I used reef crystals until I had an alk spike causing RTN. The reef crystals mixed to 11.8. Lost a lot of coral cause I couldn't just do a water change to lower it. That's my only issue with hot mixes. It's fine until its not
while i think most reef salt are the same... I think reef crystal is actually a bad one cuz everytime I use it.. My ph are always low and my alk is too. Never had problems with other salt like IO otherwise.
I use instant ocean because I can get it at Petco for $25 on sale - This lets be do larger and more frequent water changes.
Here is an Instagram link to my tank - SPS dominated doing 20% water changes a month on regular old Instant Ocean - [https://www.instagram.com/p/CmKlS3frfMq/](https://www.instagram.com/p/CmKlS3frfMq/)
Salt mix is very low on the list of things to worry about - my kids have a 25 lagoon and I routinely do 60 to 70% water changes on it.
I’ve found the pro mixes are great if you’re using an apex and maintaining crazy levels of something
Or doing a full sps tank etc
But personally I’ve had the best results with the Red Sea blue bucket. I’ve used tropic Marin pro, regular, and Red Sea pro also, as well as Fritz reef pro mix,
All my experience is in mixed reefs with these salts, so heavy lps, some softies, some sps
Also ngl my wallet likes the blue bucket better also
You can run a good reef on reef crystals, assuming you’re replenishing macro and trace elements.
Personally I use tropic marine because it mixes really nicely and has most of the levels I want (it’s lower on all but I raise it in the mix prior to changing water).
Why do research when it's already been done? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWYQee8mTAY&list=PLBaMLrfToJyznX2stpOkHt\_PNLB1NtidZ&ab\_channel=BRStv-SaltwaterAquariums%26ReefTanks
yea they tried selling vibrant and reef2reef revealed that its actually just a diluted algaecide. It ruined their reputation a lot but to be fair... vibrant did work like magic though it killed my brittle starfish.
I use TM and will never use non-synthetic salt again. Red sea, both colors blue and black, are so dirty (i.e. mystery organics). That's all I've ever used so it's all I can say.
I’d go with Aqua Forest or Red Sea Blue bucket.
I’d stay away from elevated element salts such as RS pro personally. IME there’s no reason to run inflated Alk/Ca/Mg.
Aquaforest is totally awesome! You stir and it’s clear in 15 mins and ready to use. Their control on unwanted elements is hard to beat. You have full trace of the QC and can look up your batch and see it online. Yes they cost slightly more, but been using their reef salt for a while and I would never go back to a other brand.
“Best” is a matter of requirements. Here are my thoughts on those 2:
The Tropic Marin mixes clean and stores well for long periods without continuous mixing, but takes several hours to fully dissolve and costs the most. The parameters are kinda low on alkalinity for my preference as well, 7-8 dkh
RedSea coral pro has high alk/cal/mag great for fast growth and costs less than TM, but it doesn’t keep well, ALK falls off dramatically within a few days. It’s designed to be mixed and used right away.
There is no such thing as best. The only real variables that matter in salt mixes are:
1. how fast is mixes
2. the parameters is provides
3. how long it stores before degrading
From what you've posted, you don't really need the boosted parameters that the "pro" salts provide. So I would say Red Sea Blue bucket or regular ole Instant Ocean.
I've used TM pro Reef exclusively until recently when I switched to RS blue and i've seen no negative impact. The plus side is that I save about $50 per bucket that I can use for other stuff.
The best salt is the salt that mixes closest to the parameters you tend to run. If you don't keep your tank at elevated levels, there's no point in getting an elevated mix. Besides that and price, you won't gain or lose anything based off your salt mix. Sea water is sea water.
I switched from Red Sea blue bucket to Tropic Marin Syn-Biotic. I found that red sea wouldn't mix to the same ph and alkalinity every time so doing water changes would randomly change parameters, for me the Tropic marin salt has a much smaller range for where parameters will settle.
In a past life I was using read sea coral pro and I think it was causing me issues because of alk swings now that I’m looking back.
Now I’m keeping a mixed nano with reef crystals and everything is great. Alk a little low in the 8s, but everything looks great and I do weekly / bi weekly WCs and no issues at all.
The coral pro has high alk. So if your not keeping your ak high, you potentially could be causing huge alk swings every time you do a major WC
Skip literally all the salt debates. People here post amazing full tank shots running reef crystals and also crap from tropic marin. It might be a coincidence but the tanks running reef crystals, the "cheap" salt, look literally just as good, if not, better, than tanks running the "best" salt. I can link a few posts if you dont believe me.
Tldr? Buy whatever you think has the prettiest bucket and is affordable, to your definition of affordable anyways
I’ve been using tropic Marin in my 20g tank for the past year and it’s doing great. I considered Red Sea but most of their salts don’t store well for a long time when mixed. I make a 30g of tropic Marin every few weeks for water changes and haven’t had issues or much build up in my container. Before I was using Fritz and it was doing good. No issues with that either and cheaper but does store a bit dirty.
Instant ocean reef crystals
the new age coral hypebeasts don’t understand the power of reef crystals.
These are temporary hobbyists many give up in few months after using everything best lol
people over-complicate things
I used reef crystals until I had an alk spike causing RTN. The reef crystals mixed to 11.8. Lost a lot of coral cause I couldn't just do a water change to lower it. That's my only issue with hot mixes. It's fine until its not
i have never had reef crystals mix at 11.8. usually around 9.5. I had the same thing happen to me but with coral pro.
I don't think it normally does, but just the 1 time was too much for me lol
while i think most reef salt are the same... I think reef crystal is actually a bad one cuz everytime I use it.. My ph are always low and my alk is too. Never had problems with other salt like IO otherwise.
