Reef Salt Brand

[iansfishy]

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.

[MikeP]

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?

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

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

[steve fedyk]

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.

[RSM]

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.

[Myka]

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.

[RuGlu6]

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.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by steve fedyk

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.

Pretty much the same reason here. But I agree with most, if you've been using IO for years, probably no good reason to change. I started this hobby around 1991, and really the only decent salt was IO. I used it, everyone I knew used it, including all the tanks I admired. By the time I learned how to grow SPS, I was in the trend of using IO (switching to Kent every now and then for higher Ca), and I got great results. Most of the longer term members here can recall the stupid growth I got, as well as many of the other SPS guys (Jamie, Marc, Shao, etc). Most used IO and got tremendous growth. Heck, the whole magnesium thing didn't even come about until the last few years. I never supplemented anything in my make up water, doing monthly 15% water changes. My Ca reactor would quickly balance out any defecencies, and my Ca always tested over 400, alk over 9, and Mg was just never a concern.
Based on this experience, if I were not using RBZ to support my attempt at the Zeovit method, I would use IO and not even consider switching.