Best Sea Salt for Reef Tanks?

[abcha0s]

The trouble is that we all depend on the manufacturers to tell us what's in the salt and they all claim to be the best. You won't have to look far to find a reefer that prefers any one of the brands that you have listed. As the results start coming in, I expect there will be votes for all of the salts (or at least most).

I've seen studies that compare various salt brands and they appear to identify a leader. However, there are criticisms of the studies that show errors in the testing methodology and biases. They are also outdated as new salts have come onto the market.

Even a salt water analysis on a small sample can show very different results than what the manufactures claim. For that matter, the salt at the top of the bucket is likely different from the salt at the bottom of the bucket. When the manufacturers mix in large batches, results will vary.

You also really need to define what criteria make a salt “good”. If you are supplementing calcium, then high levels of calcium might not be a big deal to you. You might look for trace elements instead. If you aren’t supplementing calcium then that same salt might be problematic.

I like “Royal Natural” salt. You didn’t list it on your poll, but if you look around I am sure you can find it. I like it because the manufacturer claims that it is the best, so I assume that it is at least adequate. More specifically, it mixes cleaner than any other salt that I have ever tried. It mixes so quickly that it generally doesn’t even hit the bottom of my mixing barrel.

- Brad

[MarkoD]

I use instant ocean. I dose kalk. My sps are growing well

[Aquattro]

I use Reefer's Best, it's a great salt. It's 100 bucks a box. IO is also a good salt, it costs half that. I'm probably going to switch. Used IO for years, never had a problem with it.

[lastlight]

Reef Crystals here. Considering a trial of the Royal Nature as I am sick of the nasty film/crust/sludge left behind.

[Rice Reef]

The Poll is a bit unclear. Best Price? Best Quality? For me I am using Instant Ocean for the price and I am dosing regularly.

[Reefie]

Sorry, the poll is for best quality. I, too am using IO and am also dosing regularly. If I had a better salt I could save on dosing. I had tried D-D H2Ocean, unfortunately I had brown algae diatoms breakout. Hence I have switched back to IO, but I'm hoping to find a better salt. Barrier Reef Aquariums in Renton (GREAT STORE!) recommended the Tunze salt, however I cannot find it in Metro Vancouver.

Originally Posted by Rice Reef

The Poll is a bit unclear. Best Price? Best Quality? For me I am using Instant Ocean for the price and I am dosing regularly.

[imisky]

Originally Posted by Reefie

Sorry, the poll is for best quality. I, too am using IO and am also dosing regularly. If I had a better salt I could save on dosing. I had tried D-D H2Ocean, unfortunately I had brown algae diatoms breakout. Hence I have switched back to IO, but I'm hoping to find a better salt. Barrier Reef Aquariums in Renton (GREAT STORE!) recommended the Tunze salt, however I cannot find it in Metro Vancouver.

Im using instant ocean as well, I'm adjusting the cacium, alk, and mg with every water change as for other elements in the mix, since i cant test for it I'm not even going to bother, they can tell us all they want in terms of the content, but theres no cheap way for hobbyists to check if what they say is correct. Regardless spending $30 on suppliments for adjusting that can last 1-2 yrs imo outweighs paying a premium just to get the calcium, alk, mg in the correct range.

reefie, alot of people actually refer to the DD H2O salt as the tunze salt. or were you talking about the tunze branded salt , the Tunze Reef Excel Lab Marine Salt I,ve never seen it in any retail store or online in the US if its that guy.

[MarkoD]

Originally Posted by lastlight

Reef Crystals here. Considering a trial of the Royal Nature as I am sick of the nasty film/crust/sludge left behind.

Maybe your salt is exposed to moisture and the precipitate isn't dissolving

[Cal_stir]

I was using IO until I read an article in RK magazine that tested several salt brands and found IO to be very high in the heavy metals, hundreds and thousands of times higher than NSW.

[MarkoD]

Originally Posted by Cal_stir

I was using IO until I read an article in RK magazine that tested several salt brands and found IO to be very high in the heavy metals, hundreds and thousands of times higher than NSW.

cant trust everything you read. you never know who's paying this magazine to write this article.

there are many people that use IO and even if these heavy metals do exist, they dont seem to harm anything in the tank