I've used IO, and seachem. I am now using reefers best.

for supplements I use two part from bulkreefsupply.

last time this went around someone put up an article about the Chem guru Randy Holmes-Farley just using IO

+2

Although I might add "if even $10" per bucket of IO. Haven't quite done the math but $10 buys me a fair bit of Littlesilvermax's Ca and Mg, wouldn't surprise me to learn it's a lot less. Alk's been testing out at 11 so I don't adjust Alk at all in my makeup water.

You can't get away from dosing really (in whatever form you choose). Depletion rates are variable, addition rates via water changes are not. Ne'er the twain shall meet .. so you have to bridge the gap somehow. Expensive salts may mean you add less, but the markup you pay for salt is huge compared to the cost of buying the supp's in bulk.

anyone still have that link where someone tested the different salts to compare them. Thinking about switching to RC from RBS, lol can't really afford rbs anymore andi wanna see if its worth the risk of changing salts.

Here are some salt links from my ultra thread
http://reefsaltanalysis.googlepages....lysis_0208.pdf
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1287118
http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/s...d.php?t=246450

I switch to IO Reef Crystals for just IO just recently and have notice all my level's way more stable and have not had to add more then the weekly dose of MG, CA, Strontium. Also using KZ's Coral Snow & Aminno Acid.

Thanks for the links. its funny, most people i know runnng h2o i know get killer colors. also i remember RBS having MG issues but not that bad, no wonder i am dosing so much

For the most part, when comparing the basics of each brand, salt is salt and every SPS tank will likely require some kind of Ca and Alk supplement to maintain these levels between water changes. The main difference is in relation to the many other elements that make up each brand of salt and although the exact role of many of these elements is somewhat unknown most will agree they are still important. For the most part you get what you pay for, the more expensive salts will have more and better trace elements overall. I have used almost every brand of salt available in attempts to find the magic brand but unfortunately it doesn't exist. I ended up sticking with Reefers Best because it's a high quality salt that has produced consistent results and it has a higher amount of elements than most. The bottom line is, nutrient export aside, you can get away with smaller water changes in comparison so even though it costs almost double it doesn't actually cost that much more to use. I also prefer RB because it comes in boxes instead of pails, boxes make way more sense to me but others may prefer pails.

The thing also to keep in mind with IO is that most people do use it, but that doesn't mean it's the best, not that it's a bad salt I just wouldn't label it as high quality. IO is the cheapest and most available salt on the market. Most who use it will use it for this reason and many haven't used much else. So for this reason you're always going to see IO at the top of most polls.

I had an issue with an online vendor some time ago and as resolution to the problem I was compensated with salt, 7 pails worth of Seachem. I can honesly say I will NEVER buy Seachem salt again once these pails are gone. My biggest problem, I have to heat the hell out of it to get it to completley disolve other wise is mixes up with a milky color and stays that way. I've let it mix for a week with no improvement. I have a maximod in ea 50 gallon mixing container and I also have a pump that pushes 900 gallons an hour, it should mix! lol

I use Reefer's Best and since December I've dumped in almost 20 lbs of Littlesilver Max's Magnesium in :wacko: I maintain my Mg at about 1350, and I test every couple of weeks and add as needed. I am experimenting with half and half of Seachem's new Salinity salt and Reefer's best right now on my weekly water changes. Have done 2 so far and things seem to be the same.