Favorite salt mix?

FishyReef said:
Has anyone tried NeoMarine salt from Brightwell Aquatics? I was reading up on this stuff and am very curious to hear what people who have used it think of it.
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My tank did great with it. For about the first 2 months. After that corals started loosing color and melting. SPS started to RTN. All while parameters checked good.
When I switched back to my other salts,things perked back up after another couple of months.
Could have just been a bad batch,or a fluke. No way to really know for sure. But either way it was enough that I don't think I'd trust it in my tank.
 
I had the same problem Yote, after about a month of using Neomarine my zoas started to melt away and my sps started bleaching out.
 
Wow, that's really interesting Yote and Brian. The write up on it sounds like it would be great, but I guess experience says otherwise. I had considered that salt when I was first starting my tank, but seachem was on sale so I went with that. I've always been curious about the neomarine though. Glad to hear your experiences (though am sorry you lost corals) - and I'll plan to stick with seachem reef then :)
 
We currently are using Red Sea Coral Pro, previously used Top Fin. I think when we switch over to our 90g we're going to get Reef Crystals because our Petsmart just started selling it in the 5g bucket.

Top Fin was pretty good, RSCP is good.
 
Whatever is on sale! I've used Instant Ocean, Instant Ocean Reef, Seachem and Salinity. All are sold at my trusted LFS. Right now I am using Seachem. I have noticed no difference in mixing, water parameters, problems or growth useing any of them.
 
LFS recommended Tropic Marin and to start Tropic Marin Pro after I start getting corals. The price between that and Reef Crystals at the store is not that big of a difference and I like the bucket vs box. How long have you used the Tropic Marin Pro and what makes it a better choice for you?
 
it's all i have ever used except when first getting into saltwater i used instant ocean. I use pre mixed water in a 500 gallon vat that is constantly mixing. also noticed that instant ocean for instance says makes 50 gallons...but in reality its more like 47 or 48 with the desired salinity(not a big deal). as tropic marin pro 200 gallon bucket of salt i can squeeze 205 or so and still have my salinity around .022 i usually keep mine a lil higher anyways around .027 because of the water i have tested from australia and indo seems to be .026. but in all honesy use what you can afford salt is salt. also the tropic marin pro guarantees no phosphates and nitrates and will return your money. being as i have a 240 gpd RO system i can say that its true. i never find any odd numbers in my tests. but i have not tested other products.
 
reef3400 said:
it's all i have ever used except when first getting into saltwater i used instant ocean. I use pre mixed water in a 500 gallon vat that is constantly mixing. also noticed that instant ocean for instance says makes 50 gallons...but in reality its more like 47 or 48 with the desired salinity(not a big deal). as tropic marin pro 200 gallon bucket of salt i can squeeze 205 or so and still have my salinity around .022 i usually keep mine a lil higher anyways around .027 because of the water i have tested from australia and indo seems to be .026. but in all honesy use what you can afford salt is salt. also the tropic marin pro guarantees no phosphates and nitrates and will return your money. being as i have a 240 gpd RO system i can say that its true. i never find any odd numbers in my tests. but i have not tested other products.
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I used Instant Ocean as well and had more trouble with red slime algae, and since I started using Tropic Marin, it has gone away. I also have a much smaller tank than yours, merely 55 gallon, must be neat to have a 350 gallon. However, that just goes to say that even changing outs totaling 20-25 gallons a month, it will still take several months to use the 200 gallon bucket. My LFS sells TM for $65 and the TM Pro for $75, so the difference in purchasing a cheaper salt would only make a difference of a couple bucks a month at most. I have been pleased with it so far and I have not read any bad reviews other than a couple of years ago they must have had a bad batch that arrived hard and settled whereas the elements were not consistent throughout the whole bucket. I combated this issue by pouring the bag to bucket, then back to bag a couple of times to hopefully mix it up just a bit more. thanks, Ted
 
I started out w/ Tropic Marin...loved it, had no complaints, really. But I switched to Instant Ocean for economic reasons...then again, I am fowlr so had to worry less about other levels. But if I were to go reef, I'd probably try other brands like Kent as well.
 
Interesting article. Didn't sell me on an particular brand though. I already have it in my head to try a different kind next time. Maybe Tropic Marin?
 
Once again, it seems like there are pros and cons for every type out there. Another instance where I'm totally confused on which one to get for my setup for my 55 G tank that I'm super close to getting ready to start. I was thinking IO reef crystals but now I'm going to look into the others. I will be ordering online cause I can always find stuff online cheaper and normally no tax required when ordering online. So with free shipping, even if the price is the same or just a little more than at the store, it is still cheaper due to not paying the 8.25% tax.
 
moncapitane said:
Once again, it seems like there are pros and cons for every type out there. Another instance where I'm totally confused on which one to get for my setup for my 55 G tank that I'm super close to getting ready to start. I was thinking IO reef crystals but now I'm going to look into the others. I will be ordering online cause I can always find stuff online cheaper and normally no tax required when ordering online. So with free shipping, even if the price is the same or just a little more than at the store, it is still cheaper due to not paying the 8.25% tax.
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Being new in this hobby as well, I have not heard of any adverse affects of switching salts. Try one, wait till you are getting low then order a different type and see which your tank likes better, continue till you find the one that you take a liking to and that fits your budget. Tropic Marin is one of the more expensive salts and that may be one reason that some choose not to use it. However, since I have a relatively small tank compared to others, a 200 gallon bucket should last me around 7-8 months, cost averaged over the months, maybe a couple of dollars more, but not that much. For the person that has a larger tank, ie larger or more frequent water changes, the cost per month ratio would dramatically increase. I do like Tropic Marin, my water conditions seem better and it mixes easier than the Instant Ocean I tried first, but that's my very inexperienced opinion..
 
Does it matter if you buy the box with 50 gallon sets or just buy the 200 gallon bucket? Does it go bad or does it just get hard if you live somewhere super humid? That's my only other concern.
 
I found with the bags, once opened were hard to keep the humidity out when I used IO. With smaller bags, there is less time for the humidity to get to each bag once opened. With the bucket, the TM, I would assume other salts in buckets are packed the same, comes with an interior bag which I also keep closed with the lid to prevent moisture from entering. Seems to work well, salt scooped great.
 
The salt will turn into a big, hard block if it is exposed to moisture. I have always just used a hammer and chisel to break it up when that happens.
 
I think that its funny that Bob Fenner told me that he's not a fan of IO, he directed me to a link on WWM that talks about different salt types and the link has all the other Mods recommending the use of IO over the other types. LOL
 
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