Manny Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 It's that time again to buy another bucket of salt. I have been using the red sea pro salt mix but was wondering, does it really matter which salt you get? Aren't there plenty of amazing reefs out there that use the cheap petco instant ocean salt? What exactly would make it worth the extra money to buy these expensive salt mixes? Yes I am aware that they do provide extra supplements but are such supplements needed? Do we really do enough water changes to actually make the extra supplements even noticeable? Will paying $75 for a bucket of salt really make[help] my coral look more amazing than if I pay $50 for a bucket of salt? What salt mixes are you guys using? If you are buying the cheap stuff, why don't you switch to the expensive stuff? If you are using the expensive stuff, why use that over the cheap stuff? Just posting this out of curiosity but maybe you guys will help me decide on which salt to start using. Thanks in advance for any responses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbelR1975 Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 Im using the CoralLife mix. I got a box that makes 200 gallons from the dome for about $33. They had a special for ARC members. I dont know if they are still offering it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 I used red sea coral pro for a long time and switched to...maybe corallife?... can't remember. But it's a lot cheaper. My tank looks better than it has in a while, which probably has nothing to do with the salt mix. Haven't noticed needing to dose extra. I'm happy with the switch so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 Short answer; using cheaper salt will be fine. You may find that you might need to supplement to get Ca or Alk or Mag where you want them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manny Posted September 9, 2014 Author Share Posted September 9, 2014 Short answer; using cheaper salt will be fine. You may find that you might need to supplement to get Ca or Alk or Mag where you want them.Even with my "expensive" salt I still dose to raise Ca, dKH, and Mg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 Been using instant ocean since almost forever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manny Posted September 9, 2014 Author Share Posted September 9, 2014 Has anyone seen a decline in their coral health by switching to a cheaper salt or seen improved coral health by switching to a better salt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manny Posted September 9, 2014 Author Share Posted September 9, 2014 Been using instant ocean since almost forever Great looking system by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 If you are at a point where you are manually dosing to tweak levels, I'd just buy the normal salt Manny. The expensive salt usually has elevated Ca/Alk levels so that those that don't dose can replenish their levels through water changes only... they also have a bunch of other "magical" ingredients but to me, it's not needed if you have the ability to tweak your own Ca/Alk/Mg levels. I originally ran Red Sea Pro when I first started my 125-gallon tank 4 years ago but have run the cheapers salts since and have never had an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 Instant ocean here. I've hopped back and forth between instant ocean and reef crystals. Expensive salts are every bit as inconsistent. I wouldn't go so cheap as to use Top Fin salt from Walmart, but drs foster smith has the cheapest salt and shipping prices on the web. 200 gallon box of instant ocean is under $50 last time I looked and free shipping at $50 purchase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bige Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 I just got a box of hw marine from amazon for $50 and free shipping. Price was too good to pass up. Red Sea coral pro was never right. I immediately saw my corals look better and brighter. Maybe changing salts every now and then makes them happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manny Posted September 9, 2014 Author Share Posted September 9, 2014 Well no one has been able to or even tried to convince me to keep buying the expensive salt so I start buying instant ocean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 Instant ocean plus a bottle of TLF acro power amino acids for the win Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 I like the Red Sea aminos and vitamin mix if you haven't tried them. Looks like I'm adding radioactive water to my tank! Sent via Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manny Posted September 9, 2014 Author Share Posted September 9, 2014 I like the Red Sea aminos and vitamin mix if you haven't tried them. Looks like I'm adding radioactive water to my tank! Sent via Tapatalk Its funny you guys mention this because I have just barely started looking into possibly adding amino acids to my aquarium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 I like the Red Sea aminos and vitamin mix if you haven't tried them. Looks like I'm adding radioactive water to my tank! Sent via Tapatalk I dose Aquavitro Fuel and it looks the same way going in! Like highlighter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manny Posted September 10, 2014 Author Share Posted September 10, 2014 Thanks everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sethsolomon Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 I used Seachem Salinity for a while but at $100 a bucket I was sick of that. Swapped to kent salt and it was good for a while but then they were tinkering with their formula and caused an inconsistent salt. So I shifted over to Fritz Reef Pro and LOVE it! Its about $40-50 per 200g box. Its Microbe Lift without the bio activator. Microbe Lift buys fritz salt and repackages it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizzy Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Has anyone seen a decline in their coral health by switching to a cheaper salt or seen improved coral health by switching to a better salt? YES! But it was actually a decline when switching to a more expensive salt. It was in a blue bucket, not sure what it was called, but can look it up later (I keep all buckets). I used Coralife for a very long time - it was great! Due to time constraints, I ended up picking up some Instant Ocean - the reef blend, and have noticed lots of coralline starting to grow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manny Posted September 11, 2014 Author Share Posted September 11, 2014 Check this out: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neon Reefer Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 I buy whatever RCA mixes for their premium salt. They probably switch around some based on their purchae price and what's on sale. Do not ever really see any changes over the years as I always bring up to 1.026 w/ IO and dose Kents Ca, Alk, and Mg to my specs prior to water change. I also test and redose as needed post water changes so I am at 1.026 SP, 425ppm Ca, 9.50dKH Alk, and 1500ppm Mg. I water change 15% once a month to vacuum gravel. I maintian Ca, Alk and Mg daily with Salifert Acetate for major and trace thru my ATO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 In other words, check your salt formula and food and trust you're probably fine on trace elements and don't try and dose something that is kept in such miniscule concentrations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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