Reefers Best Salt

[Guru]

Originally Posted by globaldesigns

I disagree with you, I have probably about 100 or so SPS, LPS and Zoa's, all doing just fine with the Zeovit System and using Reef Crystals at $55 a bucket... You can't call Reef Crystals lower end, they have been around longer than any other salt manufacturer... Actually Dennis at Gold's Aquarium did some testing on several salts and found Reefer's Best NO BETTER than the others, this is the reason he no longer carries it, as he says why buy it if it isn't actually better. Just my 2 cents.

Your statement is funny because denis told me vortect pumps were no better than any other pump and that's why golds doesn't carry them.
could it be that if golds doesn't sell products like zeovit, reeflo sequence pumps and reefers bests etc etc. that denise thinks its no good??
It looks like from other threads you don't take his advice on everything (vortech and zeovit)
I use reefers best salt and am amazed with its quality compared to instant ocean. I did buy it from j+l and the shipping killed me.

Does anyone know where i can get it in southern Alberta I have just moved here and would like to have a local source.

[lorenz0]

Originally Posted by Guru

Does anyone know where i can get it in southern Alberta I have just moved here and would like to have a local source.

Red coral sells RB salt for $100 or something like that

Originally Posted by globaldesigns

I just did the same thing, shipping was $43... Wow, I guess they don't sell much salt then... I buy everything else from them. I think JL needs to rework things for salt and heavier items.

I guess, get your LFS to bring some in... Personally I feel Reefer's Best is overrated. I run a full Zeovit system but use Reef Crystals and have never had an issue. And the salt is about 40% cheaper.

I am going to stir the pot with you about J&L. For one shipping is done by weight mostly unless the item is oversided. Salt is one hell of a product to ship due to the weight and they would be lossing alot of money by offering free shipping on it. Saying free shipping on powerheads, heaters, skimmers, pumps... is easy cause they all don't weight like 60 pounds and shipping them is cheap. Talk to any LFS about why they bring in alot of salt at once instead of just a few buckets.

[globaldesigns]

Originally Posted by Guru

Your statement is funny because denis told me vortect pumps were no better than any other pump and that's why golds doesn't carry them.
could it be that if golds doesn't sell products like zeovit, reeflo sequence pumps and reefers bests etc etc. that denise thinks its no good??
It looks like from other threads you don't take his advice on everything (vortech and zeovit)
I use reefers best salt and am amazed with its quality compared to instant ocean. I did buy it from j+l and the shipping killed me.

Does anyone know where i can get it in southern Alberta I have just moved here and would like to have a local source.

Actually Dennis doesn't carry Vortech's anymore, because he had nothing but problems (even the one he ran on his SPS tank broke, Gen1 version)... this was during generation 1 days, of which we all know there were issues. Dennis has a bad taste about them now, and won't try the new versions for stocking, but he is more than happy to bring them in for you. As you may know I just recently (2 weeks ago) finally bought my first vortech. I too was reluctant, because of such problems, this is why I did my research and also polled what people said, now saying that, I now own a gen 2 MP40W

He also doesn't carry Zeovit anymore, because the supplier keeps selling it at pricing where Dennis can't make any money... So why sell it when he only makes a couple bucks on a $60 bottle. I am a business owner and can understand his decision, why stock have overhead for very little profit.

So there is nothing funny here, I know Dennis quite well and don't just say things cuz... I do have the ability to back my comments up, and if you wish to question Dennis on this, you will find what I say to be true. If you wish to question me on anything else I may of said in any other thread, I am more than happy to back it up and give you my reasoning on things.

I stand by my comments, Reef Crystals is a good salt... I would consider it to be the grandfather of all salts, try to find another that has been around as long as this one. Is it the BEST, maybe not... but it works well. So in my opinion you do not need to spend 40-50% more for salt... but if you want to, go for it... If you see good results, GREAT! I can also say I have great results and I spend much less.

[globaldesigns]

Originally Posted by JDigital

I'd argue the fact that it's the full Zeo system doing all the work to keep your corals in check. Not the RC salt.

Plus with 100 or so SPS, LPS and Zoa's, you can't possibly be keeping your Alk/Ca/Mg in check with just water changes?

Wow, before making comments like this, you should ask what I do and how I manage my setup... Who said I only do water changes! It sure wasn't me! yes I am running full Zeo, no I don't use Reefers best salt.... You don't have to, to be running full Zeo.

I test and dose for trace, strontium, potassium, magnesium, calcium and so forth... So yes, there is alot involved (in alot of cases, daily maintenance), especially as I don't run any Kalk reactors or dosing pumps, so it is a manual process for me (of which I like it this way) Don't assume, AS YOU ARE WRONG!

I get quit peaved of the ignorance of some. When I comment, it is to give my perspective (Right or Wrong), what has worked for me, what has failed... Always to often, people take what is said and bash... Take my advice and others for what it is, then decide for yourself what you wish to do with it or use in your own aquarium setup... There is never any reason for posts like this one from JDigital

[globaldesigns]

Originally Posted by lorenz0

Red coral sells RB salt for $100 or something like that



I am going to stir the pot with you about J&L. For one shipping is done by weight mostly unless the item is oversided. Salt is one hell of a product to ship due to the weight and they would be lossing alot of money by offering free shipping on it. Saying free shipping on powerheads, heaters, skimmers, pumps... is easy cause they all don't weight like 60 pounds and shipping them is cheap. Talk to any LFS about why they bring in alot of salt at once instead of just a few buckets.

