Salt Brand Recommendations

[paulthomas]

Word on the street is that Tropic Marin Pro Reef salt is the best. I was going to buy a couple 200 gallon buckets online, but it seems everyone is sold out until the beginning of March.

What salt is considered second best? I'll need something to tide me over 'til I can make a large order. Total volume of the system should be about 170 gallons. I don't want to have to do too much dosing if possible.

TIA,
Paul

 

[Bobbofin]

I've been using the regular Tropic Marin for 17 years with no problems what-so-ever. Calcium tests at about 320-350 so you have to bump it up. That's the only issue and it's really not an issue, at least not with me.

 

[paulthomas]

Thanks Bob. Seventeen years is a pretty good track record. To play it safe, I will probably go with that over the Reef Crystals then. I was told that Reef Crystals aren't terribly consistant.

 

[jbundas]

Used to us Tropic Marin but went to IO since it was considerably cheaper. Been using that for years with good results. Didn't notice a difference in the tank between the 2 mixes.

 

[Andy O]

I have been using the TM Pro and have been very happy with it.

 

[paulthomas]

Thanks Andy.

J, do you add any supplements to your water?

 

[jbundas]

I run a Ca reactor. Dump in Mg every now and then, and tweak Ca and Alk levels with Kent powders as needed.

 

[paulthomas]

No Kalk?

 

[jbundas]

Not yet, although I used to way back in the day before the Ca reactor. I have fuge in the sump running reverse light cycle so pH only drops to like 8.1 at night while at 8.3 in the day so don't need the kalk top-off for pH control. I might consider using it if my reactor can't keep up once the tank is all set. It seemed to have a tough time in the 75g so I'm expecting the same to get worse now. We'll see.

 

[TomD]

I didn't think kalk was really for PH control. I thought it was mainly for maintaining CA and ALK.

 

[Gina McReeferson]

We've used IO since the beginning, I believe, and are very happy with it.

-Gina

 

[Kevin McG]

We've used IO since the beginning, I believe, and are very happy with it.

-Gina

Same here, seems to work well for me.

 

[smcnally]

I've used IO and Torpic Marin and I prefer the IO.

 

[stevenp]

I've used IO and Torpic Marin and I prefer the IO.

Steve, can you explain why you prefer IO? I'm currently using TM and would like to switch over to IO due to cost, so I'd be interested in hearing why you may prefer aside from cost.

 

[smcnally]

IMO, the IO mixes into the water easier. While using TM, I seemed to have a lot of issues with my tank, but I think some (if not most of the problems) were actually caused from being less experienced at the time. But...I switched back to IO and things got better so I've stuck with it ever since.

 

[paulthomas]

Yeah, money talks. At about half the price, IO is tough to pass up. You guys use the regular IO and not the Reef Crystals right?

 

[genkireefer]

well since we're bored in the store, we test the calcium, alkalinity, etc. of the salts we sell. every batch is very slightly different, but here's the list of all of them from lowest in concentration to highest.
IO, Seachem Marine, Seachem Reef, Tropic Marin, Tropic Marin Pro Reef.
IO and Seachem Marine are great for their prices but you do have to supplement more if you use them. in my own experience, less adjustment needs to be done if you do your regular h2o changes with tropic marin or tm pro reef.
the customers who've been taking home the seachem reef salt to try are reporting good results. we've had the seachem marine and reef only for a few months but apparently people are very happy with it.
hope my imput helps with the decision.

 

[agent6473]

Hey Michelle,
Interesting results there. I would've thought Seachem Reef would be closer to Tropic Marin Pro Reef since they are competing products. Do you remember what any of the levels tested out as?

Chris

 

[genkireefer]

hey chris!
well i should have said that TM and Seachem Reef are pretty head to head. the open (torn-from-shipping) bag of seachem i tested had CA at 390-410 and alk at 9, versus TM at 400-420 and alk at 9.
something like that... i did the tests right when we started carrying the stuff.
Seachem released Marine salt to compete with IO and company. Reef Salt was competition for TM. if they hike up their concentrations just a little bit, they would be at battle with TM pro reef. reputable company... i'd like to see them do it.
just because my interest has been peaked, we should do the tests again... on as many brands as we can find =D. you and i should investigate once more!

 

[agent6473]

Interesting. I'm curious what the regular TM is. I have some mixed here, I'll test it tomorrow. I think I'm going to switch to the proreef just to get the added boost