Best way to make salt water

[jjksutton]

Brand new...need help. Don't even have a the tank yet. I am getting a 55g tank soon and I need some quick advice. How do I make the water? I've done freshwater and know you can use tap water with a conditioner. Same for saltwater?

Also, should I make the water in little batches and add it to the tank, or just put it all in the empty tank and work from there?

Thanks
Jeff
Stafford, VA

 

[fishfreek]

Jeff welcome to the site.

Glad to hear that your doing your research before you get your tank.

Depending on where you live and your general water quality you can use tap water but I find best results if you use RO/DI water and then add your salt mix to this. The reason is that the salt mix adds trace elements to your water and if you already have trace elements in your water supply you could have issues with to many elements and thus an algae problem.

To make your first batch of water you can just add the freshwater to the tank and then add the salt mix slowly to the freshwater. Only do this the first time. When you add saltwater when doing water changes make sure you mix the water up atleast 24 hours in advance.

Have your powerheads and heater running when mixing the salt as warm water mix's better than cold water.

 

[jjksutton]

Thanks. Much help is always appreciated. BTW, I've been checking out your site and really appreciate the no nonsense info/help being given.

Jeff

 

[IndyReef]

Thanks. Much help is always appreciated. BTW, I've been checking out your site and really appreciate the no nonsense info/help being given.

Jeff

Jeff -

No nonsense? are you reading a different site? Just kidding. welcome to the site and ask tons of questions for a couple of reasons.

1. no need not to know the answer
2. we like answering questions
3. what else is this site for? (other than football discussions)

Ryan