[al irons]

I have 24 gal aquapod.45 lbs LR,25 lbs LS,14,000 phoenix MH.
I have 2 clowns,1 firefish,pistol shrimp,pistol shrimp goby,2 cleaner shrimp,2 peppermint shrimp,1 sexy shrimp,1 fire shrimp,BTA,mushrooms,zoos ,lettuce,pom poms.What would be my best salt to use.I do 2 gallon water change every week.Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[MTReefer]

Stick with a good brand like Instant Ocean, Red Sea, Reef Crystals, etc. and you should be fine. I personally use Oceanic and have had great luck. Just don't buy the super cheap stuff from Bob's Salt Shack or something just to save a couple bucks. You get what you pay for.

[e_baer]

I always get my salt from Pet Supplies, Dog Supplies, Cat Supplies, Pet Meds & Pet Products I either get kent, oceanic, or reef crystals. In my honest opnion, salt is salt. Yes some has more calcium, some has a little more this and that. Today, I just ordered enough salt for 320g of water. It was the reef crystals because they were having a sale at the above link.

[ilovemash]

The absolute best salt is Tropic Marin Pro, however be prepared to pay for it.....
I would not recommend Instant Ocean.

[Adam J]

I use reef crystals have no problems

[Hosser]

Red Sea for me , of course I only been in the hobby for 8 months so I dont think I oculd say whats good or not about it.

[dinor2]

What's wrong with Instant Ocean?...

[jimw369]

Originally Posted by dinor2

What's wrong with Instant Ocean?...

OH Im going to get in trouble here. I have heard Instant ocean is designed for fish only and not reef tanks. There I said it. Im in trouble now.

[starboy]

As you do weekly water changes, replenishing used salts, any complete salt will be fine.Stay away from the cheaper brands and salt such as DDs Ocean H2 which is an excellent salt but made lower in choride to allow for further additions of magnesium chloride without water changes.

[teriyakithunder]

Originally Posted by jimw369

OH Im going to get in trouble here. I have heard Instant ocean is designed for fish only and not reef tanks. There I said it. Im in trouble now.

shame on you jim! lol i use oceanic just because it has a cap on it so the salt won't get all hard and clumpy after exposed to air.

[MTReefer]

In addition to keeping the salt nice and dry, when you are done with the salt they make nice containers to hold water in for small water changes

[ilovemash]

Originally Posted by jimw369

OH Im going to get in trouble here. I have heard Instant ocean is designed for fish only and not reef tanks. There I said it. Im in trouble now.

Jim You are correct about the Instant Ocean, it is not designed for reef tanks, and has trace elements in it that can harm coral.

[e_baer]

Originally Posted by teriyakithunder

shame on you jim! lol i use oceanic just because it has a cap on it so the salt won't get all hard and clumpy after exposed to air.

That was my first kind of salt as well. I still have the bucket and put all the other kinds of salt I get in the bucket. The bucket was worth every penny

[Marine1]

What about Instant Ocean reef????

[volitan_fa]

I've heard the same thing about Instant Ocean jim. I've used Oceanic in my own aquariums since the beginning. I've had no problems with it, although it keeps my calcium a little high, but then again I don't keep any hard corals. I've also used Seachem's salts, and I like those a lot. It's all a matter of personal opinion.

[jimw369]

Originally Posted by volitan_fa

I've heard the same thing about Instant Ocean jim. I've used Oceanic in my own aquariums since the beginning. I've had no problems with it, although it keeps my calcium a little high, but then again I don't keep any hard corals. I've also used Seachem's salts, and I like those a lot. It's all a matter of personal opinion.

Its not opinion its choice. I could use any salt for my tank as can anyone else. Just knowing whats in it and how to use it is really all thats needed.

[e_baer]

Brian had pulled up a great article comparing a bunch of different salt brands a few months ago.

Basically the chart showed one thing.

It took an amount of salt....say a cup and it took at cup of several different brands. Then in each cup of salt it compared the amounts of trace elements, ca, iodine, etc, then it posted the results. The only fault with this method is that one cup of kent may be good for a gallon of water, yet a cup of reef crystals may be good for 1.5 gallons. So whats in the salt vs how much is used in each batch....it gets complicated, but it was a good read. I will try to find it now.

[e_baer]

Comparison Table of Primary Elements in Some Top Brand Name Sea Salt Mixes

This is not the one, but it is similar.

I looked up on google....comparing reef salt brands.

here is another...now that I am looking, there are a lot out there.

About.com: http://web.archive.org/web/20010303215133/www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1999/mar/features/1/default.asp

[Reticentregret]

yeah i mean even if you don't keep hard corals that calcium is still a huge plus in the way that it will benefit that glorious Coraline.

[jimw369]

These tests are almost 10 years old

[e_baer]

yeah like a i said....thats not the one, but there are a lot if you google it.

[lflaherty]

Originally Posted by dinor2

What's wrong with Instant Ocean?...

I have serious problems with the solubility of Instant Ocean salt. There is always a bunch of clumped up trace elements looking crappy.

I have had good luck with Oceanpure, and because I get it for $28 for a 200g case, I stick with it.