breaking the bank on water changes

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dragonfisher33

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so today i realize how expensive the saltwater hobby can get. here's the story: i just got a 30gal SW tank from a friend and today i decided to get some equipments and necessities

Salt: one bucket of salt is anywhere from $50-$80 and only make close to 150gal of seawater. so if you do a massive water change, you're literally out of $30 or greater. how often do you guys do water changes and is 20% a good percentage?

DIY possible??? there's got to be a way of maintaining the water changes to keep water clean and save money at the same time. all the equipments aside (skimmer, phos reactor, etc), how can people make water changes without breaking the bank? in freshwater, there's no such problem because tap water is generally safe most of the time. How do you make sea salt? these companies obviously have a way of doing so. maybe dry up the sea water and collect the salt crystals?

one last question: i know that morton salt is not a replacement for sea salt. but can you mixing the sea salt and morton salt together if you're in an emergency and the pet stores are closed? maybe a ratio of 1:3 for morton salt to sea salt?

I'm a noob when it comes to SW, i know some questions are silly but, again, please be gentle.
 
no offense, but salt is pretty cheap, relatively speaking. Especially for a 30 gallon tank. Do a 10% water change weekly. with 150 gallons, this will last you 50 weeks. (nearly a year)
 
no offense, but salt is pretty cheap, relatively speaking. Especially for a 30 gallon tank. Do a 10% water change weekly. with 150 gallons, this will last you 50 weeks. (nearly a year)

oh no, that's only half of the story. the instant salt was 8bucks and only mixes 10gal of saltwater. my salinity right now is not where near the normal range. plus, i'm very used to using just tap water for my FW tanks and never thought about paying for a specific type of water
 
oh no, that's only half of the story. the instant salt was 8bucks and only mixes 10gal of saltwater. my salinity right now is not where near the normal range. plus, i'm very used to using just tap water for my FW tanks and never thought about paying for a specific type of water

buy a large bucket, buying in bulk saves money. once your salinity is at a normal range, water changes will be cheap. Only mixing your first batch is costly typically. You need to invest in an RODI system. It will save you money rather than constantly buying RODI water from a grocery store.

Are you doing fowlr or reef? Many people get away with tap in a fowlr, but that's only if you're sure you never want to do a reef. Even so it is likely you'd have more algae problems with tap.
 
oh no, that's only half of the story. the instant salt was 8bucks and only mixes 10gal of saltwater. my salinity right now is not where near the normal range. plus, i'm very used to using just tap water for my FW tanks and never thought about paying for a specific type of water

Get a rodi unit buy the salt mix and make your own saltwater. Sounds like you are buying the water not the mix.
 
buy a large bucket, buying in bulk saves money. once your salinity is at a normal range, water changes will be cheap. Only mixing your first batch is costly typically. You need to invest in an RODI system. It will save you money rather than constantly buying RODI water from a grocery store.

Are you doing fowlr or reef? Many people get away with tap in a fowlr, but that's only if you're sure you never want to do a reef. Even so it is likely you'd have more algae problems with tap.

FOWLR for now because i haven't had much experience with the salty side yet. i will eventually move into the reef tank realm some day. right now it's just a matter of getting used to things and hands dirty/salty
 
Lol I did that when I cycled my old set up that's only good for so long get a rodi unit it will be one of the best investment you ever made in this hobby.

i don't doubt about that but for me it takes a bit of time. just like how it took me some time to invest a pressurized co2 system. i believe i will get a RO system later on. it will be good for both my FW and SW tanks.
 
In this hobby rodi should be on top of the list.

that's true to certain degree. although fish benefits from RO water, most will do fine with RO. the reason why i'm thinking about a RO system is because i'm planning to step up the challenge in my FW tank by getting some discus. and i also plan on getting a reef tank. so it's two birds one stone
 
I believe that Mortons salt is iodized salt crystals, which is slightly different than sea salt. not to mention that synthetic sea salt (Instant Ocean, Kent, etc) are loaded with trace elements and necessary nutrients. I wouldn't even risk attempting mortons in any situation. This is unfortunately part of the saltie world. trust me though, once you are rolling smoothly with fish and coral in your tank, the last thing on your mind is the price of a bucket of salt. its hard to cut corners in this hobby without sacrificing quality somewhere. id recommend just taking it slow and do everything right your first time through. once you really start to gain knowledge of this hobby, then you can deviate in some areas. (homemade salt mixes not being one of them)
 
Been keeping fish for 50 years. First half of that I always used declorinated tap water, even for SW. The day I bought my first RO/DI unit, within weeks I noticed my algae wasn't growing as fast and that my corals were happier. I now consider it as valuable a piece of equipment as anything else I have. They are pretty inexpensive and for anyone with anything much larger than a nano tank, a cost savings.
 
Been keeping fish for 50 years. First half of that I always used declorinated tap water, even for SW. The day I bought my first RO/DI unit, within weeks I noticed my algae wasn't growing as fast and that my corals were happier. I now consider it as valuable a piece of equipment as anything else I have. They are pretty inexpensive and for anyone with anything much larger than a nano tank, a cost savings.

i will keep that in mind. i have heard RODI system is great for the fish but as of right now i have no idea how it works (I'm an engineer and have a thing of wanting to know how thing work lol) and the system's maintenance schedule (ie how things are cleaned and replaced).
 
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