Best Salt?

[AngelMaster]

So I've started making my own salt water recently because I was getting sick of being harassed by my LFS friends who claim "Real Hobbysists" make their own water. I had been buying it by the gallon from them previously.

My question is what salt do people prefer. I got a bag of instant ocean that I bought before really knowing much about it. What are people's opinion's of Instant Ocean compared to other brands? Should I switch?

 

[MattM]

You probably don't realize it, but asking "which is the best salt?" is like asking "what's the meaning of life?" Ask twelve aquarists and you'll get 18 answers...

Instant Ocean is the most popular brand and you shouldn't go too wrong with it.

 

[Osama]

I Like Marines BioSea. I have a hard time finding it in Illinois.
Test the alk & calc & mag of water you make and stick with the salt that gives you best results.

 

[Len]

I've had good success with IO, and particularly like the newer formulas since they mix so quickly and thoroughly. Some people say this isn't necessarily a good thing because they way they went about accomplishing this was taking out some earth elements like magnesium. IME though, it hasn't made a difference. Bio-Sea Marinemix is a popular salt now for its purity and one that comes highly recommended.

 

[AngelMaster]

Haven't seen much of talk of it on this board, but on other boards I check out some people say Instant Ocean doesn't do a great job of replicating trace elements found in natural sea water. Just thought I'd get the opinion here on it because I always find the best advice here.

But I understand your point. It seems alot of reef maintenance is that way, a million different ways to do anything I suppose.

 

[liquid]

Check our our What salt mix do you use? survey for a breakdown of what all our members have said. Over 50% of them us Instant Ocean salt.

hth

Shane

 

[Vili_Shark]

I have good experience with Seachem, but I guess Matt's right, ya gonna get so many different answers.

Just go for branded and find what suits ya best.

 

[fungia]

i also use instant ocean and i like it. no problems so far with me. i hear a lot of research use io for there salt too when they do experiments.

 

[Anonymous]

I carry Instant Ocean in the store I work at, and all my customers seem to love it. No problems at all.

Peace,

Chip

 

[ride928]

I like Reef Crystals. It is made by the same company as Instant Ocean but with a more "reefy" formula.

 

[Sanfernando]

I've used IO for 4 years, but everyone else at the LFS I work at uses Marine Environment made by Aqua Craft and claims IO is one of the worst salts on the market...

 

[shalegac]

I wonder if IO is contributing to my surface oil problem. I to hear it is crap. I think so many people use it because it is so recognizable and readily available :roll: . I wish I could find a new brand around here. Guess I need to look around more which is cool because I just ran out.

 

[Osama]

I do not change water in my 180g reef as frequently. I tried IO and returned back to my other preferred slts. here is a site that compared salts. Mostly you want a salt that has as close a composition as the Ocean. I am always looking for highest Calcium, Stronium, Magnisum etc.. http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm ... efault.asp
another site http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-03/r ... /index.htm