Fishman007
Aquarium Advice Addict
Are instant ocean reef crystals needed? I have been useing their normal salt for months and my corals thrive, my lfs has a 20% off on all their salt and i am thinking of getting the reef crystals. Do i need it?
I don't like how reef crystals mixes either. It always leaves a brown residue in my mixing barrel. I'm assuming you are using Instant Ocean at the moment. If you upgrade to a reef grade salt mix your corals will do much better.
I like Foster and Smith because shipping is free on anything over $50. I've used RC for 10 years (IO before that) and don't have the precipitation problem X describes. It dissolves fast. I haven't cleaned my mixing barrel in a year and there is just a bit of matter on the bottom, mostly calcium. It does have some vitamins added which is controversial, but it is in general much better for SPS. You can easily use IO, but you may need to dose cal/alk if you want SPS using it. Lots of other salts and they all work fine.
I like Foster and Smith because shipping is free on anything over $50. I've used RC for 10 years (IO before that) and don't have the precipitation problem X describes. It dissolves fast. I haven't cleaned my mixing barrel in a year and there is just a bit of matter on the bottom, mostly calcium. It does have some vitamins added which is controversial, but it is in general much better for SPS. You can easily use IO, but you may need to dose cal/alk if you want SPS using it. Lots of other salts and they all work fine.
I use reef crystals and hate the way they mix but my sps corals (acros, birdsnest, montis) are all growing great. However, I will be switching to Red Sea pro when I run out of reef crystals.
I've been using the fluval sea for a few months and corals seen pretty happy with it although I have mostly softies, mixes about the same speed as everything else I've tried and no residue to speak of
Funny there is so much difference in peoples experience with RC. A scoop full doesn't hit the bottom of my bucket it dissolves so fast. And I don't see that brown residue many report. Anyway, I think it is the maximum bang for the buck unless you find something else on sale. But as X has said, he rotates his salt mixes. So if you monitor alk and cal, you could probably use any mix available at the right price.
Thats all my lfs has and i dont really wanna pay 60$ shipping on amazon for 30$ red sea pro. I am excited to see how my corals do with the new salt, thanks for all you guys help! I will tell how it works for me once i mix some.
I have always used aqua vitro reef salt .
I got a bucket of IO given to me ,
I don't like how it mixes or how my corals reacted to it .
Aqua vitro is a little expensive but worth it IMO
$65 plus tax