What's your favorite brand salt mix ?

[Real Reefer]

RC here

[Jettareefer]

Thanks everyone for all the input!

For the people who mentioned the ESV salt mixing quickly that is awesome attribute, from what I can tell you have everything separate bags and you mix it to your desired levels ? Correct me if I am wrong I have only seen pictures online. I still have a hard time justifying spending double. But it sounds amazing.

Redsea pro salt I have heard mixed reviews people loved it or had problems while using it.(I have personal friend who like it a lot but he is a softie/Lps guy)

Kent is always a good choice I have used the buffers and supplements since I started salt water when I was in grade school hah.

Instant ocean still pulling my hand the price is right, it seems most have been using it for years . For me that speaks for the quality.

Let's keep it going!
-Addison

[Jfannin]

IO and RC leaves a very bad brown residue on everything in the mixing containers. Ill never use it again because i believe the brown crap ends up in the DT as well. Ive had issues in the past from this.

ESV does come with each part of the mix in separate containers. 2 of witch are in powered form bagged up. the other 2 parts come in liquid form in 1 gallon containers. The mixing is easy and is a nice and clean result. Can say it worth the cost but its better then IO or RC

Im going to be trying Kent Reef as soon as it come in. i actually just ordered it earlier today. I will be depending on WC for my dosing and as a major part of my filtering / export. So we'll see.

[MBMAX]

Red Sea coral pro here

[Jettareefer]

Jfannin:IO and RC leaves a very bad brown residue on everything in the mixing containers. Ill never use it again because i believe the brown crap ends up in the DT as well. Ive had issues in the past from this.

ESV does come with each part of the mix in separate containers. 2 of witch are in powered form bagged up. the other 2 parts come in liquid form in 1 gallon containers. The mixing is easy and is a nice and clean result. Can say it worth the cost but its better then IO or RC

Im going to be trying Kent Reef as soon as it come in. i actually just ordered it earlier today. I will be depending on WC for my dosing and as a major part of my filtering / export. So we'll see.[/QUOTE]


Let me know how the kent reef work out whenever you get around to trying it out.

[sirreal63]

IO and RC leaves a very bad brown residue on everything in the mixing containers. Ill never use it again because i believe the brown crap ends up in the DT as well. Ive had issues in the past from this.

Im going to be trying Kent Reef as soon as it come in. i actually just ordered it earlier today. I will be depending on WC for my dosing and as a major part of my filtering / export. So we'll see.

With IO I don't get the residue but did with RC, and this seems to be the norm. The brown residue is thought to be from the chelators that RC has and IO does not. RC also adds vitamins that are not needed in the tank and can be a problem for having mixed saltwater on hand.

I never used Kent salt but I have a rule against any Kent or Brightwell products in my tank. I know a lot of people have used Kent salt with no real issues over the years.

[Jettareefer]

Sirreall63 Just out of curiosity why have you ruled against bright well products ?

[sirreal63]

They employ gimmick marketing. Look at the myriad of products they offer and ask yourself why is that needed? They will gladly try to convince you that these products are necessary and eagerly take your money while not actually providing you with anything your tank really needs. Shiny labels and hyped up pseudo-science and repackaged existing products does not create a healthy tank, it creates a healthy bank account for Kent and Brightwell. You can have a healthy tank without adding all of those crazy products. A perfect example of this is MB7. I encourage you to try and keep bacteria out of your tank, you cannot do it, so why buy a "supposedly" live bacteria strain and add it to your tank?

[dowtish]

I have noticed that if I mix my salt for 20 minutes and let it dissolve and mix well, and then turn on my heater I dont get hardly any brown residue, as compared to heating the water prior to adding the salt.

BTW, I use Red Sea salt. the regular Red Sea, not the Coral Pro. I like that it mixes at 8dkh

[jda]

Take good pictures of your brightest, and most contrasting SPS before, and after, switching to Kent salt. IMO, and many will agree, that the brightest will not pop as well as they did on other salts, and the contrasts will not contrast as well. IMO, it is excess metal in the salt, but what do I know? I can run some metal-remoiving resin after mixing a fresh batch and it will turn colors - which do not happen with other salts. In any case, and I am probably wrong about the cause, I can tell a substantial difference with kent and coralife salt, which I believe to be equally bad for SPS, so I avoid them. I cannot tell any difference with any other type of coral or fish using Kent. IO is the same money (mostly), so I just stick with it.

I also avoid any salt with the bio stuff in it.

I have never got any brown residue with any salt as long as the water volume is in place before I add the salt, and the salt is mixed (or bags added). I have had issues adding 44G of salt to 10G of water and then adding more water later, and stuff like that. I do it like this... dry mix salt, if not in a bag equal in volume => full volume of water => salt mix in => mix for 20-30 minutes => heater in the water.

