confused on how to mix salt

[prestage3ek]

OK, search function on this site still isnt working. Can somebody pm me on how to mix salt with your water. I bought a bag of Kent Marine salt, 50 gal, I have a 29 gallon tank, there are no instructions on the bag about mixing so many cups of the salt with so many gallons of water and im not able to figure it out, so yeah, can somebody help a guy out. Thanks

[chopsuey]

Fist off I just want to say excellent choice in sea salt. Its all I will use in my Reef tank.

You are going to need a least a cheap Hydrometer $12.00:

http://www.marinedepot.com/IMD/test_kits_coralife_deep_six_hydrometer.jpg

You will need to use this to test the specific salinity of your mix. There should be some calculations on the back of the bag of salt to tell you how much salt to add to 5 gallons of water to create the correct salinity of 5 gallons of sea water. You will need to do the math to figure out how much salt you will need for 29 gallons. Use the Hydrometer to get the salinity precise.

I will try to find the exact amout of salt you will need for 29gallons and post again.

** IF your really good at math which I am not the bag you have will make a total of 50gallons of sea water at the specific salinity of 1.020

[HumanIMDB]

I think the general ratio is 1/2 cup of salt per gallon of water.

I add a little too much salt then add water to a Specific Gravity of 1.026. It's easier to add more water than more salt; I tend to make really salty water if I try to get to the right level by adding salt.

[HumanIMDB]

Yes, definitely get a hydrometer. If you have the money and want to splurge, buy a refractometer. And if you have lots of money to burn (which if you haven't realized yet, you need for reefs), get a electronic salinity monitor. :)

[BlueCoast]

Welcome to the wonderful world of reefkeeping... I cannot guess how many jugs i have that say "add no more than 5ml" & I'm thinking for a 10Gal or a 100Gal.....

For salt mixing -

#1 never add salt right to the tank... it can clump up and either way is bad husbandry.

the best is to use a large bucket (fish tank only if possible) with a small powerhead, mix in the salt and let it stir for awhile to ensure that it is evenly mixed, then take a reading with your hydrometer. Lo w salinity = more salt, high salinity = more R/O water. With Instant Ocean salt it is a bit more than 1/2 cup per gallon of water.

another way to search Reef Central (or any other site) is to use google search. to find "mixing salt" on reefcentral go to google & search for " site:reefcentral.com mixing salt" and it will limit the results to this site. Happy reefing.

You are using RO / DI or de-chlorinated water, right? Straight tap water is bad...

[Paintbug]

i have a couple of things to advise you on. :D

first, use a hydrometer, or a refractometer to test your salt. never go by a general rule or instructions on a bag. target a SG of 1.025-1.026.

next with the Kent salt(which i use), as well with any salt brand, be sure to test the Alkalinity of the mix. Kent had some issues a while back, and should be fixed. you should always test alkalinity, calcium, and SG of a new bag/bucket of salt. this habbit will keep you from problems down the road.

[tkeracer619]

I have a swing arm you can have. Might take a couple of days via snail mail. Prolly better of going and buying one though. They are in junk and can't be trusted. Go ahead and get a refractometer, it will last forever and you will be using it regularly. Good investment.

My swing arm had my reef at a 1.032sg. Great almost .01 innacuracy. wack

[UrbanSage]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8288667#post8288667 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tkeracer619
My swing arm had my reef at a 1.032sg. Great almost .01 innacuracy. wack

Is that the one you a willing to ship? :D

[J. Montgomery]

Many people advise that you circulate freshly mixed salt water with either a powerhead or airstone for ~24hr before adding the salt water to the tank. They say that fresh salt water is caustic. Also a good idea if you're using RO/DI water, as the filters will remove dissolved oxygen from the purified water.

[prestage3ek]

I already bought a hydrometer, Red Sea, I also picked up a air pump and an air stone because I did read about having extra water for water changes already ready to go with a powerhead ane airstone running in it. So if you guys are saying mix to 1.026 specific gravity, do I need to do that for every bucket of say 5 gallons that I do? like im going to make one 5 gallon bucket and then pour it in, then make another one, and pour it in, and so on and so forth, each time making sure that that 5 gallons is at 1.026 rating of specific gravity? I wont have to worry about too much salt being in my mix after I have added all the buckets to my tank?

[Paintbug]

is your tank set up yet? with livestock?

[imtheonlylp]

prestage, that is exactly what you'll have to do....i use a regular 5g bucket from home depot for water adds/changes...typically 4g of water (because i never fill it to the top) takes about 3.5 cups of salt to get the salinity around 1.023-1.024...just fill up the bucket, pour in the salt, give it a stir, put a powerhead in there, let it sit overnight, then check the salinity in the morning...add/dilute as necessary..

[allengy]

When I first set my tank up, I filled it with water and slowly mixed the salt in with the return pump running rather than doing it bucket by bucket. Of course there was nothing else in the tank. After that I mix it in a bucket for weekly changes.