Hey LorenzO, you are not stirring anything... I buy alot from JL, as they are much cheaper for bulk items, Zeo and so forth... I have always bought my salt from Golds for $55 per bucket, never bought from JL as I knew that $5 was added for heavier items, so thought it not worth it... But I see that it really isn't worth it because of the shipping also. However JL is still cheaper for the normal stuff (as you say, the lighter things) and shipping is free.

I should also say that I buy large quantities of the carbon, calcium, mg, and so on, so this gets quite heavy, and shipping is still free. However, probably never as heavy as 1 bucket of salt. With the size of my aquarium and what I dose overall, it isn't cheap and JL saves me alot of money compared to any LFS in Calgary buying the same stuff.

[intarsiabox]

Originally Posted by Binare

What kit are you using to test your alk with seachem? I use seachem as well and love it. Anything other then a seachem test kit will report way low. Seachem I believe is the only kit that tests for borate, the major contributer to alk in their reef salt, and in the ocean. Its a great salt with an odd albeit natural quirk.

I didn't know that the Seachem test kits would compensate for the borate in their salt. I have been using an API kit to test but I must admit I'm not having any problems with my fish or corals (other than what I think is slow growth) and no nusance algae to speak of. I just thought I would try something new to see if it had a positive reaction in my tank. The only thing that I think died on me in the last 10 months is a Dragon goby, which is my fault as I switched tanks awhile back but put all new sand in so I think I starved him. Never saw a body though so maybe there's hope. I work at the UofA so I stopped in to talk to the marine biology guys and found they use seachem reef salt but they most only have fish, sea apples and anemones not so much in corals.

[fragNplug]

if your doing full zeo, what is your ph at using instant ocean?
I started to use zeo and the reactor and was told that my salt was not good for the zeo system that requires a low ph.
if your running instant ocean you must be doing something to drop your ph before adding to your tank..
my choice of salt is seachem and i stopped using zeo only as i didnt want to change salts.
as you can see reef crystals is low in calcium, so your spending about the same amount of money to add supplemental calcium to your tank as you would for the recomened salt for a full zeo system.



Zeos thread on seachem and ph
http://www.zeovit.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6849

[intarsiabox]

Originally Posted by globaldesigns

Hey LorenzO, you are not stirring anything... I buy alot from JL, as they are much cheaper for bulk items, Zeo and so forth... I have always bought my salt from Golds for $55 per bucket, never bought from JL as I knew that $5 was added for heavier items, so thought it not worth it... But I see that it really isn't worth it because of the shipping also. However JL is still cheaper for the normal stuff (as you say, the lighter things) and shipping is free.

I should also say that I buy large quantities of the carbon, calcium, mg, and so on, so this gets quite heavy, and shipping is still free. However, probably never as heavy as 1 bucket of salt. With the size of my aquarium and what I dose overall, it isn't cheap and JL saves me alot of money compared to any LFS in Calgary buying the same stuff.

I buy most of my stuff from JL as well as usually the prices can't be beat locally and are on par with US prices without conversion. I also sometimes use Big Al's online because if they have the same items they will beat any online (canadian) price by 5%, a couple years back I got a light and skimmer from BA's and they had to take over $500 off their price (way over priced to begin with). I'm leaning now more to trying out a bucket of Reef Crystals first as it is a very popular salt among many reefers. I honestly don't know if it really matters which salt I use but I like to change things up every now and then!

[globaldesigns]

Originally Posted by fragNplug

if your doing full zeo, what is your ph at using instant ocean?
I started to use zeo and the reactor and was told that my salt was not good for the zeo system that requires a low ph.
if your running instant ocean you must be doing something to drop your ph before adding to your tank..
my choice of salt is seachem and i stopped using zeo only as i didnt want to change salts.
as you can see reef crystals is low in calcium, so your spending about the same amount of money to add supplemental calcium to your tank as you would for the recomened salt for a full zeo system.



Zeos thread on seachem and ph
http://www.zeovit.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6849

My PH is a constant 8.3, I can even say that I never have had an issue with PH, where I have ever dosed to bring up or down... Management of PH with buffers has never been done on this system.

Also I should state that my Alk is between 7-8, proper ranges for Zeo. Alk can fluctuate, so I test twice a week and manage this with buffers, again very cheap in bulk supply from JL... Usually I need to raise ALK, if I see it starting falling. I don't have issues with high ALK, like others, it is with low ALK if there are any issues.

Yes, I dose calcium, but no I don't spend more... I buy bulk from JL and it is very cheap.... Still cheaper than buying Reefers Best

I should state that buying supplements in crystal form is the cheapest way to do things, when buying the liquids it can cost much more... Buying crystals is very cheap, I then premix and have ready for future use... I have calculated my mixes and dosing's that work for me, and tend to supplement twice a week... Again this was done over time, and my regime works for me... With regular testing, I can then top off anything that may be needed, outside of the normal twice a week dosing regime already in place.

[intarsiabox]

Originally Posted by globaldesigns

Yes, I dose calcium, but no I don't spend more... I buy bulk from JL and it is very cheap.... Still cheaper than buying Reefers Best

I should state that buying supplements in crystal form is the cheapest way to do things, when buying the liquids it can cost much more... Buying crystals is very cheap, I then premix and have ready for future use... I have calculated my mixes and dosing's that work for me, and tend to supplement twice a week... Again this was done over time, and my regime works for me... With regular testing, I can then top off anything that may be needed, outside of the normal twice a week dosing regime already in place.

I am currently using B-Ionic 2 part but was going to switch to bulk powder form as you correctly stated that it is much cheaper. Have you by any chance tried the mix your own 2 part from Bulk Reef Supply? It says that the kit makes about 8 gallons + 4 gallons of magnesium for about $60, it sounds like a good deal but I haven't tried it myself.