Salt Mix- reef or non reef mix?

[carey]

Hi. Not lookign for war of the salts here but had some general questions.

i am currently using regular old instant ocean. I have about 13 corals so would it be in my best interest to switch to a 'reef" salt mix? I was going to switch to regular tropic marin when this bucket is empty but was thinking I could use the extra dosing in the reef mix. I know not to get tropic marin reef salt cause I have to do all the dosing correct? And the tropic marin eco whatever is a bit pricey for now.

So the question is would IO reef crystal be better than tropic marin regular mix based on added minerals and the such?

I'm slowly trying different salt mixes to find MY fave but I figured this was an important question before I start dabbling.

Thanks guys!

 

[carey]

LOL No one?? i can only assume since I have a reef that reef type salt would be the choice but I wanted to confirm this with others.

Using IO reef salt won't mean I have to dose will it like the "reef" salt from tropic marin? I don't wanna be caught in a situation of having a bucket of stuff i can't use.

Thanks for reading, I see people are actually viewing just not posting!

 

[Gti_Leo]

i use reef salt, i think it puts in more calcium and trace elements needed for the water then just regular plain salt.

you could always just buy 5 gallon packets of salt and try it out and see how you like it before makign a desision weather you want to stick with IO or change

 

[carey]

Do you know if thats across the board as far as brands? Like I said I've heard that reef crystals from TM are only called that so people can dose and the salt doesnt contain the trace elements and calcium that even their reg. salt mix contains.

LOL Did that make any sense? I don't know if IO or any other brands use the name "reef salt" that dont contain the reef elements.

My choices are kinda slim locally for salt so I like to buy in bulk. I don't think I'd get the full feel for a salt only using a bag or box of it, a bucket would give me some real time to test it out.

 

[iDream]

Yeah a reef salt would be best, yes Reef Crystals by IO is good.

For me, unless I had the extra cash to spend or found something very wrong with IO Reef Crystals I wouldn't buy Tropic Marin (But that's just me) and yes you want the regular TM vs the reef one because in the reef one they took out a lot of essential elements they assumed one would be dosing

Edit: As far as I know TM is the only one with that mix up

 

[carey]

Yeah a reef salt would be best, yes Reef Crystals by IO is good.

For me, unless I had the extra cash to spend or found something very wrong with IO Reef Crystals I wouldn't buy Tropic Marin (But that's just me) and yes you want the regular TM vs the reef one because in the reef one they took out a lot of essential elements they assumed one would be dosing

Edit: As far as I know TM is the only one with that mix up

You understood exactly what I was saying! Thanks.

I was only thinking TM cause I heard it dissolves really well and it gets good hype. LOL I found the 200g bucket for 69.99 online free shipping so I thought it might be worth it at that price to try.

My local stores don't even carry IO reef I'd have to travel far or order that online too.

 

[Gti_Leo]

really IO is a really popular brand of salt, you'd think most would have that as their best sellers

 

[carey]

My local petco only has like 3 buckets of the regular salt on hand usually and no reef salt to speak of.

 

[ccCapt]

Plain old Instant Ocean is a fine salt...and probably 1 of the cheapest out there. No reason anyone can't use it. I would recommend regular Instant Ocean over Reef Crystals anyday. Reef Crystals has vitamins added, but no one knows what they are or their purpose.

 

[hackteck]

i use instant ocean and it keeps my calcium at 450 with regular water changes