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SquishyFish

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Feb 5, 2004
Messages
1,134
Location
Dallas
I have been purchasing my salt water premixed from the LFS for years now. Infact....the idea of mixing my own is somewhat of an intimidating idea. So...treat me like a rookie. What are the shortcuts that everyone has learned to make it as easy as possible.

I have an R/o Unit and I am going to mix it in a large trash can with a pump.
 
Fill your trashcan with RO water. Drop in there a 100W heater and a pump or pumps. Bring the water up to temperature. Start sifting in the saltmix. I use a small plastic container like a 2 cup measuring cup to sift/shake the salt into the water. After adding the approx correct amount to get the desired specific gravity drop in an airstone and let airrate for 24hours. After 24 hours verify the SG. If its to low then add more salt. If its to high then add more RO to balance it out.

I cant tell you how much salt I add because my cup I use I dont know what its measured volume is.
 
I use IO. Alot of folks including Kevin have been looking negitivly at IO as of late due to some fluxuating water test results. Oceanic has recently come out with some saltmix that seems to be getting rave reviews. Personally I have not seen or used it yet. (I requeted a free 5gal bag but never got it :( )
 
When you say "Bring the water up to temperature", do you mean the temperature of the tank? Does that pertain to major water changes?
My salinity is a bit low, 1.022 and I was thinking of topping off with Salt Water tonight and I never raise the temp of the top off water. (180g)
 
Most people recommend letting your sw mix for your water change sit for at least a day to make sure everything is fully dissolved. what i do is run a HOB or power head in the tank with a heater and match the temp and the salinity with the main tank before adding it
 
Also the salt will dissolve a lot better if you heat the water first, and there's less chance of precipitation.
 
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