Salt Question
 

I have been trying to decide what salt I should buy Can some one give me a list of the way they rate?
these are the salts I can get localy

H2Ocean Pro+
Tropic Marin PRO-REEF
Tropic Marin sea salt
Reef Crystals
Instant Ocean

Check out this thread:

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...ght=salt+polls

I started with IO but have now switched to IO Reef Crystals and use ChemMasters Mg & Ca.

lots of reviews around. Not to chase you away from here but go to the Chem Forum on RC, salt is the top stickies.

Personally, it's IO for me. Easy to find, relatively cheap, might be lacking a bit but easy (and again cheap) to supplement.

+1. I have been using IO every since I got into this hobby years ago. It has always served me well. Then when I got into corals the softies still didn't really care that I was using cheap salt :-) Then I got into SPS and they sure did care but that was easily fixed with some dosing of Baking Soda and Calcium from bulk puchases which ends up being cheaper than buying the expensive salt. Anyway, there are so many opinions on salt it can drive you mad! :lol: Personally I don't think there is a right or wrong answer. If the $200 bucket of salt works for you, great, use it. If the $30 bucket of salt works for you, great, use it.

but bang for your buck the cheaper salts work

Not necessarily for everyone though. Some people would consider it more convenient to buy the expensive salt with the high levels of elements already built in, so for that it is worth it to them and they get bang out of their buck? :-)

Whatever you end up using, if you plan to grow corals that require the trace elements be sure to measure each batch of salt. I would not immediately trust a bucket of salt claims of elemental content regardless of price.

ah.....coming from someone that uses IO:wink:.....Ive used Reef Crystals, seachem, KZRB and now H2Ocean......H2Ocean tests out near perfect.....(dkh has been a touch low for me, from their claims) and H2Ocean is a naturally evaporated salt, not a synthetic salt.....another plus IMO...

bottom line is, all salts have worked for some people.....you just need to pick one, and stick with it(if you can)

Fair enough:-). But, if you are going to write on your bucket of salt that it has X dkH and Y ppm of calcium that's how much it should have, no exceptions. However lots of people report exceptions.. So how can you trust them ? The numbers may not be off for every bucket you buy but It sounds like there are buckets that come out of the factory out of spec. Which is why I would (and do) check the bucket just to confirm where the numbers are at.

I go through a bucket a month and only occasionally check the chemisty on new saltwater before I use it. However I have used all of those brands at one point except the regular Tropic Marin. I've also used Seachem Reef, Kent and Red Sea.

My newest instant ocean bucket actually has a higher level of calcium than the H2Ocean bucket that I tried and both are low in magnesium in my opinion.

The only problem I've ever had with salt was when I left a batch of new saltwater using seachem reef salt mixing for a month before using it for a water change. The tank immediately experienced a minor crash where 2 fish and a brittle star died. Aside from that unfortunate event I havent had any problems or successes using different brands of salt.