Hi people.
Ive just bought a batch of red sea salt and the box had no instructions in it. Anyone know how I should go about mixing it ?.

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Remember people the solution to pollution is dilution... weekly water changes!

That depends on how much you're planning on mixing. With the mere 5 gallons that I do at a time, I just mix the salt to the desired sg (do you have a refractometer?). Then I keep it heated and aerated until I need to use it. Just be sure to add the salt little by little so you don't over salt...if that does happen though, have some fresh water handy to even it out. Takes practice, but it's really not that hard.

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Lisa

Usually 1/2 cup of salt to 1 gallon of RO/DI water will give you a SG of about 1.023 but you really need a refractometer to verify the SG before putting it into your system

archer you took the words out of my mouth

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It has become more than a hobby! My 29gal Dream Reef DIY Build

Thanks for replying.
I have a hydrometer. The problem I have is that my salt had no measuring cup or instructions. so I need a way to get a rough measurement per gallon or something. That way Ive got a better chance of not over salting..
Any ideas much appreciated.

Oh just to add in case it helps. The tank is all new and only has reverse osmosis water in it. It also has a sump with protein skimmer wet dry trickle filter heater etc.
So in total the system holds 28 gallons.

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Remember people the solution to pollution is dilution... weekly water changes!

also i would bring the water to the temp desired before addeing salt. levels differ with temp so to be safe bring temp as closse as you can before adding. about 1/2 cup per gallon is pretty close. but again get to the temp to be accurate

I add 1/2 cup per gal. and i like my tank at 2.025 I hear for a reef its the best. even though mine doesn't have corals right now, but I plan on getting some. just get a rough estimate of 1/2 cup of salt per gal mix it up. With a spoon mix it for a while then I reccemond waiting 24 hrs. b4 adding it to make sure its completely dissolved. And use the hydrometer to measure the SG(Specific Gravity) before adding it. I pore the water in a bucket add the salt and use a water pump for fish tank you can get them at any store like petsmart, etc. and put that in the water with the salt so it mixes it for me for a full 24 hours then use the pump and a tube that fits drain out some water then use the pump to pump the water back in, the way I do it is really easy and less spills. The pumps are about 20-40 bucks for a cheaper one, mine was 30 made by current usa

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Glad to be of any help-Austin.

I hope thats a misprint and its 1.025 and not 2.025 but I agree with everything else

oh yea its 1.025 yea deff. not 2.025, my bad, sorry

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Glad to be of any help-Austin.

Thanks guys.
I now have my system running at 77f as the little book that come with the hydrometer stats this is a good temperature to mix the salt. ''hydrometer and salt are made by red sea''. So Ive just put 1gallon of the water in a bucket with half a tea cup of salt and a power head. So I'll check it tonight to see what salinity I get

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Remember people the solution to pollution is dilution... weekly water changes!

OK so I checked the water in the bucket this morning and the water salinity was 1.0028ppm. So with that as a rough guide I started to add salt to the whole system.
several cups of salt later and I got a Reading of 1.023ppm .
I then done a test for PH 8.2, ALK 2.8, Nitrite 0.05ppm.
I will retest in a day or two, Would this be ok to add live rock as it currently stands ?. Thanks

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Remember people the solution to pollution is dilution... weekly water changes!

I would add the sand if you plan to have it and all the LR you plan on having in your tank and then sit back and let it cycle.

Excellent. Thank you all for your help.

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Remember people the solution to pollution is dilution... weekly water changes!