What salt do you use?
 

Hi everyone,

I wanted to ask you what type of salt mix do you use in your reef or fowler tanks?

And has anyone used Seachems reefsalt ?

All input would be appreciated.

Thanks

Reef Crystals here. :smile:

salt
 

Io here have never had any problems with it.

IO.

KENT, mixes to the right levels if you use RO/DI water. Was using Instant Ocean but the CA/ALk levels are too low.

io :cool:

Reef Crystals!

Steve

Kent or IO, whichever is available when I need it. :biggrin:

same for me.. :cool:

IO

Kent

IO here but i cant seem to grow anything so i dont know how good my input is

we should have a count of how many times this question gets asked each month ;) just being an a$$

IO

Switching to Reef Crystals though.

reply
 

Reef crystals here. I stopped using tracing elements and other vitamin type suppliments because RC has more of everything you need.

From my reading, IO, Reef Crystals, and Kent salts are all made by the same manufacturer (Aquarium Systems), and apparently test very similarly.

All the subjective considerations of which salt to use are inconsequential, since I doubt any of us have the analytical tools or experience to objectively compare mixes -- especially over a large enough sample to be relevant.

All the major mixes seem to have created successes for many reefers, and pick any mix and you'll find a reasonable number of folks who have switched because another is apparently better.

Availability, price and marketing ability aren't the best measure, IMO.

I use Red Sea, because it was the first one I bought.

Red Sea.....cause B.A recomeded it :redface:

Red Sea because the price was right. When that is gone I will use Kent because I have a pail of it.

Not entirely true. IO is formulated to mix with an "average" amount of minerals in water (i.e. tap water). Kent and others are formulated to mix with RO/DI water.

If you mix IO with RO/DI water you end up with about 330 ppm calcium, depending on the specific gravity of the water, and a lower alkalinity.

Sources? The Aquarium Systems website suggests that it is Reef Crystals that is formulated for tapwater use. The infamous S-15 Report (which uses apparently valid analysis for the mixes, although the scoring system that the sponsor uses to determine what's "best" is completely subjective and self-serving), shows that IO, Kent and RC are all substantially similar, nothwithstanding the marketing data.

I've found that too -- I'm not getting a good reading with IO and ro/di..very low in Ca and Alk.

I use Red Sea as well. Price was great on boxing day :biggrin:

Ditto! - Now I mix my RO/DI with Kent Osmoprep then with Kent Salt and I get 420 ppm Ca+ and 11 dKH... IO was 360 and 7 ... and 330 and about 5 with straight RO/DI... :mrgreen:

reply
 

Why don't we get a few more comparisons, I'm finding this interesting. I'm going to do a water change this weekend with reef crystal in RODI water. I'll measure and report my CA and ALK readings as well.

My sources are personal experience using salifert test kits. Anthony Calfo also mentioned it in a water change thread on reef central a while. As well it appears that others on the board have noticed this.

Hey how much osmoprep do you use with the kent mix? I have a container of the stuff sitting around, maybe I should use it up.

I used to use IO as well and switched to Kent for the same reasons (ca and alk were low) better now with Kent.

I am using IO and I am switching to Kent today (well picking up a pail)

Jim

Same here

I haven't found IO so low the levels can't be easily raised with additives, I don't like keeping my ca and alk too high because of mineral build up in powerheads. I keep my calcium around 380 and my alk at 9 dkh and the corals don't seem to suffer :biggrin:

I used to use Kent when I had a reef years ago. Now I have IO. I just found a very interesting site with all of the info about what each mix contains. Go to http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/11/aafeature1 to read the full article. Another interesting part of the study was the yield of a 50 Gal bag standardized to a salinity of 35 ppt. Kent yielded 42.2 Gal, Aquamedic and Oceaniac 42.29 and 42.96 Gal while IO provided a yield of 45.13 Gal. Seems to me that this amounts to 5-7% more salt for the $$$’s than most other salts. Take a look at the heavy metals and such and let me know your thoughts. (I am lazy and have not had the time to study the report the way I should.:mrgreen: )