Reef Salt Brand
 

I am currently working on an article on the difference in salt brands. I see that the poll on this site are missing some of the other most popular brands of salt, and would like to start a new poll with the missing brand as well as the brands listed.

In addition, I would like to ask that you please describe what led to your decision. How did you evaluate the salt? What brand you used before and why was the change made. This may seem like a lot to ask, but bear in mine that many other readers will gain a clear understanding why the change was so important.

Here is a current list of the brands available to the Reef hobbyist.

Coral Life
D-D H2Ocean Pro
Instant Ocean
Kent
Oceanic
Oceanic Pure
Oceanic Pure Pro
Red Sea Pro
Reef Crystals
Sifto
Tropic Marin

Thank you all for your assistance with this project.

Sifto? Ya, I use that one. I used Reefer's Best, but the sifto is cheaper. It kills all my stuff, but I've saved tons of money. :)
Your list is not complete....

What about seachem marine/reef?

Unless you're specifically after a Canadian opinion you might find this site/link more relevant:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...readid=1287118

Sifto? You might want to read this also:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-11/rhf/index.php

seachem reef salt

I have added a couple of salt brand I had over looked. I am not very familiar with the Canadian market so all your help is appreciated. Let me know what other brands I may have overlooked. This research that I am trying to accomplish will only involve the Canadian market place.

I have also added a voting poll, if you do not want to answer the questions please vote.

Reefers Best. It's missing from the poll. Previously used Kent, found too much precipitation in mixing bucket.

IO here, prety much best bang for the buck, even with dosing

I did miss Reefers Best, I tryed up-dating the Poll but it would not let me. Is there a way to get that done? I would like to add Reefers Best and Other.

I use two brands at the same time but your poll wont allow me to pick two. Instant Ocean with a Magnesium Chloride and Magnesium Sulfate mix because it is inexpensive and has high alkalinity but low magnesium. Then in another mixing container I use Seachem Reef Salt because it isnt that much more expensive and has balanced magnesium and high calcium. I go though 40gal of newly mixed up saltwater every week so cost is a big consideration for me. In the past I've also tried Tropic Marine (too expensive), Kent (unreliable and now unavailable where I live) and RedSea (also now unavailable).

Whatcaneyedo, this is very good information, this is what I'm looking for. If you can, just vote for the salt you use the most of.

Thanks,

Reefer's Best for my Reef tank.
IO for my FOWLR.
But my FOWLR isn't really a FOWLR anymore. I have some Shrooms, Palys and LPS in there. I also run ZeoVit on both tanks. Because of these factors, I'm likely going to go with just Reefer's Best once the IO is used up.
Long story, short....Reefer's Best.

Instant Ocean

Because it is inexpensive and has high alkalinity but low Magnesium and Calcium.

I add a Magnesium Chloride and Magnesium Sulfate mix to bring the Magnesium up to (1300 - 1400).

I also add Calcium Chloride to bring the Calcium up to (400 - 450).

Lately I have been doing water changes of 60G on a 525G system once every 6 weeks.

Tom R

I want to thank everyone, this is very good information, that can be very useful.

Keep it Coming, keep it coming, more, more, more.

You missed some major players
 

Hey you failed to include other great products like meer salts, BioSea and they have one more blend marine something or other. all three by the same company. i use biosea and its awesome. i tried others but this one has had the greatest results in my tank. I used IO at first cause its cheaper than a happy meal, then tried oceanic and SeaChem. of all of them, i found BioSea Mixes consistently, and my corals love it. once i switched to it i knew that was it. tank has never been better.

I am now using Reefer's Best because I can get it from J&L. Mixes okay, seems to create a film on top of the mix no matter what I do to try and mix it properly. I find I need to suppliment with this salt.

I prefer to use Marine Environment or Biosea, but I have to ship it in from Edmonton and mixing the 2 part Marine Environment gets to be tough with my tanks being as small as they are. Both of these mixed really well and I didn't find much if any need to suppliment.

Started with IO but it left the mixing bucket filthy and never mixed well.

Welcome to Canreef Tony!!

P.S. If you would like to add some more salt brands to your poll let me know. I can add them for you.

Instant Ocean

For the price, I've never had any problem with it, and I see a lot of successful reefs run with it.

Tried Seachem: Terrible, coated my mixing tank with calcium carbonate, started STN on a couple of acros

Tried TMP: Didn't notice any difference in coral health after 3 buckets, but I liked not having to correct levels

I've been using IO for the last 15yrs without any problems and I don't see any reason to change :biggrin:

Jeepers with the growth rate you are getting on your fuzzy sticks I wouldn't change a damn thing either!! :razz:

Me too for INSTANT OCEAN going on 8 years

im not as old as Marie is.. 15 years you old maid:razz:

Muck,

It would aid this poll if you can please add the additional brands for me and “other” for any salt brand that may be over looked.

In addition, thank you for the welcome.

Thank you for your assistance.

From what I’ve gathered Marie, you must have an awesome tank, any photos?

Umm, 1 or 2 kicking around :redface: :lol:

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=45755

Remind me to buy you the book "How to win friends and influence people" for your next birthday, Mike :razz:

Yep. I've tried quite a few other brands, but have noticed no difference in livestock, and I still had to dose...so...?

IO for me.
but would like to try d-d h2ocean but can,t find it in edmonton.

Josh had some H20 in his store

started with IO and slowly went into H2O which is what I use now, but a nagging voice in my head is telling me Im getting screwed $$$. I never had a problem with IO or even the one bucket of reefcrystals I used, kinda considering going back to IO, or at least mixing half IO and half H20. the savings in a year are pretty substantial.

