Salt mixes and your thoughts

So I wanted to know what salt mix your using and what are your thoughts on it?

Here is my thought on my Salt Mix
I use : Brightwell Neo Marine

I previsouly used Instant Ocean and Oceanic- My corals looked Dime all the time- So I decided to try this out since it was getting mix reviews... Well I took the plunge and I love this salt mix- I don't think I want to look back but I am thinking about switching again because of Cost.
But it brighten up my colors in my corals and the growth of my corals have been tramendous.

Thanks
Frankie

Reef Geeks speak out!

I use Reef Crystals and love it. The last batch was a little weak. I had to add a little bit more salt to the mix to get the same SG. Very impressed with it over all.

Anyone else?

Ive used a bunch of different salt mix's over the years and ive never noticed any difference between them. Sure, some of them have higher Ca or Mg but those also have a much higher price tag. Calcium chloride and magnesium chloride cheap and easy to find so i can justify paying $10 to $30 more a bucket for these higher end salts when i can raise the Ca and Mg levels of cheaper salts up to the others levels for about $1 a bucket.

LOL
What ever is cheapest Just kiddin. Tried just about everything out there. Been using oceanic but not diggin recently that it's taking forever to clear after mixed. Gonna go back to tropic marine next time little more expensive but seems to mix real good and with in a few hours usually is clear.

I have been primarily using Reef Crystals for a long time. I get it for $43 for a 200 gallon mix box locally. If it wasn't for that I would probably switch to something else. It leaves the nastiest crud in my mixing barrels. Lately it has been taking forever to clear up as well. I have to run new water into a sock when doing water changes. It does have higher levels of ca and alk but messy.

I always wondered why one was so much more than the other.....I mean salt is salt right? is it just because of the additives? if so, can't WE just add them ourselves? and why would one cloud the water more than another?

I hear that IO has alway been good on Reef systems all we have to do is just dial up what we want are Parameters at and you still get great growth and colors still pop...

and shawn's tank is amazing looking

I agree 100% makes perfect sense! I'm a big fan of w/c's, call me a geek, but i like the process of making the water, and it feels like your treating the tank with something special. I also use a no bucket setup, and although the wife and i always do it together, i 've done it on my own in 20 mins, and this is coming from a guy in a wheelchair whose hands barely work. We change 28g every other week, and just started using tropic marin bio. We've done 2 w/c's and both times our trumpets and ricordea looked great, (looked great before w/c, just even better). So i've been re-thinking the w/c schedule lately to weekly... Also, I tested some freshly mixed bio actif water,Bio Actif Salt Test the levels were right where they should be, so this also works great for me, cause i'm also trying to avoid dosing, but my tank is still in infancy, so we'll just keep testing and see what happens. And, there are some incredible tanks out there that don't get w/c's at all, or few and far between, so no offense to you guys/gals, but that doesn't sit well with me, but if it works for you go for it. Its just in the past tanks i've had, when i would slack and not do w/c's i always felt guilty til i ended up doing it!

Sorry, i don't think my link worked, i copied and pasted, but i guess it was the wrong spot to copy from, sometimes i get by, sometimes i feel computer stupid!

Originally Posted by ponies999

I think the growth shots really speak for themselves as well, plus I think the idea makes complete sense. Some growth shots are posted in the tank thread for the 265 but I guess I should get on it and take some more......

Originally Posted by logans_daddy

IMO? No.

For the most part yes.

yes you can. there are at least 70 trace elements found in NSW. are they important? i dont know but i personally think they are. can you locate, dose, and test for them to make sure they are added in the proper ratios? i dont know, but i cant.

again, i dont know but in my opinion this is usually directly related to the quality of the salt. the cheaper salts ive used usually leave residue and the higher ends salts do not but i have not used all saltmix brands.

everyone will have different opinions on this subject and i will be no exception. what i will say is this topic is one i have read a lot about and given a lot of thought to and shared my ideas for the last several years with local members. i dont think there is anything wrong with 2/3 part dosing. however, for me, im not comfortable with putting something in my tank that is manufactured for the use of being put on your sidewalks. Randy ammended his original article with the fact that he was contacted by Prestone(or one of the other manufactures) stating that they do not recommend their product to be used in reef tanks. for me buying 50lb sacks of chemicals with quality control standards not meant for this hobby along with the labor of measuring and dosing is not worth it. also, unless you dose daily or at least every couple of days your tank will not be as stable as it can be.

something else ive always found interesting are the number of RC TOTM that have since crashed because of unknown causes and all the talk about "old tank syndrome".

I do only waterchanges in a 265g SPS dominated tank with no dosing via daily 5-10g waterchanges with a target of 50-100% monthly turnover based on testing. I do so with the following thoughts in mind.
1)Regardless of whatever substance that this or that expert feels builds up over time that contributes to old tank syndrome i feel that dilution will prevent this from happening.
2)Waterchanges without dosing or minimum dosing will keep ionic balance among the different elements in the water. How important is this? Again, i dont know. It depends on which expert you want to believe. Personally? I think it can be a significant "unobserved" factor in old tank syndrome.
3)Small frequent waterchanges keeps my tank SUPER stable, keeps my major paramters at the right levels and stable, keeps my trace elements that i dont dose where they should be, and keeps my NO3 and PO4 and 0ppm with no reactors or other methods other than a fuge.
4)Is it a pain? Not if you set up an automated waterchange method. My girlfriend does a 10g waterchange on the 265g in about 3-5min with no buckets. Our total weekly maintenance is about 1/2 hour to one hour max.
5)Is it expensive? Depends on what you think is expensive. We spend between $60 and $120 a month on salt. However, we dont buy any chemicals, no carbon, no GFO, or any other chemicals or medias. We dont spend time storing, measuring, or mixing chemicals.

Everyone will find their own path to sucess. This happens to be mine. Will my method be able to handle the demands of a fully grown in 265g stony coral tank? I dont know :-) I guess we will see. Im prepared to go up to 100% waterchange monthly and will dose if that is not enough. Right now a 10% monthly waterchange has been keeping things stable with no dosing and a big bioload. I have tried every other method and have all the equipment to show for it. My 265g even has a NO3 reactor hooked up to it but i turned off the feed because their was no need for it. Im going to leave it plumbed until i have the tank fully stocked in case the waterchanges are sufficient for maintaining levels but not sufficient for nutrient export.

I don't disagree with anything but you never mention the brand of salt you use.

Originally Posted by logans_daddy

Tropic Marin Reef Pro. Expensive but well worth every penny in my opinion.

Originally Posted by tcwayne

I don't disagree with anything but you never mention the brand of salt you use.

Look up Chuck

oops

Well this has certainly got me thinking of a new direction. As you can see this is what Reef Crystals does when you keep saltwater mixing and ready at all times. I've got six more bags of this stuff, anyone wanna buy some RC? LOL
I took these today at my friends house and I keep the same mixing setup at home, This barrel was cleaned in January. I cleaned mine today, so pics are inconsequential on mine.

It's OK Chuck, I was thinking the same thing, till Bill said look up.

I'm using IO for now, but may change when I run out. It takes hours to clear up, and that just bugs me.

Looks like a ton of Cal build up...

HMMMMMM

May need to try the Pro-Coral Mineral. Looks like a low dose TO 13 gallons of water and a drip feed.