Reef salt

[mdsiman]

Does it really matter what kind if salt to use? I bought a big bag from my lfs but it's just a clear bag that says not for resale. So I have no idea what kind of salt it is. Should I go out and buy the instant ocean reef crystals instead?

 

[Gdbyrd]

That's probably Instant Ocean. I use to buy it from my LFS by the box back before they wised up and started selling it in individual bags like what you've described.

I have moved over to Reef Crystals but haven't run out of IO yet. There are some very interesting articles about the different available salts out there. Here's one from ReefCentral.

A General Guide to Salt Mixes - Reef Central Online Community

I should mention I have used different stuff before and did notice a change with the first water change, but thereafter it all was pretty much the same. Some seem to dissolve better than others too.

 

[mdsiman]

Yea the last salt I used took a while to desolve. I'm headin to my lfs now to grab some instant ocean reef crystals

 

[kbuser92]

I used Kent Marine with good results, but just ran out and started using Reef Crystals on my new tank so no results yet, but I expect high quality. A couple people here use AquaVitro Salinity with amazing results (see Dennis' tank) but that's a little pricy for me.

 

[mariobrothersleeve]

Instant ocean reef crystals(orange bag/box) it has trace elements in it!(i have no f-ing idea what trace is) but it sound really good

 

[bjohanson1234]

Instant ocean reef crystals(orange bag/box) it has trace elements in it!(i have no f-ing idea what trace is) but it sound really good

trace elements just means things that aren't in abundance that you don't normally test for. Things like iodine, strontium and such ate trace elements.

 

[Big K]

There's only traces of the elements in it...lol

 

[ErinCahir]

I'm fairly certain the "trace" is because it's measured in parts per billion (ppb) instead of parts per millions (ppm).

 

[bjohanson1234]

I'm fairly certain the "trace" is because it's measured in parts per billion (ppb) instead of parts per millions (ppm).

Way to get all technical on us:mrgreen:

 

[ErinCahir]

Shhh. I know stuff!