whats a good sea salt?

[helpme74]

I'm trying to find out about sea salt please help me.

 

[agent707]

I don't think anything the LFS sells is considered "bad". This is something you'll get a lot of mixed answers on. Most all of them are "good" and most all of them... people have had bad experiences.
On average, I think you'll do well on any of them.

 

[turningtim]

Tropic Marin

 

[hitch]

A good LFS told me that they ran some tests on "Instant Ocean" salt by filtering it and they found it contained a lot of impurities in it.
They did the same thing with "Oceanic" and found it had fewer impurities and dissolved better.
I only use "Oceanic" now and it seems to work well for me on my 29Gal and 50Gal.
I am planning to use it for my 150Gal next.

 

[chipmaker]

I would put as much faith in that LFS results or findings that "filtered" IO salt, as I would in the auto makers resurecting and reintroducing the YUGO car in 2007!
The best salt to use,um is well um ah,um lets see now.......Hey, I'll make you a deal. If you can tell me what is the best car I'll divulge what is the best salt. Thats an offer you can't refuse. I use I/O, but that does not necessarily mean its the best either, but I like it and it does what it needs to do and it is reasonably priced and easily obtained.

 

[diane4]

I agree. Instant Ocean in my house. It disovles quickly and well and it is consistant.
I just wish I knew of a way to buy it in bulk to save money. I use a 160 gallon bucket once a month. Now with my 120 tank in the process of converting to salt, I will use more.

 

[turningtim]

As with anything you get what you paid for!
I wouldn't trust IO to melt ice in my driveway
Yes, I'm still bitter over a amost total loss b/c of IO...
JMO
Tim

 

[hitch]

I trust this LFS because they have a quality store and have good people working there.
Aside from them mentioning Oceanic over IO, I have had better results with Oceanic.

 

[boatbuilde]

Tim
What makes you say you lost everything because of the salt????
I have been using IO for 20ish years and have never been able to blame any losses on salt.

 

[boatbuilde]

salt mix study:
part 1
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/11/aafeature1
part 2
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/12/aafeature1
***No salt in this study is an accurate simulation of natural sea water. All salts had at least one toxic heavy metal that was far in excess of NSW levels. When all factors are considered, Tropic Marin, Instant Ocean, and Kent Marine score the best, but such a score can not be arrived at without some amount of subjective judgment in evaluating the pertinent factors.

 

[turningtim]

This subject has been beaten to death on these boards. I'm sure there are lots of success stories about IO but I happened to get a bad batch. There are a couple of others on the boards that have experienced the same.
Long story short, I made a switch to IO and within a couple weeks of water changes my tank was almost dead. The numbers where just all screwed up. I tried to dose to make the differences up, but until I went back to TM and took several weeks of everyday monitoring everthing came back.
The worst was I thought it was me until I tested the mix tank......
Never again!
Tim