As many of the remaining old timers here know, I've went through about every crisis one can go through and survive the hobby. Let's talk about salt. This is used in a LPS/SPS mixed reef tank in my case.
From my experience, I'm going to give you my opinion on the ones I've used. I have had good salt, "meh" salt, and bad salt. Yes, Victoria, there is a difference.
DISCLAIMER: THE COMMENTS BELOW REPRESENT MY OPINION BASED ON MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. YOUR SETUP, TANK CHEMISTRY, FLORA AND FAUNA MAKEUP, AND YOUR HOUSEKEEPING/HUSBANDRY OF YOUR SYSTEM MEANS THAT YOUR RESULTS MAY DIFFER FROM MINE.
BAD salt:
Tropic Marin - Bio-Activ or Pro Reef; wild alk and CA swings, pH issues, foreign objects(!) My advice, stay away.
Not BAD per se, but I will always avoid this in the future:
Red Sea Coral Pro - Because this salt is an evaporated product from in-shore seawater, it is a natural product. It will grow algae in a dark mixing bucket, has high phosphates, med nitrates, (varies from batch to batch), inconsistency in batches, mixes poorly, and will precipitate the extra calcium out if mixed longer than four hours. Not just my experience, Red Sea tells you so. Comes in "hotter" at 8-10DKh, 390-450 Ca, 1270-1400 Mg, changes from batch to batch. Caused a lot of problems for me and was not a stable salt. The inconsistency in batches, algae, and P03/N04 issues were unacceptable. It'll grow SPS, if you like algae outbreaks.
"Meh" salt - "Meh" is not bad, just doesn't slap you upside the head and make you want to say "wow. Nitrates and phosphates in this salt are low to non-existent.
Instant Ocean, Seachem Reef salt; mix cloudy in some batches, some precipitation, comes in at about 6.5-7.5 DKh, 350 Ca, 1200Mg, an inexpensive, stable salt. If you're not into SPS, this salt is awesome. No salt-incurred algae. My understanding is that this is a synthetic product. If using for an established SPS tank, be prepared to heavily supplement Ca and Alk.
Better salt -
Reef Crystals - "boosted" synthetic version of Instant Ocean, many reefers have good results, as did I. It mixes at 7.1-8.6DKh, 390-450 Ca, and 1200-1300 Mg. Worth the small extra cost versus Instant Ocean. Leaves a small amount of precipitate during mixing. No nitrates, phosphates, algae. Good, stable salt. Reliable product.
Brightwell NeoMarine - expensive, mixes well, no precipitate, not as "hot" as Red Sea Coral Pro, but very stable among the three buckets I used. Comes in at about the same levels as Reef Crystals. Stick with the Reef Crystals for the money...
Best salt -
hw-Marinemix Reefer Salt Mix - Been using this about 16 months. SPS growth is nuts, LPS have never looked better. Mixes clear very quickly, no precipitate. Synthetic, extremely stable. Mixes at 9.3-10 DKh, 440-450 Ca, 1200-1300 Mg. No nitrates or phosphates. Has boosted amino acids and iodide levels. This is one of the first reef salts ever developed, it is a well-established German salt, and is expensive at 71.99 for a 160gal box (on sale at BRS right now for sixty bucks or so per box). Been wanting an LFS to carry this salt, but will continue to mail order it in the interim. As far as I am concerned, I will run this salt from now on.
See pic:
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