Best reef salt mix?

[N1Husker]

I have 7 corals now and 4 fish, I have been using Instant Ocean Salt mix, but I think I should be using a reef salt mix. The info. is pretty confusing and I was wondering if anyone out there has an opinion on which salt mix that they have good luck with. The sales people at the fish stores, said that this unadvertised brand is the best, but it is twice the price as say Reef Crystals from I.O. Any thought's?

 

[Somethings Fishy]

i use instant ocean and keep everything from sps to softies and have had nothing but great luck with the salt (only salt i have used so i may be biased). i manually dosed elements and calcium ect, and test. find what works for you.... how does your tank look? whats your salinity? any pics? if it aint broke dont fix it,

 

[N1Husker]

Salinity is 1.025 but calcium is low, about 360 ppm. I dose with Kent 2 part A&B calcium and buffer, but it doesn't seem to bring the calcium up. The alkalinity is okay. Tank looks good, everybody looks happy. I did have a problem with my evergreen starburst, but moved it over to the other side of the tank and it took care of the problem. The polyps wouldn't open, now they all are open.

 

[N1Husker]

I also got a plate montipora from rainydave the other day and he said that they like a lot of calcium, that's why I am thinking I should get reef salt, higher calcium levels.

 

[tyson256031]

Does any one use the Brightwell salt? I've been debating switching to this but not sure if its really worth it.

 

[rainydave]

I also got a plate montipora from rainydave the other day and he said that they like a lot of calcium, that's why I am thinking I should get reef salt, higher calcium levels.

They do need some extra calcium to build their skeleton. So, testing your calcium to keep it at proper levels is key.

I've been using Instant Ocean from the start and have kept softies up to SPS. And I don't test as often as I should. I usually let the regular water changes keep the elements in check.

 

[NC2WA]

n1husker,

i believe there is a poll on this subject...also advancedaquarist.com did a review of the different salts..you should be able to search for it...if u need help, let me know and i can find it for you.

yes, it is a known fact IO salt is low in calcium and needs to be buffered.

 

[Somethings Fishy]

i agree with space monkey david haha, i was a if the tank looks bad change the water kinda guy until i started testing and was able to bring my water to where is should be.


so your dosing part a and b (same as me)

be sure to dose a couple of hours apart because they will cancel each other out. AND they may be in diff parts- as in 2 parts calcium to 1 part buffer ect


keep us posted!!!

 

[N1Husker]

NC2WA, yes, if you can find something I would appreciate it. The more info I can stuff into my cranium, the better. Sometimes. Too much, then the info starts crashing into each other, I think that's where confusion comes from. But yes, if you could let me know. - A couple of hours apart, huh? That I didn't know, I was doing them about ten minutes apart, maybe that's been my problem. Like I will dose and the next day nothing changed. Thanks, I will try that. Why don't they put that on the instructions!

 

[N1Husker]

Thanks again, they seem to be happy in my tank, the color on the monti is bright orange-ish pink, I have it right under the lights and the purple starburst is all open and enjoying itself. Just thought I would let you know how your kids are doing.-Earl

 

[10gnano]

following along on this. Just switched over to Brightwell and am wondering about others thoughts on the salt. It's only been about three weeks so I can't give it a positive or negative review.

 

[rainydave]

Thanks again, they seem to be happy in my tank, the color on the monti is bright orange-ish pink, I have it right under the lights and the purple starburst is all open and enjoying itself. Just thought I would let you know how your kids are doing.-Earl

I'm glad to hear it.

 

[Darthv247]

i dont know if they have changed the brightwell formula lately or not but when i used it a few years ago it had a very odd smell when mixed and i didnt think it disolved very well, i could have also had a bad batch not sure.

 

[Scooterman]

Aquarium pharmaceuticals, the maker of IO also makes Reef Crystals which is the same salt but with more reef type elements.

 

[TJL]

Good question and one that has had many threads on many forums about it. I have used I/O for 25+ years now but, IMHO it is primarily personal choice as pretty much all syn salt mixes are decent product anymore, some have more of this or that for a price though. If I had just a small nano-sized reeftank would definitely go with a designer salt mix and could easily justify the added cost of the mix. On larger systems it just is not worth (to me) paying $20-$40 or more for $5-$10 of added supplements. The other positive of adding in your own is that you can only dose the actual elements your reeftank consumes. Now after stating all this I have considered switching to Brightwell salt mix after spending time at thier booth at SeaMax. For now though I just step up the I/O mix when doing water changes ie: to each 15 gallons (my water change tank) I add about a Tbsp of Tech-M Mg and a rounded tsp of Kalkwasser to 8 cups of I/O achieving 1.025-26 SG.

Cheers, Todd

 

[jrgilles]

I use the basic instant ocean. Have a TLF kalk reactor that keeps my Ca up and a calcium reactor for alk. All seems fine to me though.

If you have to spend way more on salt to get it to be 'perfect' right off the bat, seems the money may be better invested in some equipment, be it reactors or dosing pumps or something.

Anyway, no problems with my IO, so haven't thought about switching

 

[NC2WA]

NHusker,

Start here...Feature Article: Inland Reef Aquaria Salt Study, Part I — Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog

 

[10gnano]

i dont know if they have changed the brightwell formula lately or not but when i used it a few years ago it had a very odd smell when mixed and i didnt think it disolved very well, i could have also had a bad batch not sure.

Not sure if you got a bad batch, mine produces a weird smell as well. Smells kind of like sulfar, It also takes a good 24hrs to mix/loose the smell

 

[N1Husker]

Thank's Eric, I just ordered some IO Reef Crystals from Foster and Smith's, couldn't beat their price. That was a very good article, a lot of good info. I remember Mojoreef saying at the picnic that their all pretty much garbage, and the more I read, the more I can see what he was talking about. Then again, you have to use something. I will have to see how this works. Thank's again.

 

[NC2WA]

Eric? don't know who Eric is, my name is Kirk But I will answer to just about anything....lol..

RC Salt is good...Ive used IO salt for 8 yrs and happy with it..