[Allmost]

Originally Posted by sirreal63

They employ gimmick marketing. Look at the myriad of products they offer and ask yourself why is that needed? They will gladly try to convince you that these products are necessary and eagerly take your money while not actually providing you with anything your tank really needs. Shiny labels and hyped up pseudo-science and repackaged existing products does not create a healthy tank, it creates a healthy bank account for Kent and Brightwell. You can have a healthy tank without adding all of those crazy products. A perfect example of this is MB7. I encourage you to try and keep bacteria out of your tank, you cannot do it, so why buy a "supposedly" live bacteria strain and add it to your tank?

oh come on !

this is an old argument, which we have gone over many times.

sure, there are a million ways to run a reef tank, but really ! why judge other methods that get result ? sure, u cant keep bacteria out of tank, but how do u make sure you have bacteria X in your tank ? how about those that see benefit ? we are ALL wrong ? science is wrong too ? ....

I personally am against bright well, and dont use their products. my reasoning is different though. I do not like how they copy other ppls research, and name it as theirs.

sorry, didnt want to derail the thread, but these comments really get to me ...

[sirreal63]

Granted, however if you get results with or without a product, then how do you know the product you are adding is doing anything? If you did not get results without adding it then it would be probable the product is doing something. It is kind of a simple thing to deduce.

Which of their products are necessary?

[GroktheCube]

Originally Posted by Jettareefer

Thanks everyone for all the input!

For the people who mentioned the ESV salt mixing quickly that is awesome attribute, from what I can tell you have everything separate bags and you mix it to your desired levels ? Correct me if I am wrong I have only seen pictures online. I still have a hard time justifying spending double. But it sounds amazing.

It comes as solid sodium chloride, solid magnesium sulfate, and two liquids containing cal, alk, and minor/trace elements. It's slightly higher alk/cal than NSW, but pretty close.

It's more expensive than IO, but the added convenience makes it worth it for me personally . I don't think it has any magic that makes corals grow better, but it does mix up with params identical to my system in a few minutes, doesn't need any dry mixing, has no batch to batch variation, and always mixes clear without leaving any residue in my mixing brute.

[Allmost]

Originally Posted by sirreal63

Granted, however if you get results with or without a product, then how do you know the product you are adding is doing anything? If you did not get results without adding it then it would be probable the product is doing something. It is kind of a simple thing to deduce.

Which of their products are necessary?

okay never mind, I see how u will try to turn this around and change the discussion ...

dosing organic carbon is an example ... but if you have not tried it, I dont think it would be wise to comment about it, right ? ask those that have tried vodka dosing, and also have tried dosing something like Zeostart ...

I know your corals can not look better than they do now as they are just perfect, but if by luck the universe changes, and you do something different and your corals start looking better than before then how would u make a conclusion ? just luck ? or does that mean u werent doing it right before ? answer is none of the above for me, for me, it means the product did that. or what ever the change was.

I run alot of experiments, I have experimented with every single product I use in my tank, I take months trying each product. I started with simple berlin, and took my reef to next level. there are pictures on here of my tank from many years back with just berlin style.

[sirreal63]

Neither Kent or Brightwell are responsible for the Zeo method and have nothing to do with Zeo, but you already know that. I have been carbon dosing since 2005, way before it was cool. I don't see your point? They did not invent carbon dosing. Exactly which Kent or Brightwell product is needed in your tank? The answer is simple, none of them, so why buy them? Most of the time the same exact thing is available without buying a shiny bottle for way too much money.

No one is attacking Zeo and it has nothing to do with Kent or Brightwell.

[dr.big]

Does someone has the same problem as me with the high Alk in all brands? We almost all have alk between 7-10 and almost all brands shows alk levels between 10 and 12. I have 8 i m still to find a brand that does not make alk shift each time i do a water change.

I also use io since it is cheap and available. To reduce the stress i mix my salt a week before doing the water change. It let time for the alk to precipitate a bit. When it is at 9 it is ready for me.

[Allmost]

Originally Posted by sirreal63

Neither Kent or Brightwell are responsible for the Zeo method and have nothing to do with Zeo, but you already know that. I have been carbon dosing since 2005, way before it was cool. I don't see your point? They did not invent carbon dosing. Exactly which Kent or Brightwell product is needed in your tank? The answer is simple, none of them, so why buy them? Most of the time the same exact thing is available without buying a shiny bottle for way too much money.

No one is attacking Zeo and it has nothing to do with Kent or Brightwell.

1. I said I dislike bright-well, cause they basically copied Zeovit. [and some others] and came out with .... NEO-ZEO !

2. on your reply about why u dislike kent and bright-well, you said u dislike them cause their products [which are copy of Zeovit] are junk, and not needed.
"You can have a healthy tank without adding all of those crazy products. A perfect example of this is MB7." MB7 was made after brightwell analysing Zeobak in lab best we can do is something like VSV ... and then dose no3 ... like kno3. Zeostart3 combines them, in correct ratios.