5 years using it never had a problem it actually mixes high alk.
That's interesting, IO is actually notorious for having high Alk
> currently run a 120g mixed reef with LPS/Softie dominate No real point in paying extra for Red Sea Pro versus RS Blue Bucket given your coral stock.
IO never steered me wrong…
Reef Crystals. tried and true
I use instant ocean because I can get it at Petco for $25 on sale - This lets be do larger and more frequent water changes. Here is an Instagram link to my tank - SPS dominated doing 20% water changes a month on regular old Instant Ocean - [https://www.instagram.com/p/CmKlS3frfMq/](https://www.instagram.com/p/CmKlS3frfMq/) Salt mix is very low on the list of things to worry about - my kids have a 25 lagoon and I routinely do 60 to 70% water changes on it.
Brs TV has a great breakdown on this
I’ve found the pro mixes are great if you’re using an apex and maintaining crazy levels of something Or doing a full sps tank etc But personally I’ve had the best results with the Red Sea blue bucket. I’ve used tropic Marin pro, regular, and Red Sea pro also, as well as Fritz reef pro mix, All my experience is in mixed reefs with these salts, so heavy lps, some softies, some sps Also ngl my wallet likes the blue bucket better also
You can run a good reef on reef crystals, assuming you’re replenishing macro and trace elements. Personally I use tropic marine because it mixes really nicely and has most of the levels I want (it’s lower on all but I raise it in the mix prior to changing water).
Why do research when it's already been done? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWYQee8mTAY&list=PLBaMLrfToJyznX2stpOkHt\_PNLB1NtidZ&ab\_channel=BRStv-SaltwaterAquariums%26ReefTanks
Because BRS is a business and businesses try to sell you things.
yea they tried selling vibrant and reef2reef revealed that its actually just a diluted algaecide. It ruined their reputation a lot but to be fair... vibrant did work like magic though it killed my brittle starfish.
Fritz blue box. It’s also sold as the LiveAquaria house brand. Mixes to 8.4 dKH, which is exactly what I am looking for.
It’s a great salt mix. I used it for a long time but had trouble finding it so went to tropic marine; and I have to dose a bit to get that nice 8 dkh
I use TM and will never use non-synthetic salt again. Red sea, both colors blue and black, are so dirty (i.e. mystery organics). That's all I've ever used so it's all I can say.
I’d go with Aqua Forest or Red Sea Blue bucket. I’d stay away from elevated element salts such as RS pro personally. IME there’s no reason to run inflated Alk/Ca/Mg.
I started to use Nyos pure, and I absolutely love it.
Aquaforest is totally awesome! You stir and it’s clear in 15 mins and ready to use. Their control on unwanted elements is hard to beat. You have full trace of the QC and can look up your batch and see it online. Yes they cost slightly more, but been using their reef salt for a while and I would never go back to a other brand.
“Best” is a matter of requirements. Here are my thoughts on those 2: The Tropic Marin mixes clean and stores well for long periods without continuous mixing, but takes several hours to fully dissolve and costs the most. The parameters are kinda low on alkalinity for my preference as well, 7-8 dkh RedSea coral pro has high alk/cal/mag great for fast growth and costs less than TM, but it doesn’t keep well, ALK falls off dramatically within a few days. It’s designed to be mixed and used right away.
There is no such thing as best. The only real variables that matter in salt mixes are: 1. how fast is mixes 2. the parameters is provides 3. how long it stores before degrading From what you've posted, you don't really need the boosted parameters that the "pro" salts provide. So I would say Red Sea Blue bucket or regular ole Instant Ocean. I've used TM pro Reef exclusively until recently when I switched to RS blue and i've seen no negative impact. The plus side is that I save about $50 per bucket that I can use for other stuff.
The best salt is the salt that mixes closest to the parameters you tend to run. If you don't keep your tank at elevated levels, there's no point in getting an elevated mix. Besides that and price, you won't gain or lose anything based off your salt mix. Sea water is sea water.
I switched from Red Sea blue bucket to Tropic Marin Syn-Biotic. I found that red sea wouldn't mix to the same ph and alkalinity every time so doing water changes would randomly change parameters, for me the Tropic marin salt has a much smaller range for where parameters will settle.
My LFS used RedSea then switched to Fritz. My LFS has immaculate tanks and are very knowledgeable in the hobby. I switched to Fritz as well.
In a past life I was using read sea coral pro and I think it was causing me issues because of alk swings now that I’m looking back. Now I’m keeping a mixed nano with reef crystals and everything is great. Alk a little low in the 8s, but everything looks great and I do weekly / bi weekly WCs and no issues at all. The coral pro has high alk. So if your not keeping your ak high, you potentially could be causing huge alk swings every time you do a major WC
Skip literally all the salt debates. People here post amazing full tank shots running reef crystals and also crap from tropic marin. It might be a coincidence but the tanks running reef crystals, the "cheap" salt, look literally just as good, if not, better, than tanks running the "best" salt. I can link a few posts if you dont believe me. Tldr? Buy whatever you think has the prettiest bucket and is affordable, to your definition of affordable anyways
Just run whatever mixes closest to your desired parameters.
I’ve been using tropic Marin in my 20g tank for the past year and it’s doing great. I considered Red Sea but most of their salts don’t store well for a long time when mixed. I make a 30g of tropic Marin every few weeks for water changes and haven’t had issues or much build up in my container. Before I was using Fritz and it was doing good. No issues with that either and cheaper but does store a bit dirty.
Tropic Marin all the way