Salt

What is the best salt to buy.....
i have been reading lots of bad things about IO
What are your thaughts on this?

Mike

 

I switched to Kent for IO. Not for any reason other than the LFS closest to me carries Kent
But yes I had also heard some things about IO. But where will I get my t-shirts now

 

I started my tank with IO and it did okay, but for the last year I have been using Oceanic and everything seems to be more stable. My calcium levels etc. seem to always stay higher with the Oceanic than they did with IO. The other reason I switched was because one of my LFS uses the Oceanic, and their water used to always be much clearer than mine. They are probably all okay, just depends on what works best for you.

 

This is a personal thing, you can try out some different brands to see witch one you like. I started using Oceanic about 2 month ago and will stay with that one for a wall, it cost a little more but it is easier to use.

 

I use IO, but I also consistantly test low for calcium, magnesium, and strontium. I plan on staying with IO as switching salts can be a very tricky thing--and one that your tank may not like. It is also one that we can pick up by the bucketful at Pet Smart here in town where it is a little cheaper than at the LFS.

I would also say that it would depend on what corals you plan to keep in your tank. Some are more demanding than others.

Anne

 

I started my tank with Oceanic but had a hard time keeping alkalinity where it needs to be. I then tried IO but noticed that it would develop brown foam after mixing for a couple of days (700 gph pump w/venturi) and started to have algae issues. Now, I use Kent exclusively and have been extremely happy with it. With the other salts, my corals almost always retracted their polyps immediately after a water change. I have yet to see this happen with Kent salt.

 

I recently switched from Instant Ocean to CRYSTAL SEA MARINE-MIX. Not because of the Sea Urchin study here > http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-03/rs/feature/index.php that everyone was talking about a while ago but because my LFS by my house uses it and he has 4 seperate 1000 gallon systems all dedicated to selling livestock. He is Woody at The Seahorse Aquarium Supply in Portland Oregon. He also has a Deioionization system that he built himself capable of purifying a thousand+
gallons plus of water each day. He sells over 2000 gallons of mixed saltwater each week to reefers in the portland area. He sells these discount cards where you can buy 30 5 gallon containers in advance for a discounted rate of $2.80 for each 5 gallon container. People here dont need a RO unit or to buy salt. They just buy it already mixed up and also buy their topoff water from him at $1 for 5 gallons purified. I tested his freshwater at 7 tds which is pretty darn good.
Anyway I got off subject here. His system is so cool I was impressed with it. I use Crystal Sea Marine Mix because it is consistant. It always mixes up to 9 DKH ALK and 375 Calcium with a PH at 8.3 after 24 hours mixing with a maxijet 1200 in my 35 gallon container. Yes I choose not to buy woodys premixed saltwater because I already have a RO/DI unit and its more convient than hauling his 5 gallon containers around.
Woodys place also specializes in inverts and has a bigger selection of sealife than I have ever seen anywhere. I have done a lot of reading about these saltmixes and seems that some of the salts on the market are slowly poisening our livestock. I wish I could find that article right now. Im sure someone else here has read it.

Jay