Switching Salt Brand

[ahochan]

Hi,

I'm using Red Sea salt for my FOWLR tank. I do weekly 5 % water
changes, and all the inhabitants seem to be doing fine. My current
salt bag is soon running out though, so I was thinking about whether
or not to try a different brand next time. I was thinking of trying
Reef Crystals salt (it seems to get consitently good reviews and is
not too expensive). My questions are:

- Is it ok to change salt brand, or is it better to continue using
the same?

- I use standard dechlorinated tap water. I've seen some salt mixes
that claim to be specifically for RO water. Is that something I
need to take into account when changing salt brand?

 

[JM]

I would recommend either Tropic Marin or Reef Crystals. They are probably the best salts out there. You are probably better off sticking with one salt, just because each differs a little and using the same one offers more stability. I don't think switching this one time will hurt anything though. Especially when you are upgrading to a higher quality salt.

 

[tecwzrd]

Since it's a FOWLR spending more money on higher quality salt isn't going to help or hurt IMO.

I've used Red Sea for years and have been happy with it. It's always tested at 10-12 dkh and 420-440 ca and is po4 free.

Tropic Marin & Reef Crystals are higher quality salts mostly meaning they are formulated better for reef tanks and their needs and if you can get it for close to the same price as Red Sea then it certainly won't hurt anything since you are doing less then 15% pwc. If you were doing greater then 15% pwc I'd only recommend starting off with 10% pwc for the first couple of weeks when changing salts.

Mixing salt for 24+ hours with a ph and matching ph/sg/temp to the main tank is important regardless of which brand you use.

 

[roka64]

If it isn't broke, don't fix it. I used IO and could not keep cyano and hair algae from blooming, so I switched to RC. I have only done one or two PWCs, so the jusry is still out on the results.

 

[melosu58]

I would recommend either Tropic Marin or Reef Crystals. They are probably the best salts out there.

Come on JM I cant believe you left Oceanic out of your best list. LOL I found out a while ago that if you ask a question about salt you will get 100 different answers. I do agree with Scott that if it aint broken , dont fix it. It sounds like you are doing OK with what you have.

 

[ahochan]

Thanks for the feedback. I definately agree to "if it isn't broken, don't fix it," so I should perhaps clarify that I want to turn the tank into a reef tank in the long term (i.e. in about a year or so). So I figured that it might be best to change sooner rather than later since I'm soon buying a new bag of salt anyway. Reef Crystals salt is a bit more expensive than
Red Sea here (Japan), but not so much that it's a real concern.

 

[melosu58]

Just because you are adding corals does not mean you have to change salt brands. I would love to tell you to go to Oceanic because I get great results from it but still if you are not having any problems then I would stay until you do with what you have. One thing you can do is post your water test results esp. Calcium and alk. and we will see if they will be OK for corals.