals.
That said, the cost isn't really THAT much higher in the grand scheme of things. I just struggled to have an answer for what I actually gained by spending more.
I used to use red sea coral pro for a long time. But then found it hard to justify the cost when seeing how many very very successful tanks just run regular IO or reef crystals.
That said, the cost isn't really THAT much higher in the grand scheme of things. I just struggled to have an answer for what I actually gained by spending more.
musclebenz
Supporting Member
I am using Red Sea Coral Pro
fishy408
Supporting Member
I just switched from Red Sea Blue to Reef Crystals. Neptune Aquatics doesn't sell Red Sea Blue so I would have to drive to AC which is 30minutes away. Some days I am just to lazy to drive for salt, so I went with something that every Petco has. Once my tank is more established with corals, I might try a new salt that Neptune carries. It's about convenience for me.
H2OPlayar
Supporting Member
I go to Clearwater as it is the closest LFS to me, and they carry IO and use it in their tanks, so less harsh transitions for fish and coral for my system is my theory.
You should use IO over RC if you dose Ca/Alk. The values in RC are way elevated (and inconsistent) and made for people with very low consumption who don’t want to dose and just supply Ca/Alk by doing water changes. But this results in Alk swings. It is not that IO is for fish tanks and RC is for reefs like a lot of people think.
Larger for-profit operations have different constraints and different advantages than the average hobbyist. They probably also don’t feed the best food, use the higher end pumps, care as much about smart controllers, care about how their tanks and stands look, etc. In short they treat it like a business, not a hobby.
For them, a little cheaper salt makes them a little more money in the large scales they go through. It doesn’t really matter if it takes longer to dissolve, leaves a residue, doesn’t have stable parameters after being made up, or has to be manually tested and supplemented before use when you are doing large batches used quickly in large systems with a professional staff.
Larger for-profit operations have different constraints and different advantages than the average hobbyist. They probably also don’t feed the best food, use the higher end pumps, care as much about smart controllers, care about how their tanks and stands look, etc. In short they treat it like a business, not a hobby.
For them, a little cheaper salt makes them a little more money in the large scales they go through. It doesn’t really matter if it takes longer to dissolve, leaves a residue, doesn’t have stable parameters after being made up, or has to be manually tested and supplemented before use when you are doing large batches used quickly in large systems with a professional staff.
iani
Supporting Member
I use RC as well, but only do ~2 gallons a day water change in about a 170 gallon system. I like it because I make up 40 gallons at a time and dump a bag in which gives me the perfect salinity each time. I guess it would be the same with IO but then I would have to dose mag more often.
