Good salt, or does not really matter?

[xtreme]

I figure it costs me around $10 in supplements per pail of IO salt. I make my own 2 part formula using littlesilvermax's chems. Since I go through about a pail a month of salt I wouldn't be able to afford $80+ buckets. My tank is SPS dominated and I am getting good growth from most of my corals.

[kien]

Originally Posted by xtreme

I figure it costs me around $10 in supplements per pail of IO salt. I make my own 2 part formula using littlesilvermax's chems. Since I go through about a pail a month of salt I wouldn't be able to afford $80+ buckets. My tank is SPS dominated and I am getting good growth from most of my corals.

+1

I buy the cheapest salt I can find (which has been IO for years now). I used to run FOWLR, then got into corals and now have a tank dominated with SPS and just supplement my cheap-o-salt with cheap-o Baking Soda and Calcium. That's pretty much all I add.

[Delphinus]

+2

Although I might add "if even $10" per bucket of IO. Haven't quite done the math but $10 buys me a fair bit of Littlesilvermax's Ca and Mg, wouldn't surprise me to learn it's a lot less. Alk's been testing out at 11 so I don't adjust Alk at all in my makeup water.

You can't get away from dosing really (in whatever form you choose). Depletion rates are variable, addition rates via water changes are not. Ne'er the twain shall meet .. so you have to bridge the gap somehow. Expensive salts may mean you add less, but the markup you pay for salt is huge compared to the cost of buying the supp's in bulk.

Originally Posted by kien

+1

I buy the cheapest salt I can find (which has been IO for years now). I used to run FOWLR, then got into corals and now have a tank dominated with SPS and just supplement my cheap-o-salt with cheap-o Baking Soda and Calcium. That's pretty much all I add.

[lorenz0]

anyone still have that link where someone tested the different salts to compare them. Thinking about switching to RC from RBS, lol can't really afford rbs anymore andi wanna see if its worth the risk of changing salts.

[fencer]

Here are some salt links from my ultra thread
http://reefsaltanalysis.googlepages....lysis_0208.pdf
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1287118
http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/s...d.php?t=246450

[The Grizz]

I switch to IO Reef Crystals for just IO just recently and have notice all my level's way more stable and have not had to add more then the weekly dose of MG, CA, Strontium. Also using KZ's Coral Snow & Aminno Acid.

[lorenz0]

Thanks for the links. its funny, most people i know runnng h2o i know get killer colors. also i remember RBS having MG issues but not that bad, no wonder i am dosing so much

[sphelps]

For the most part, when comparing the basics of each brand, salt is salt and every SPS tank will likely require some kind of Ca and Alk supplement to maintain these levels between water changes. The main difference is in relation to the many other elements that make up each brand of salt and although the exact role of many of these elements is somewhat unknown most will agree they are still important. For the most part you get what you pay for, the more expensive salts will have more and better trace elements overall. I have used almost every brand of salt available in attempts to find the magic brand but unfortunately it doesn't exist. I ended up sticking with Reefers Best because it's a high quality salt that has produced consistent results and it has a higher amount of elements than most. The bottom line is, nutrient export aside, you can get away with smaller water changes in comparison so even though it costs almost double it doesn't actually cost that much more to use. I also prefer RB because it comes in boxes instead of pails, boxes make way more sense to me but others may prefer pails.

The thing also to keep in mind with IO is that most people do use it, but that doesn't mean it's the best, not that it's a bad salt I just wouldn't label it as high quality. IO is the cheapest and most available salt on the market. Most who use it will use it for this reason and many haven't used much else. So for this reason you're always going to see IO at the top of most polls.

[Dez]

Originally Posted by lorenz0

Thanks for the links. its funny, most people i know runnng h2o i know get killer colors. also i remember RBS having MG issues but not that bad, no wonder i am dosing so much

I use Reefer's Best and since December I've dumped in almost 20 lbs of Littlesilver Max's Magnesium in I maintain my Mg at about 1350, and I test every couple of weeks and add as needed. I am experimenting with half and half of Seachem's new Salinity salt and Reefer's best right now on my weekly water changes. Have done 2 so far and things seem to be the same.

[Triggz]

I would also take into account using RODI water or just regular old tap water. I used to use IO with no problems however once I switched to an RODI unit I noticed my levels were way down out of the pail. Ever since I have been using Red Sea Pro Coral and have been happy with it.