3. your argument makes no sense. everything we see in this planet, is made of elements described in periodic table. so yes, it is possible for us to make a product rather than buying it, after all, its nothing more than whats on periodic table ... does that means its stupid to buy a car, cause its just metal and plastic ? no ! cause me and u can not make a car in our back yard [well I can't maybe u can, ]


anyways ...

[sirreal63]

Originally Posted by dr.big

Does someone has the same problem as me with the high Alk in all brands? We almost all have alk between 7-10 and almost all brands shows alk levels between 10 and 12. I have 8 i m still to find a brand that does not make alk shift each time i do a water change.

I also use io since it is cheap and available. To reduce the stress i mix my salt a week before doing the water change. It let time for the alk to precipitate a bit. When it is at 9 it is ready for me.

There are some that are less than others, but unless you are doing large water changes the addition of the higher alk will have a small impact on the tank. This thread, which is getting a little outdated now may help.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1714505

Originally Posted by Allmost

1. I said I dislike bright-well, cause they basically copied Zeovit. [and some others] and came out with .... NEO-ZEO !

2. on your reply about why u dislike kent and bright-well, you said u dislike them cause their products [which are copy of Zeovit] are junk, and not needed.
"You can have a healthy tank without adding all of those crazy products. A perfect example of this is MB7." MB7 was made after brightwell analysing Zeobak in lab best we can do is something like VSV ... and then dose no3 ... like kno3. Zeostart3 combines them, in correct ratios.

3. your argument makes no sense. everything we see in this planet, is made of elements described in periodic table. so yes, it is possible for us to make a product rather than buying it, after all, its nothing more than whats on periodic table ... does that means its stupid to buy a car, cause its just metal and plastic ? no ! cause me and u can not make a car in our back yard [well I can't maybe u can, ]


anyways ...

Kent was peddling unnecessary products long before Zeo came about. They used to have a whole line of trace elements you buy in large quantities, there is no telling how many people polluted their tanks over the years thinking they were doing something good. Brightwell is his son in law and carried the tradition forward. Take a look at all of the various additives Brightwell is peddling and then tell me it is needed, not just the Neo ones, but the entire line. I would allmost guarantee you that they did not actually make a copy of the Zeo products but did copy the name. I have real doubts that they reverse engineered the Zeo products but did find a way to cash in on the name game.

I take it back, there is one useful Kent product, their scrapers are pretty good.

[Jettareefer]

As to expected anything in branded bottle is supposed to be conveint and easy to use(I get brightwell stuff at cost). As much time as I already spend on my tanks I might as well get the raw minerals and mix the solution myself. I see a lot of people using bulk reef supply's stuff. Most of the things kent, brightwell, and other companies sell out side calcium,ph,alk buffers aren't absolutely nessesary if your doing somwhat frequent water changes.

Sirreall63 are you running passive carbon? I have always had a sack In my sump for clarity, and combating chemical warfare. One other question some people say that running carbon on a reef long term detrimental because it will strip water of trace elements. With that said I do disagree and never have had a problem.

[sirreal63]

Not all carbon is the same, some is more aggressive than others, Rox .08 has been noted as one of the most aggressive carbons, and it is also the one I use. I use between a fourth and a half the BRS recommended amount. I have some in a TLF reactor and when I change it out I put the stuff I take out of the reactor and use it in a bag for skimmer effluent, I run a small ozone dose in the skimmer and the carbon helps keep that in check. I have noticed sps lighten when too much of the Rox is used, several people have noticed the same over the years. I don't have very many soft corals but still run a little carbon because I always have.

An interesting thing about salt, no matter what brand you use there is someone using that brand that has been a TOTM or has a gorgeous tank with just about any brand of salt. This sort of suggests that the brand of salt is not a critical factor in the health of a tank. There are reasons to use one salt over another, but it is personal and can vary from person to person.

[Jettareefer]

You bring up a good point salt is just one thing there are a ton of other factors. I feel sometime getting to technical with my reef takes away from the enjoyment I get, I want to simplify my tanks.

[jda]

Originally Posted by dr.big

Does someone has the same problem as me with the high Alk in all brands? We almost all have alk between 7-10 and almost all brands shows alk levels between 10 and 12. I have 8 i m still to find a brand that does not make alk shift each time i do a water change.

I also use io since it is cheap and available. To reduce the stress i mix my salt a week before doing the water change. It let time for the alk to precipitate a bit. When it is at 9 it is ready for me.

Tropic Marin Pro Reef will mix up about 7 if I dry mix the salt. This is the only one all-in-one that I have found that you can stay lower than 9 or 10 with.

[zachogden]

Aquavitro salinity. Big fan.

[trueblackpercula]

I have used
Kent marine pro very good very expensive
Instant ocean very good this is better for fish only tanks
Reef crystals very good

[aqua80]

half IO/ half RC here
have use Deltec salt before, but no differences and more $$