Derek Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 So... I bought a box of mixing salt but the instructions do not say how much salt I have to add to the water to get different SGs. Is it a trial and error sort of thing? Is it normal for mixing salt boxes to not include a ratio of water to mix for specific SGs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooric Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Perhaps the manufacturer has some information online? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Posted January 11, 2010 Author Share Posted January 11, 2010 Perhaps the manufacturer has some information online? I checked online. All they said was "add enough salt to get to the desired SG". It was a pretty lame site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddybluewater Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Approximately 1/2 cup per gallon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caferacermike Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Sounds like some lame salt. I've never heard of one without instructions. Boxes tend to be small. Any chance you bought a size specific box? I've seen some boxed salt that is meant to mix up a specific batch, like add contents to 10g of water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Posted January 11, 2010 Author Share Posted January 11, 2010 Approximately 1/2 cup per gallon Sweet, I'll add two more cups and check the salinity in the morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Posted January 11, 2010 Author Share Posted January 11, 2010 Sounds like some lame salt. I've never heard of one without instructions. Boxes tend to be small. Any chance you bought a size specific box? I've seen some boxed salt that is meant to mix up a specific batch, like add contents to 10g of water. Yeah. I was not impressed with the instructions. The instructions said "it is best to use reverse osmosis instead of tap water" then tried to sell their RS unit. The box is pretty big. It says it makes 150 gallons. It is a box of MW Marinemix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Posted January 12, 2010 Author Share Posted January 12, 2010 Okay, so I may need to have someone come by and show me how in the heck this mixing is supposed to work. I found that I needed 6 cups of salt to get the SG up to 1.025, however, it has been mixing for several hours now and there is still some precipitation in the water when I turn the powerheads off. Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddybluewater Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 How much water did you add the salt to? You should always mix the salt over night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill B Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 hmmm - that sounds very strange. While you should mix the salt overnite I believe this is to let the pH balance out, or something of the sort. Normally all my salt has melted within an hour or so. It would seem to me that unless you are just waay high in salt it should have melted. If you are using a hydrometer with the floating arm perhaps it just aint working. How much water and salt have you mixed. 6 cups for 10 gallons doesn't necessary sound ridiculously high, having never used that salt. It seems when I was using regular Instant Ocean it took around that much. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Posted January 12, 2010 Author Share Posted January 12, 2010 10 gallons of water. I am going to check it again in an hour or two. Should I keep it at a certain temperature? I have a heater in it set at 72. I use a refractometer to test the salinity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmanning Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Try keeping your water temperature around the upper 70's (77-79)....it seems to me that salts tend to dissolve better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Posted January 12, 2010 Author Share Posted January 12, 2010 Try keeping your water temperature around the upper 70's (77-79)....it seems to me that salts tend to dissolve better. Thanks, I'll try that. I'll crank the heater up to the 78 notch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Any reason why you chose this salt? Dave- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Posted January 12, 2010 Author Share Posted January 12, 2010 Any reason why you chose this salt? Dave- AquaTek did not carry Red Sea Pro. I talked to one of the folks there and they said that this salt was good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Did they elaborate on the reason why they recommend the salt? Just curious it seems to be off the beaten path, at least to me. Dave- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Posted January 12, 2010 Author Share Posted January 12, 2010 Did they elaborate on the reason why they recommend the salt? Just curious it seems to be off the beaten path, at least to me. Dave- He said it was the best salt. I asked about Red Sea Pro and he said that Red Sea Pro is a bad salt. I mentioned that was contrary to what I've heard here. He explained that HW has better levels of trace elements and is a better mixing salt. I'm new to mixing my own saltwater so it all seems plausible to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Might check this out. Synthetic Salt Mixes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+o0zarkawater Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Ive only had my 55gal for about 4 months, and the first couple months I was buying premixed saltwater from either Aquatek or RCA, depending on who I was closer to when I had my jugs in the car. When RCA had their December sale, I did some research and found that their 48# bucket of Red Sea coral pro for 39$ was a pretty good deal. Before I bought it, when I was at Aquatek I asked what salt they use, and he said Oceanic. I asked why, and if he had any knowledge of the red sea, and he said they use Oceanic because its just what they carry. He also mentioned that Red Sea salts were badly made and that's why they don't carry it. Doing research online, looking mainly at reviews on most of the sites that sell Red Sea, I decided it was worth it to buy at the 39$ price. Since then I have noticed a lot more Coraline growth in my tank. I am very pleased with the salt, and will most likely continue to purchase it in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 I've been using Instant Ocean forever and in R.O. it completely dissolves in just a minute or so using my hand and is clear in less than an hour. 4 oz. / gal will give a SG of about 1.020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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