reef crystals vs regular instant ocean

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Jason M

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Oct 29, 2011
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Does anyone prefer one to the other. I use the regular and would like to use reef crystals if they keep mag alk and calcium inline. I've red that the reef crystals have an alk of like 13 ir so with a low level of calcium. Does anyone find this to be true?
 
I like reef crystals better, I have had better Coraline algae growth since I switched from insta ocean. although if you get down to it salt is salt lol it really does not make a difference what one you use.
 
RC has higher levels of trace elements like calcium and magnesium geared more for reef tanks. IO is more geared for fish only tanks. If you use IO on a reef tank, youll have to supplement certain elements to get the desired levels for your corals and such.
 
You may find this quote by Randy Holmes-Farley interesting....
what is the best salt - Reef Central Online Community
"I do not think there is a "best" salt mix. Nearly all of them will work fine as long as you know their pros and cons.

I don't want excessive borate, which leaves out Seachem.

I don't want vitamins or anything else organic in my mix (because I doubt their utility, they degrade with time to who knows what, bacteria may thrive on them as I store new salt water for a substantial period, they are totally undescribed with respect to amounts or identity, they are often not naturally present in natural seawater at appreciable levels, and because I've occasionally had them mess with my skimmer), so that tosses out some like Reef Crystals, hW Marinemix Plus BioElements, Kent, Coralife, and Nutri-SeaWater.

I don't want excessive calcium (long term use of limewater as I use drives up calcium, so I do not want it starting high), so that tosses out a bunch, such as Kent, Seachem, Coralife and Oceanic.

There are certain companies that I will not support due to their misleading claims and/or product lines. That tosses out a few which I won't detail here since it is my personal thought as opposed to a specific issue with their salt mix.

I won't use certain lines of natural seawater due to excessive metals in it.

That only leaves a few to choose from, such as Instant Ocean and Tropic Marin Pro. The remaining ones might all be fine for me, but IO is lower in cost, especially if you get it when it goes on sale (which it frequently does). It also has a very long track record of success in many aquaria with relatively few concerning issues of bad batches."
 
The thing about the regular io is that I can control what my levels are which is a plus
 
IO reef crystals from DR Fosters when they have a shipping sale. Always get the big 200g box. I order two at a time when they're on sale.
 
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