What salt to buy?

[ordi260]

Hello everybody!

I am wondering what brand of salt you guys are using for your reef tank...and also where to buy it...im on a student budget so that's why im looking around to save money.

I want to have a good quality reef salt, at a reasonnable price. 
I am looking to buy it in 160g pail or 200g box!

Thanks

Al

[JD]

I use Instant Ocean Reef Crystals for my SPS dominated reef tanks. It is available in a number of places should your favourite supplier run out.

If you are not a big keeper of SPS then the regular Instant Ocean would be fine.

I prefer Tropic Marin Pro Reef but the price is about 20-30% more.

Here is a large write up on several salts.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1287118

[Funkmotor]

I really like Tropic Marin Pro-Reef, but it is expensive and hard to get.  I've tried Reef Crystals and I swear they will never go into my tank again...just too much supplementation required, and in the end it costs more.

Currently I'm running DD H2Ocean Pro I got from Ray.  It mixes well, leaving behind a bit of white 'dust' in the barrel over time (not that it worries me) and my coralline growth has gone absolutely insane since I started on it.  Tank parameters are stable, and I have to say I'm quite satisfied with it.  It's not expensive, either, as I recall.

In the past I tried Seachem Reef Salt and was thoroughly unimpressed.  It didn't mix completely, and even after a day of mixing it the pH was way too high.

Everyone that posts will have different opinions, so it's up to you to decide where you want to go.  Some people just buy whatever's cheapest at the time and have no problems.  I have not been so lucky.

[Vincenzo.]

my fave so far had been tropic marin pro reef.

i bought one the instant ocean boxes for boxing day, and hate it personally. i cant wait to finish it. i find i need to water change More frequent and bigger water changes. and i noticed loss in colors.

never had that problem with TMP-Reef.

--This is Just My Opinion.

[Hookup]

Reef Crystals, though I would like to try topic marin pro if it was available easily enough.

[JD]

I have used Tropic Marin Pro. I found it more dusty than Reef Crystals, required the addition of Bio Calcium to bump the params but Alk is lower at 8ish unlike RC at 12ish. TMP mixes up faster, probably because it is more fine and leaves less residue than the RC.

[ordi260]

So...Instant Ocean Reef crystals seems like a good choice right?

[JD]

IO RC is a popular choice for reef aquariums. The price is mid range and is carried by several vendors.

[Hookup]

So...Instant Ocean Reef crystals seems like a good choice right?

I've heard that Calfo uses IO.  Cost and quality reasons.  I think he said there were others that were "better" but not at the price point.  Good stuff if the coral farmer is using it....

[JD]

I've heard that Calfo uses IO.  Cost and quality reasons.  I think he said there were others that were "better" but not at the price point.  Good stuff if the coral farmer is using it....

Calfo uses IO or IO RC?

[redbelly]

Calfo uses plain old IO but does HUGE regular water changes.
His opinion is that on anything unday a 50g tank you should just do 90% weekly water changes. Although his does point out that IO is real cheap for him.

[Rybren]

Randy Holmes Farley, the reef chemistry guru, uses plain old IO as well.

[RossW]

I have both RC and IO on hand.  I was using just RC but Randy Holmes Farley's preference of IO due to no organics caught my attention, and I was in Big Als on Boxing Day and could not pass up the deal on IO... I am going to finish off my RC, then I have 2 buckets of IO to use.  No clue what I will use after that.  Since I have tons of 2 part on hand, I will likely stick with IO.

[Severum]

I use IO especially since reef tanks get supplemented up the wazoo anyways. Who cares if its low in something.

I'll spend the savings on fancy equipment or coral frags. Too much to buy, too little money.

[az]

Tropic marine is not expensive at all when you calculate cost per gallon, dont forget TM buckets make 200 gallon and not 160 like IO or Seachem.