Salt Mix Recommendations

[Reefer37]

So I'm new to making saltwater, been using LFS water and they use Fritz salt.
Finally ordering an RODI system and going to be making my own saltwater and all.
I know it's ideal to use to same salt you've been using with your system, but Fritz salt is like 2-3x's more expensive than some of the other brands out there.

Is there an alternate a bit cheaper I can use for making my own?

I know there's a lot of differing opinions on the "best salt mix", but really I'm just looking to match actual sea water levels.

 

[Arricefe]

Red Sea

 

[Potatohead]

I know there's a lot of differing opinions on the "best salt mix", but really I'm just looking to match actual sea water levels.

There are a few choices:

Brightwell NeoMarine
Tropic Marin Pro Reef
Red Sea Blue Bucket
Aquaforest Reef

 

[Straasha]

LiveAquaria has some good salt as well.

 

[ShepherdReefer]

I have used the Red Sea salt for many years. After making fresh saltwater and leaving for a few days, I did not like the way it looked. I just switched to Tropic Marin Pro Reef and don't have too much of an opinion yet, but so far so good.

 

[Uncle99]

On the low end price should be instant ocean (IO) which is a great salt for Fish only.
If you doing corals, consider Reef Crystals (RC), again, should be in a low price point.
I seen beautiful reef tanks with both of these.

I would love to use Tropic Marin, great salt by far, but, at $180 a pail, compared to $90 for the Red Sea, can’t justify that.

I use Red Sea Pro because it matches my parameters.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Tropic Marin worth Every Penny

 

[reeplay87]

Fan of Brightwell for the price

 

[Plecosam]

Redsea, looks perfectly clear to me, I would use Tropic Marin but for availability, Redsea mixes very quickly and practically without any residue for me. Quantum Reef is also highly recommended.

 

[Saltyreef]

I use red sea blue bucket too but agree with the above comments of it starting to precipitate after a few days.
For this reason, I never store salt water.... just DI. It only takes 30 mins to mix anyways

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I think normal IO is a fine choice.

 

[dwest]

IO here too.

 

[madweazl]

Tropic Marin worth Every Penny

After running Tropic Marin Pro for about seven months after previously using Instant Ocean in the same acropora dominated tank for three years prior to that, I cant find a single reason to spend the extra pennies on the Tropic Marin. They produced identical results.

I used muriatic acid to lower the alkalinity of Instant Ocean to approx 7.5 dKh. Not sure Tropic Marin is worth the extra $60 it costs over the Instant Ocean for that convenience. Other than cost, I have nothing bad to say about the Tropic Marin though.

As for the original question, any of the reputable salts available will produce good results.

 

[Tompickles]

I’ve used IO, Red Sea and tropic Marin and find myself always going back to Red Sea. Tropic Marin was good but not worth the extra money imo

 

[DeniseAndy]

So far, my favorite has been Tropic Marin (Pro). Mixes clean, fast and well.
I was really sick of the Reef Crystals leaving the horrible residue in the bucket and it was just not clean mixed. I used it for years though.
I hated Salinity as I tried it and it was not a good fit for my system. Algae outbreak, burned to mix, just not like.

I think it depends on the system and the budget. Salt is not cheap.

 

[greg 45]

After running Tropic Marin Pro for about seven months after previously using Instant Ocean in the same acropora dominated tank for three years prior to that, I cant find a single reason to spend the extra pennies on the Tropic Marin. They produced identical results.

I used muriatic acid to lower the alkalinity of Instant Ocean to approx 7.5 dKh. Not sure Tropic Marin is worth the extra $60 it costs over the Instant Ocean for that convenience. Other than cost, I have nothing bad to say about the Tropic Marin though.

As for the original question, any of the reputable salts available will produce good results.

How do you lower alk with muriatic acid. What is the ratio , can you advise .
X amount acid per gallon or gallons you mix up .

 

[Duffer]

On the low end price should be instant ocean (IO) which is a great salt for Fish only.
If you doing corals, consider Reef Crystals (RC), again, should be in a low price point.
I seen beautiful reef tanks with both of these.

I would love to use Tropic Marin, great salt by far, but, at $180 a pail, compared to $90 for the Red Sea, can’t justify that.

I use Red Sea Pro because it matches my parameters.

I have used tropic Marin pro for over a year and have never ever seen it sold for $180 a bucket..my LFS sells it for $95 and all the big online stores sell it for around the same or $10 more..

 

[madweazl]

How do you lower alk with muriatic acid. What is the ratio , can you advise .
X amount acid per gallon or gallons you mix up .

Volume of water X change in dKh X .123 = ml to dose
Example for 5 gallons of water with Instant Ocean mixing up at 10.5 dKh and a desired dKh of 7.5.

5 x 3 x .123 = 1.85ml muriatic acid to 5g of Instant Ocean. This will cause the pH to plummet so the water needs to mix for an extended period before use (I always let it mix over night). Also, this is for full strength muriatic acid you typically find at the hardware store for pool use (roughly 33%). Using the low fume required aprox 4.2ml per 5g bucket for me.

 

[MichaelReefer]

So I'm new to making saltwater, been using LFS water and they use Fritz salt.
Finally ordering an RODI system and going to be making my own saltwater and all.
I know it's ideal to use to same salt you've been using with your system, but Fritz salt is like 2-3x's more expensive than some of the other brands out there.

Is there an alternate a bit cheaper I can use for making my own?

I know there's a lot of differing opinions on the "best salt mix", but really I'm just looking to match actual sea water levels.

I've had very good luck with Red Sea.

 

[14 foot reef]

I've used many brands in my 40 years, I did a tank reset 2 years ago on my 18 year old reef. Complete tear down and bleach out start over. I started with Fritz and it was inconsistant and a very dirty residue in my mixing station. I too thought it wasnt worth the money, Like Randy F says, good old instant ocean for me now. You can set up auto renew orders on amazon get free shipping and land 50 gallon mixes to your door for $9.00 US. Thats $36.00 for 200 gallons, the IO mixes consistant for me everytime, and a lower Alk, which most people run these days. My system is 1150 gallons and I do auto water changes, so the Gold Standard salts at $100.00 + a pail are not feasible for me.