What's your favorite salt?

[d2mini]

And why?
Simple question... right? :mrgreen:

 

[dustin_P74]

kent is mine

 

[yote]

I use Oceanic.
Because I like the higher calcium levels out of the bucket.Alkalinity is a little low,but I can deal with that.Plus my LFS always has the Oceanic in stock,and I can pick up a 5gal bucket full for an hour or so of bagging fish for customers.

 

[RyanG]

I use Tropic Marin, I got it on sale way cheap but will be switching to Perfect Ocean. The brand that is made locally by some reefing friends. Every batch is hand mixed to exact specifications and is identical in everyway. Each batch is made to mix 40gallons of water. It is only available here

http://www.thesurgezone.com/

The salt link is broken but shoot Kent and email if you're interested.

 

[stagofdoom]

Ive used oceanic and Im a fan.

 

[reeffreak]

I've been using Red Sea Pro for the past six months.It works well with my RO water.The last batch of Kent,the water was cloudy and calcium was precipitating.The Red Sea seems to dissolve much faster,good calcium,pH,alkalinity but slightly low on magnesium.

 

[Alexander]

oceanpure (reg not the pro) best bang for your buck, then just dose cal seperate from that to control the levels.

 

[d2mini]

Anyone use D-D H2Ocean?
Sounds good.

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewI...on~view~idProduct~DD2211~idCategory~FISM.html

 

[hibye]

I like Oceanic. Like youte said I like the higher calcium levels and my LFS has been getting it in more in stock lately. I never used it d2, I have used red sea,oceanic, and instant ocean.

 

[cthegame]

When my LFS has them, i use Vibrant Reef http://www.vibrantreef.com/

 

[ccCapt]

Morton salt. When it rains...it pours. :)

 

[Stupidsreef]

I use both Oceanic and IO. I use the Oceanic when my LFS is out of the IO. I prefer the IO because I can buy the 200 gallon mix in the box for $35. It come's with 4 bag's. I know I can drop 1 bag into my 55 gallon drum filled with 40 gallon's of RO/DI water and it come's to 1.026.5 or 35 ppt. Then I add Magnesium Chloride Flakes & Calcium Chloride to the mix. Wait for one day and test to see where everything is. If the Alk comes up low I use baking soda to bring it to where I want it.

I started out in the hobby with Oceanic and then switched to IO. I've never used any other brands. Oceanic is much higher than IO in price. I use this reef chemisty calculator to add the things needed:

http://reef.diesyst.com/flashcalc/flashcalc.html

 

[Oscarsdad608]

I use reefcrystles

 

[Bifferwine]

I use Oceanic, Kent Marine, or Seachem. Whatever is on sale at the time.

 

[defcon235]

I started with Instant Ocean, but now I use Reef Crystals.

 

[Reefrookie]

Started out with IO, now I use Oceanic for the calcium now that I am getting into corals a bit

 

[Stupidsreef]

I thought I'd put this out there for those using Oceanic. I use it sometimes and I'm using it now. But I'm aware of this too. This is from a test that was preformed on RC about different brands of salt.

"Oceanic has the highest calcium content of any salt mix I have tested to date.

Some reefers with high calcium consumption can deal with this.

Otherwise, it is the most unbalanced salt mix I have tested."

And here is what the test showed:
Calk Alk Mag
Oceanic
580
8.5
1650


This is a bit out of whack for a slat mix. I've tested every batch I've made and my number's are close to these. Well my Salifert test stops at 500. High cal but low alk and them high Mag. It just does balance out very well.

Here are the salt's tested and there numbers:

Calcium​

Alkalinity​

Magnesium​

Aquatic Gardens
430
8
1240
CoraLife
560
9
1380
Crystal Sea Marinemix
340
9
1050
Crystal Sea Marinemix Bio-Assay
340
9
1050
D-D H2Ocean
450
10
1380
Instant Ocean
350
12
1070
Kent
540
11
1200
Marine Environment
480
7.5
1450
Oceanic
580
8.5
1650
OceanPure
510
10
1320
Red Sea
400
8
1300
Red Sea Coral Pro
490
7
1300
Reef Crystals
420
12
1260
SeaChem Marine Salt
500
10
1400
SeaChem Reef Salt
540
10
1450
Tropic Marin
375
10
1230
Tropic Marin Pro Reef
450
8.5
1380
Tunze Reef Salt
420
9.5
1350

 

[simpleman]

I like kent the best. I have been using reef crystals lately and have not been too pleased with it (cal too low=360, alk too high=13dkh)

 

[Altohombre]

I use Seachem Reef Salt and also have IO, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are my ideal salts. I don't think I have tried enough salts to really know which brand is best for my tank.

 

[Stupidsreef]

I pretty much stick with IO cause it's cheap and I can add the stuff it needs really cheap. But when the LFS is out I go for the Oceanic. I've never use any other brand so I try to stay with the 2 that I know.