Everyone uses the best one........ and exactly why I drink Dr.Pepper becuase it's the best soda.
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Best Reef Salt? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter bedroomgangsta
- Start date
The best you want to spend, not the best salt.
cdness
Senior Member
What else can it be really? Hobbiests speak from personal experience and what they have found out through the hobby. Unfortunately we are not all "salt scientists" to determine which one is going to work best. We are also all not professional marketers who can spin almost anything if given the option. It is an opinion based fact as what has worked best for each person may be different.
Other discussions that are opinon based fact:
- Ford vs Chevy vs Dodge
- MH vs T-5 vs LED
- Skimmer vs no skimmer vs algae scrubber
All opinons that must be taken with a grain of salt due to personal leaning towards voting for what you use. Use the information in the forums to make a more educated decision on what you would like to use in your tank based on the opinions and facts provided.
Just my $.02
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2007
- Messages
- 13,288
You are assuming spending more means better quality. And that is not true. Plus, one of the aspects to consider when deciding what is best is value. On that the expensive salts fail. Therefore an expensive salt is likely not the best salt when value is being considered.
Price and quality typically go hand in hand, most of the time. There are more salt that cost more than TM and I've tried a few others as well and settled with TM. Value and Quality= TM IMO. I've always said to everyone to buy the best within your budget, if it is IO or RC so be it, that goes for equipments/supplies too.
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Well how about we do our own testing.....?
I have reef crystals, coralife, and red sea coral pro at my disposal. Anyone willing to throw in some more variety?
I have reef crystals, coralife, and red sea coral pro at my disposal. Anyone willing to throw in some more variety?
That's what I'm switching to...but I'm coming over from Petco salt, which was fine when all I was running was FOWLER...but I have great aspirations for the new tank. However, I am far from a pro when it comes to salt (or anything else pertaining to this hobby) so I will be watching this thread with bated breath.
Well asking "whats the best salt" ... is basically the same, its all a matter of opinion and we wouldnt be using the salt we are using if we didnt think it was best for our application.
asking "which salt has more minerals" or "which salt doesnt leave brown slime on your powerheads" or which salt actually makes 160g of 1.025 etc etc might have people voting for salts they dont use.
I have used IO and RC forever and never had a problem. Not saying they are the best but they work. I am thinking of trying Oceanic salt mix and selling at the store since other customers have asked for it and seems to be getting good readings. All is personal preference on choice. Spending twice as much on a salt mix is also personal preference. Would I spend that much on salt....No.
I've got a bucket with your name on it
Awesome! Did any of the other stuff come in?
Love you Ray, but I almost completely disagree.
At no time do I ever assume price and quality go hand in hand, because in most cases it doesnt. Higher price items throw all sorts of information at you via web, phone, photos, videos, whatever they have at their disposal to make you believe its really better and worth all that extra money. YOU GOTTA HAVE IT, OMG this product will make your corals grow diamonds out of their anuses! So much color it makes skittles look dull!!!! It has all sorts of vitamins and minerals and caffeine and candy and we created this special powder that makes your skimmer go nuts and that means that everything in your tank is gunna taste like licorice!
Fact of the matter is, like Matt said, products overall ratings must include cost vs results. I saw little to no difference when i started using the TM products. The couple smart brain cells i have left thus concluded that spending 50% more on salt when i get just as great a results with IO is not the best way to go. I use IO, even tho TM, Seachem, and RC are all well within my budget.
If i can maintain my tank at 430 CA, 1300 Mg, 8.2 PH with IO and minimal dosing and keep my corals happy with a respectable reef supplement with some chow and minerals for them that i mix up myself... what justification do i have to switch to salts that cost 50% more to produce the same results.
The hobbys high price brands cater to those that want their tanks to run themselves, if you just want to mix salt and be done with things without any extra attention or dosing or hobby work in the hobby and dont care about spending extra money... go spend 50% more on your salt.
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Big E, luv ya back :beerchug: Unfortunately I don't buy gimmicks and these special powders you are talking about. I do my own research and base it from my own results and experience. Now trying a product out isn't just a 1 wk or 1-2 month, its a full 6+ months to say the least, in order to see if it is effective. I've been using TM salt & bio-actif for 2+ yrs. and will keep using it. It does what it says and my skimmate is proof of that, including the smells.
There is one thing I do agree with you and Matt, cost vs results and IMO TM is worth the cost for the results I get. I sell what I personally use myself and have experienced. I do alot of test trials with other products one of them being *Brightwells* and they are junk, yes I said...JUNK and is all "Fluff". I can mention more but that is for another thread.
We can test for CA,MAG,ALK, etc but how about the rest of the 70+ trace elements & minerals? How about other brands making up their own grades and collecting/harvesting process??? Pharmaceutical grade is Pharmaceutical grade *theirs an actual grading process* the rest are just gimmicks.
I'm not at all trying to convince or win over any votes, you do what u think is best. Will a few settlements affect how I feel after mixing, yes...In my mind, if I can see this now, how about the rest that I can't see that I'm dumping back into my tank?
This is similiar to the other thread "WC or NOT" too each their own.
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Read eriks statement about a special powder that makes your skimmer go nuts and my response regarding bio-actif additive I use. I use it separately from the salt. Now they have a salt that already includes that but I choose not to pay extra for it.
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So I personally dont care what people use in their tanks as long as they are happy and get good results.
Ray I do have to ask something simple though:
So if your using TM salt mix which seems to be working great for you, why do you dose other additives such as bio-actif?
How can you attribute the success of the salt to anything when your dosing other items besides just alk, mag, and calcium? There is no proof in the salt mix then since it could be anything attributing to it. Alot of variables are being thrown in the mix.....
Just curious.....
Ray I do have to ask something simple though:
So if your using TM salt mix which seems to be working great for you, why do you dose other additives such as bio-actif?
How can you attribute the success of the salt to anything when your dosing other items besides just alk, mag, and calcium? There is no proof in the salt mix then since it could be anything attributing to it. Alot of variables are being thrown in the mix.....
Just curious.....
Instant Ocean for me. If I were to switch to a premium salt I would probably pick Tropic Marin. :beerchug:
Went from using TM Pro, Coralife, RC to IO. really no difference. The tank looked like a reef tank then and it looks like it now. based on the specs and mktg I was looking forward to the fish and coral doing the flamenco when TM pro was used. Maybe I dont recognize a hot dance when I see it, so if all that was claimed with the premium salt happened, well it happens with IO too.
But yeah, I kinda see the logic being thrown around here about premium salts but dont see the difference in the results. maybe the skimmer sux.... its a crappy alpha vertex 300 and it was not cheap. (I do think dosing vinegar made the skimmer run consistently... now would a $200 skimmer do the same thing... thats a question for what is the best skimmer thread :beerchug
But yeah, I kinda see the logic being thrown around here about premium salts but dont see the difference in the results. maybe the skimmer sux.... its a crappy alpha vertex 300 and it was not cheap. (I do think dosing vinegar made the skimmer run consistently... now would a $200 skimmer do the same thing... thats a question for what is the best skimmer thread :beerchug
Garrett if u read carefully I dose bio-actif on a regular basis. I add other TM supplements such as CA and MAG to replenish what is being used and absorbed by my corals. There is no hard evidence what works and what doesn't, its all based on your research, availability,experience, and money.
Overall TM offers me the balance, value, results, and quality I want, that's why I sell it.