TAD Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 What brands do you all use. What are the major differences that you find with the different salts. Is some salt good for FO but not as good for a full reef. Do some salts make the need for dosing your corals less frequent or more frequent Price is a major factor for some but what are you really saving if its an inferior salt. Is it mostly just marketing? How consistent is each product? Has salt gotten better over the years?? If so how? I cant even remember what salt I used to use 15-20 years ago when I used to be in this hobby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonH Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 There are definitely salts that are geared for FO or Reef tanks. For example, the makers of Instant Ocean also make Reef Crystals (which I have used for years). IO for FO tanks and Reef Crystals for reef tanks. Reef tanks require more trace elements and higher calcium, so it's a bit more expensive. There was another post on here recently (can't remember where) that talked about salt and linked to another site/post that had data on most of the major salt brands - was a good read. Consistency is a whole other issue. In theory it should be very constant - it's just a combination of ingredients that should be easy to duplicate. But there are been several salts recently - including Reef Crystals - that have had some consistency issues recently. Surf the forums and see if you can find the post about salt - I'll take a look and see if I can find it as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wobble Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 I think this is the link Jason was referring to http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1287118 That should answer most of your questions and more. Very good read! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonH Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 That's the one - thanks, Wobble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonH Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Just finished reading much of that thread - especially the last several pages. Looks like good old IO and Reef Crystals still get the popular nod - for FO and Reef respectively. Seems that Reef Crystals recently reformulated with increased calcium levels, making it test at good levels for Calcium, Alk, and Mag. With the broad availability and low price - makes it a very attractive choice. IO has always been a solid fish only choice and tests very consistant from bucket to bucket. The early trend made the SeaChem Reef salt look attractive, but looks like I'll be sticking with Reef Crystals for now. I remember a post recently indicating the Reef Crystals might be discontinued or that the company making it might be going under, but I guess that never came to pass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 I use Seachem Reef Salt and really like the results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonH Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 If I were going to switch, it would be to the SeaChem. The one knock on RC seems to be a history if inconsistancy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wobble Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Reef Crystals had some problems with consistancy awhile back. From what I understand these issues have been resolved years ago. Seachem also had some issues with elevated levels of boron. Apparently those issues have also been resolved. I've used both with good results. The only reason I'm using Reef Crystals right now is I got a great deal on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 I started with Oceanic and it was great for awhile. The alk is pretty low and the params started to get really inconsistant so i switched to Red Sea Coral Pro. That salt is great! I just got a good deal on 3 buckets of Reef Crystals so i'm going to be trying that soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbatman99 Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 This is good info, thanks! Which LFS carries the bags of salt instead of the buckets? I checked Fanta-Seas but they just have the bigger buckets but I don't need that much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stylaster Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Ive been using Tropic Marin Reef Pro lately, i like that one a lot, a bit on the spendy side though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krux Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 There are some salt combos that work nicely, buying 2 different types to make use of the characteristics of each... like one for high alk and mag and another for high calcium... that allows you to tailor a salt to meet your parameters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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