Salt brand recommendations

[miggs76]

I currently use Red Sea coral pro but it mixes to a higher alkalinity than my tank wants to be at.....it mixes to about 12 and my tank wants to stay at 8-9. I like the salt but I don't like the spike in alkalinity when I do a water change. I'm thinking of changing to tropic Marin or h20......anyone using either of these?

[BaySailor]

Funny, I just tested my tropic marin for alkalinity and it was about 8 or 9, so I guess you should try it. I'm tryiing to maintain mine at 11 and its a pain, but I want some coraline growing.

[ohaverd]

Ive seen and heard about a few large aquariums like the kind you pay for and visit, use Instant Ocean. If its good enough for them, its good enough form me.

[OldReefer]

I didn't like the Alk swings I would get with Reef Crystals, so I went with H2O Ocean Pro. It mixes up exactly to the chemistry I like to run my tank at.

 

That being said, Instant Ocean with some additional calcium added is a decent alternative.

[Rosco's Reefs]

Funny, I just tested my tropic marin for alkalinity and it was about 8 or 9, so I guess you should try it. I'm tryiing to maintain mine at 11 and its a pain, but I want some coraline growing.

 

Is this true? Higher alkalinity leads to better coraline growth? Please advise. This fits in with a project I am doing. Thx in advance.

[BaySailor]

Well I'm not a chemist, but i've always found that corraline algae growth does relate to high alk. When I was running my tank at about 8 or so DKH, it all disappeared only to return when I brought it back up to 11. I pretty much keep Calcium at 425. Just my experience, but it seemed to be a pretty clear cause and effect.

Edited January 21, 2013 by BaySailor

[Decadence]

I use Kent's reef salt and dose to maintain alk and calcium. I only change a few gallons of water per month (algae scrubber) so the water changes don't affect much. I got Kent because it had the highest magnesium levels which is something that I don't dose.

[Curtis Scott]

+1 for Reef Crystals

[Origami]

Instant Ocean here.

[Der ABT]

instant ocean and add some MG to it if im so inclined

[Big Country]

Since your tank is already used to the Red Sea Salts why not use the regular formulation instead of the Coral Pro? It mixes up to a Alk of 7.7dkh

[miggs76]

I ordered a small bucket of H20 pro....I'm going to give it a shot and I'll post up my results in a few weeks. For now I'm going to split the water changes between that and the red sea coral pro....I've heard that switching over abruptly can cause some damage to a tank.

[bshriver]

I use IO or RC and have recently tried the tropic marine bio pro (or something like that).

 

I did not notice the advantage of the pro but I did not use it long enough to tell nor were my water changes frequent enough to see any benefit so I will reserve judgement on whether their Bio grade salt is worth the extra money.

 

That being said, regardless if what salt I use, I keep magnesium chloride,(or sulfate) calcium chloride and soda ash on hand to adjust the ca mag and alk levels of every new salt batch to where I like them before I use it. I find this method to be the best. It takes a small amount of extra effort but it is worth it to have full control over those levels. I use the online reef calculator to determine how much of each supplement to add after I test the new mix.

 

Tons of TOM winners use instant ocean and reef crystals so that is my norm too.