I'm not sure if this is relevant to the reason behind this thread but I heard that IO/Reef Crystals was bought out by another company. Has anyone else heard this? If it's true will there be any changes that us reefers should know about?

I've been using both Ocean Pure Pro & Instant Ocean without any problems that I can pinpoint as being caused by the salt.

One of my good friends has been using IO for years with excellent results & phenomenal SPS growth. (ie. Good enough for Marie, good enough for my reef tank).

So many reefers I've heard who keep switching to the newest, more expensive brands have had lots of problems with their tanks.

Personally, I think a lot of the problems reefers encounter are due to our "need" to change things just for the sake of change. When things are doing fine in our tank, we still feel the need to switch salts, upgrade equipment, etc. rather than let our corals tell us when a change is needed.

While I do not do frequent water changes, when I do one, its usually 100 to 120 gallons & I cannot justify the price of premium salt, like H2O, when my corals are "happy" with the regular salt.

For instance, I just did a 120g water change (representing a 50+% water change by volume) last weekend with IO salt and my corals are all fully expanded and the sps have lots of polyps extended. Several SPS that browned out due to transportation & Interceptor stress a few weeks ago have now recovered their colour and are showing great polyp extension. I dose Magnesium, Calcium, and Iodine regularly. Usually use Liquid Reactor as well.

Even if I use a premium salt, to keep up all the trace mineral levels, I would have to do frequent water changes or continue dosing.

Here's the math behind my reasoning. Many reefers do a monthly 10% water change. That removes 10% of the accumulated buildup of nutrients and adds 10% new water. Unless that 10% new water is supersaturated with all the minerals to replenish the depleted levels in the old 90%, you're going to have to dose anyways (via Ca reactor, pump, or other means). Therefore, I kind of think that paying a huge price premium for salt with optimum Ca & other trace minerals is NOT cost effective if you're going to have to continue dosing anyways within a few days of doing a water change to maintain mineral levels. I would rather pay less for a decent salt like IO and save my money for livestock & other reef-related expenses.

That is why I have NEVERr been tempted by these super expensive premium salts.

Sorry for the essay.

Anthony

I started with tropic marin but the store I go to dosen't carry it any more. Then I switched to reefer best because I,m giviing zeovit a good try and figure I would follow they're instruction and use all they're product.

I have been using reef crystals. I like how there is no need to dose anything especially with my busy schedule. It keeps things at natural levels. I dont keep many SPS, so there is no need for higher levels of Ca or Mg.

I'm in the same boat as you Anthony. Here's my thinking:

I use IO, and when I do water changes I dose my fresh saltwater before adding it to the tank to 440 cal, 11 dKH alk (IO is 11 dKH on its own), and 1360 mag, and if I do weekly 15-20% water changes I don't have to dose the tank directly at all. Before I do my weekly water change my cal will be 400 ish, dKH will be 8 ish, and mag will be 1348 ish, and after the water change cal will be about 415, 9 dKH alk, and 1350 ppm mag. So there isn't a very large swing in the levels, and I don't have to dose the tank directly.

Switched from KZ Reefers Best to a D-D H2O due to a luck of Magnesium in KZ Reefers Best.
My water change is only 5 gal and don't want testing and dosing, so this justifies premium salt.

And I just had my water tested for Mg and it was mid 1300's using RB salt. Go figure.

Thank you all for all this very valuable information.

I would like to thank all the people who have voted. I’m providing everyone here a link to a similar Poll taken in the UK for analysis. http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/s...d.php?t=303447 As you can see from the results they are very different, over 75% of the Pollies use pro salts, are they wrong?

Furthermore, I’m curious as to why is it that some people purchase salt brands that require buffering (be it calcium, magnesium or alkalinity), instead of purchasing a good quality salt that is balanced from the start?

Wouldn’t it be more cost effective to purchase quality salt from the beginning and not concern yourself with products that require alteration of its water chemistry?

Tony, Thanks for getting this poll started.
I am happily surprised to see how well D-D H2Ocean pro salt is doing considering it has only been on the market for around 2 years.
Obviously, I voted for it as I distribute it in Canada AND use it exclusively in my 300 gallon sps tank at home.
I've used many salts in the past with mixed results. Instant ocean being on of the most commonly used by me, with perfectly fine results. I've also used Biosea, Kent and reef crystals.
Being a salesman as well as a hobbyist puts me in a funny position..
Here's what I like about H2Ocean pro:
Great magnesium levels, which lead to more stable calcium levels. And better stability over all.
It's not buffered too high or over fortified with calcium, so precipitation issues are reduced.
It has very good consistency from batch to batch.
Most of all, though, because it is produced from dried sea water, I find that the corals really thrive in it. They do better than just survive and grow. This salt provides all of the minor trace elements and minerals found in the ocean.
Where I see the biggest potential benefit is in my corals resistance to unexpected adverse conditions, should they arise.
Super healthy corals will handle a heat wave, for example better than corals that are just doing ok. They will handle stress due to lights being left on by a faulty timer, or from a pesky fish that suddenly takes a liking to a certain coral, or a skimmer that stops working while you are away for the weekend.
In the long run, a more expensive, fortified salt may even save you a few bucks since you probably wont have as many unexplained coral deaths.
Within 3 months of setting up my tank, I had many healthy and thriving sps in my tank and I think that the success I had early on was because of the quality of the H2Ocean salt.
Sorry for the essay and the sales pitch- take it with a grain of salt!
But, its all true!

Matt
Xenia North America

For me I started using IO because it was the only thing available to me at the time and I keep on using it because of the price, it is still cheaper then other salts after adding the cost of the extra Mg and cal