How much more salt do I need?

[zacdl]

I added about 10 cups of Instant Ocean or so to my 30 gal and the SG is at 1.014 (too low).

Appx how big of bag should I get to get it up to the good range (1.022-1.024)?

 

[steve r]

1/2 cup per gallon works with instant ocean and kent sea salt. this will get you about 1.024. i buy the buckets. it is way cheaper than buying the bags

steve r

 

[zacdl]

I dont need bucket fulls at a time though.

Also the last time I got to 25 half cups any my SG was WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY over high.

But now I am at about 20 half cups (I estimated what was left in the bag when i poured it in there, looked like 2 cups left in there) and its at that reading.

I just dont know how much salt I should get. What size mix? I dont know how much 1/2 a scoop raises the SG for a 30 gallon tank, was hoping someone here knew.

 

[steve r]

it looks like you have a fish in your tank, you should not add salt right to tank if you have anything in there.
there is no formula for how much a half cup raises the SG for a 30 gallon. it depends on how much water you actually have. i have a 29g. but there is not 29 gallons of water in there. i have 70lbs or rock and 40lbs of sand. that material displaces water. the half cup per gallon is also right on the instant ocean packaging. unfortunatly "estimates" are really no good in the saltwater world. the balance of salt and other elements is very sensitive. exact measurements are critical to being a responsible reef keeper.

i suggested a bucket because you will use that salt over time doing regular water changes. it is much, much cheaper to buy the bucket and keep it in your basement than to keep buying the bags or boxes. plus you go through a lot of mixed salt water salt when you QT a fish

steve r

 

[ellisz]

1/2 cup per gal should work fine. If you are trying to raise it, you just have to guess. You will get to where youo can get a feel how much to add.

Definately don't do it while fish are in the tank. Mix it in a bucket and then add it later.

 

[zacdl]

lol that fish is dead, I forgot to update it.
I am thinking 5 more cups SHOULD do it if this time it is correct.

Ill check into a bucket, depending how much they cost.

 

[malkore]

It says right on the package how much salt it takes to give 1 gallon of water a specific salinity. As I recall, Instant Ocean says a half cup per gallon of R/O water should give 1.022

A bucket of IO (roughly a 5gallon bucket) that'll make 160gallons is around $50-$60 here.

 

[zacdl]

Yea but like I said last time it made it too salty (all I had in there last time was sand, and thats all I have in there right now too)

 

[malkore]

You said last time you had 25 cups in there..so of course that's too much salt. 30gallons divided by 2 (for half cups) gives you 15 cups.

A 30gallon should need 15 cups to be in the 1.022 range.

I would add 4 cups, wait, and measure salinity tomorrow and see how much more you have to tweak it.

 

[zacdl]

I ment 25 half cups.

I was estimating I needed 5 more cups.

 

[Phyl]

You probably don't have 30g of water in there. Do you have 20g? 25g? 28? If you can estimate how much water is in your tank (use the tank capacity calculator on the home page here and measure from the sand to the water line and the length and width) then you can divide that by 2 to figure out how many cups you need in the tank. We can't tell you how much because we don't know how many gallons of water you have in there. On top of that you're estimating salt amounts. You're just going to have to give it a good guess and see where you end up.

 

[zacdl]

Its a hex tank, almost impossible to figure water volume like that.

Just a couple inches of sand.

 

[malkore]

I see you didn't try out our amazing Hex Aquarium Capacity Calculator: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/calcs2.php?type=hex