What's your favorite salt

[KarenM]

I saw the post below about Tropic Marin. I looked for it at the local chain store, but didn't see it. In my whole 3 months of SW experience I've always used IO (recommended by the LFS), however I ran out and this time I bought Coral Life Natural Sea Salt. Any strong opinions about any of these?

[CaptainBob]

tropic marin is a good salt, we sell it at aquatek, I generally prefer to use bigger names though, right now I'm using oceanic with no problems, and no problems is a good enough situation for me FWIW.

[cmanning]

The last 2 yrs. we've tried Oceanic and we had no problems. This month we're trying TM and we are putting it to the test. We'll see how it turns out with coral growth since we add some SPS to the tank. Wish me Luck .

Thanks,

Cindy

[ReeferKris]

The last 2 yrs. we've tried Oceanic and we had no problems. This month we're trying TM and we are putting it to the test. We'll see how it turns out with coral growth since we add some SPS to the tank. Wish me Luck .

Thanks,

Cindy

I switched from TM to Red Sea Coral Pro this month and so far so good but I used TM for years and years before that with nothing but the best results so the new stuff has to prove its worth.

[GKarshens]

I started with Oceanic then went to Instant Ocean and then found TM. I am a big TM fan!

[Entropy]

I have used IO from the start, so I don't really have much basis to compare, but I have never had any issues with IO. I did dabble a little, but only when I could not get IO and was in a pinch (like spilling 30 gallons on the floor).

[JamesL]

I use Reef Crystals here ....

[Kingfish]

All of the salts will work just fine for almost any hobbiest. I have used IO for years. Hawaiian Marine's Weigants salt for about a year with great results but I was never WOWed by it. I used Oceanic's salt for 2 years and must say that it is very cost effective and consistant in its values. Although its values do leave some to be desired ( KH 8, Ca 390-400).

I have been a TM nazi for about a year and it is a good salt, but expensive.

These high-end salts cost extra money because they have extra trace elements and Mg. in them. And TM doesn't really have that much higher Mg than the others, so is it worth it? (rhetorical?)

But the real question is; Does every hobbiest really NEED these "better" salts. I mean to say, is your tank running so perfectly and so close to the pinnacle of peak health and coral growth that you require these extra elements. I think most of us would answer no.

Tropic marin boasts that it has all 70 trace metals in its salt. And obviously some amount of all of these is needed, but why should we pay and extra $10-15 for the extra 5ppm of Boron or manganese if 1ppm is sufficient?

Salt has become kind of a status thing amongst many of the advanced reefers. I mean some people are using Tm pro that aren't even running a calcium reactor.

My message for newer reefers, or non SPS keepers is; use what is available and cost effective, there is nothing magic in the more expensive ones.

[chatfouz]

does that count when purchasing coralife because it has free tee shirts?

[xcreonx]

Tropic Marin here too.

I've used Red Sea and IO in the past with fine results. I'll stick with TM for a while.

[Enigma13]

I have used Oceanic, SeaChem, Red Sea and Tropic Marin. I did not like the SeaChem because I had consistently low calcium and magnesium levels and had a heavy residue in my salt water mix tank. Oceanic was fairly effective, but I had occasional cyano patches. Since I had switched to Tropic Marin (about 9 months ago) there has been no cyano and all levels except for Magnesium have been good. Red Sea was great except it took longer to dissolve fully (about 36 hours). Therefore, my favorite as of right now is Tropic Marin based purely on the results. Red Sea would be my second choice.