Salt is getting expensive!

[stoneriff]

I've been using ESV salt for three years. Bought a bunch last year on sale. Getting ready to buy more. Prices have shot up. Any suggestions for alternatives out there? ESV is great, but getting to expensive. Please give me good suggestions for a more affordable alternative.
Thanks.

 

[offdahooklikeoj]

What kind of tank do you have? SPS, mixed reef, softies? I was using red sea coral pro, switched to regular red sea due to the lower alk than in the pro version. I never had a problem with either salt.

 

[bkstang]

There are a lot of discussions about what salt people use so I'm sure you will find it helpful. I personally use Instant Ocean, one of the cheapest on the market with great result and with some dosing you will be fine too. Many well known retailers use this salt as well.

 

[shark32]

I have been using Instant Ocean Reef Crystals for almost 5 years w/ no issues. You can get a 200 gallon mix in a box for $50 from Fosters and Smith and usually they have free shipping..

 

[jvu61]

I use reef crystals

 

[Paul B]

I have been using Instant Ocean for 40 years, no problems yet. I think after fifty years there would be a problem. :smile:

 

[marrone]

There is a thread on this but when you're doing price comparison you need to also look at what each salt mixes the SG too. ESV mixes to 1.025 which IO 200gal box mixes to a lower SG, so if you're running your tank at a higher SG you will need to use more IO salt to get there. The same too if you need to add ALk or Cal to the salt mix to bring it up. So you need to take those things into account on the total price.

 

[MIKE NY]

Between Paul and myself we have over 75 years of reef keeping so that being said I have tried many different brands of salts and keep coming back to IO or RC. It's cheap and can be found everywhere. I prefer RC for the higher concentration of mag and cal. Even using more to achieve the higher SG it's still more cost effective. BTW you can find RC locally cheaper than $50 for 200 gal and don't have to wait for the shipping....:smile:

 

[Paul B]

I get Instant Ocean for $33.00 for five gallons of salt.

 

[edd]

i just paid $39.00 for 200 gal box of io to my door. i think cody a vendor here has it cheaper. tried feef chrystals but didn't see a difference so went back to io.

 

[marrone]

A long time ago I used Tropic Marin, which was by far the best salt around. I even used it in my fish only tanks and you could really see the difference. Over the last ten years or so I started to use IO in my fish only tanks, as the salt got somewhat better and Tropic Marin also got very expensive. I continue to use Tropic Marin in my reef tank but I had issues with Phosphates, so I switch to Coral Life and then IO, where I had to add Alk and Cal to get it up to the levels that I wanted. I moved to ESV for a number of years but I just didn't see any different results, and for the additional price it wasn't worth it. Recently I think I got 2 of the bad batches that they sent out and develop a lot of hair algae from it. I switch over to Red Sea Pro and the results have really been amazing. The hair algae went away, corals were fully open, a lot of growth, and I was actually able to do less water changes.

All of these salts do go on sell from time to time, so you can always find what you're looking for at a cheaper price. It's also good to stock up on it when you do find it on sale. I probably have enough salt in my closet to salt the neighborhood the next time it snows.

 

[Clink51]

i just started using Kent Marine Salt. not so bad

 

[Odysi]

My tanks only just over a year old but I've been using RC and never had a problem. I tried switching Red sea coral pro for the elevated levels but could never get it to mix clear. So I went back to RC.

 

[Serega]

My tanks only just over a year old but I've been using RC and never had a problem. I tried switching Red sea coral pro for the elevated levels but could never get it to mix clear. So I went back to RC.

Wow, it was completely the other way for me, RC always left precipitation on the bucket and mixing pump and took a day to get clear. I switched to Red Sea Coral Pro and it mixes clear within 30 min and coralline algae took of, I nearly had none with RC. Corals look happier also.

 

[evoIX_Reefer]

^I agree with all that said. Experienced the same thing. With RC, cal at 500~ isn't a problem but all was closer to 7.5dkh. red sea coral pro around 9dkh and 430ppm cal. A lot happier at those levels and no left over precipitation from reef crystals.

I would go back to tropic Marin pro or try esv if it was more readily available to me.

 

[mrdobie]

I used rc for years then started getting this brown sludge in mixing barrel. dd started to get very dirty asked a couple of lfs about it and decided to switch to tropical marine. about 6 months later pretty happy with results. foster and smith runs sales or promos all the time and free shipping. AND I do not have to Carrie to my car then in the house. gas cost money also. every time I go to the lfs I can not just buy salt, always come home with frag, fish or something.