Favourite Salt?
 

What's your favourite salt to use with your aquarium? And maybe share why? Looking to switch over to something more oriented for corals...

IO, cheap, effective, mix clear and predictable values.

I didn't vote. I've only ever used IO Reef Crystals, so I can't say it's my favourite. I look forward to seeing the results of the poll.

Unless you're Greg :)

What are you using now, and what do you feel it isn't doing?

I use the Zeovit salt, its mixes well and my LFS won't let me buy anything else :)

Zeovit here also only complaint I have with it is at times it could be hard to find so I always buy 10 boxes when I find it. Been using it for 4-5 years only problems u had was when I couldn't get it and tried royal nature salt. I used to use h2 ocean but found the kh so low on it that the cost to bring it up it was same price as reefers best.

Used IO with my old tank, and got a full bucket of Kent with my current setup and so far everything has been stellar. The pH is a bit lower, but everything is super happy (tough to say how much the salt is a contibutor unfortunately). It certainly hasn't caused problems though. I'm not sure where I'm going to get more of it... I guess I'll have to switch to something else after.

IO was okay, pretty standard stuff.

Reefers best here. Just gotta buy a few at a time cause it's sometimes hard to get.

Love the Reefer's best. Mixes clear and with consistent results. Tough to get unless you live on the coast.

Switched a couple mos ago from dd h20 to Salinity brand from seachem. So far, everything is good.

Been using salinity for a while but found it doesn't mix as clear as reefer best

Salinity.

I like that it takes less volume of salt to reach my target ppt in a 5 gallon bucket, good solubility, and my sps are showing noticeable growth. No experimental design deployed, just anecdotal.

Yeah, it's a bit cloudy after a w/c but clears up within an hour or so. I don't bother to pre-dissolve hours before.

I also like the buckets/lids they come in... does that count?

I also enjoy the enthalpy of dissolving Salinity salt... the thermodynamic energy released when the molecular bonds of the salt crystals break apart in dissolution is enough to melt thin plastic such as those of a common soda bottle. It's fun to play with, though not really practical in application...

ok, I'm really procrastinating from work... it's true.

mixed : 25% each of the following-I/o, Brightwell, seachem & Royal nature. i like the Royal Nature the most .

I prefer H2Ocean for my reef tanks, but I prefer IO for my fish only tanks. By your post I'm assuming you are asking which is the preferred salt for reef tanks, so I voted for H2Ocean.

I like H2Ocean for reef tanks because I only have to add magnesium and potassium, plus I prefer the lower (than IO) alkalinity so I can keep the alkalinity below 8 dKH in my reefs. It also mixes up much cleaner than IO which leaves a brown residue on the sides of the mixing barrel.

I like IO for fish only tanks because of the higher alkalinity and the cost.

Fluval is working really well for me. I have somewhat recently switched from Salt Crystals, and the corals are noticably 'happier'. Fish and inverts have not rejected it, and are faring very well also.

My salt rocks :lol:
I don't have to dose anything :rolleyes:

I voted IO, but don't take it too seriously as I apparently am inept with test kits :biggrin:

Wow, Hagen is selling salt now...I haven't seen it in stores. I'm sure this will need a thread all of it's own soon!

Top Fin is also making salt now, I noticed it in Petsmart awhile back.

I/O is my salt of choice; mixes clear, price is great, resaults are very similar thought the last 15 years.

Seen it here at a lfs. But was a little hesitant. Although chart in back looks good

+1, but i would rather be using tropic marin, Oh well, no one wants to stock it its too pricey.

I have used Aquavitro Salinity for well over a year now, it mixes very well and has very consistant values of Cal, Mag, Alk and PH. It is marketed as being the most concentrated salt available. I have had great results using this salt. :biggrin:

I am using Tropic Marin PRO for my main 120G display tank, all other tanks are on IO (for its price)

I am using H2Ocean in my tanks...however am switching some customers over to Fluval Sea...specifically have one target tank full of corals that has been on H2Ocean but moving it to the Fluval as I like what they say it will do...only time will tell as this salt took quite some time to actually hit the market...it's not cheap either so .... will see...

it's always interesting to see what salt people use and why....I REALLY like that both H2O and Fluval Sea mix amazingly crystal clear with no residue..no "dirty" bucket like when we use the Seachem or IO salt...ugh! My own tank at home will be another tank we test the Fluval Sea on....

Salt
 

I like KENT sea salt, but I don't have a LFS so I use what I can get!

I agree
 

Started with IO works well for me and cheap to buy as well. :biggrin:

Has anybody tried coralife salt? That's all I can get locally now :(

Tried it once, years ago. I'd maybe take a drive into Duncan and get some IO :)

That's the problem. Duncan only sells seachem and coralife now. Not going to do IO any more.

Ah. Too bad. I wouldn't buy it. Maybe a trip to town and buy a few at a time?

Aquavitro Salinity, worked best for my tank.

kent kent kent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I used Coralife salt to start my tank a year ago and it's pretty consistant, fish were happy, the salt was fine and disolved very well (better than IO imho). I started using IO now because for one, my friend gave me a bucket for free and I'm trying to get into corals, but there's always some particles that are not dissolved. That is just from my experience.

my2cents

I use IO, but I make the corrections when I mix the water. In my case a water change is 42 liters. For that I use 1755g IO salt, 12.4g CaCl2, 60g MgCl2 and 10g KCl.(yes-I do weigh the ingredients)

Wouldn't it be more cost effective to use a higher end salt. Or is IO and dosing still cheaper

We can get IO for 29.99 here. Anything that could be used without boosting params would be at least double. I already order bulk chemicals for dosing, so $30 plus a couple of dollars worth of chems just makes sense.

On a side note, just noticed Reefers Best is 20% off at J&L right now. Might have to give it a try. IO is way cheaper, but I'm really lazy.

EDIT:

I guess this goes without saying, but I use Instant Ocean (with adjustments). I use it because it's cheap, and I haven't had any reason to switch to something more expensive. I've tried just about every brand locally available, and haven't seen any noticable differences.

Probably not and it would take a long time to adjust to a new salt and to determine the corrections that I have to make for that new salt. IMO use whatever works for you, but don't change it to often. Stability is important to.

Just saw that...thinking about making a big order from them, it works out to about $85 a box for 10 with tax and shipping or $75 a box if I order 30 boxes...

Kent for me!