Making saltwater

[FrostyWriter021]

hello, I have owned a reef tank for a little over a year and have always bought premixed. I have decided I wanted to make it myself and I bought a container of aquavitro salt. Im just curious what’s the best ways to make it and the container just says 1/2 a cup for every gallon and mix until not murky.

 

[Aumick]

Did you have your water tested ? Do you have a R/O system. Or do you plan on using tap water? I think you really need to do some research. It's more than just buying a container of salt.

 

[Homebrewer]

5 gallon bucket of RO/DI, add 2.5 cups of salt, take an old power head and drop it in, let it run overnight. Voila!

 

[FrostyWriter021]

5 gallon bucket of RO/DI, add 2.5 cups of salt, take an old power head and drop it in, let it run overnight. Voila!

It doesn’t say what salinity to check for do I have to heat the water and check it as I mix it?

 

[FrostyWriter021]

Did you have your water tested ? Do you have a R/O system. Or do you plan on using tap water? I think you really need to do some research. It's more than just buying a container of salt.

I have a rodi water system

 

[1112-425XL]

I make about 30g every 10 days in a brute trash can. I use a sicce syncra 5 pump, a heater and approximately 1/2 cup salt per gallon of rodi water. I measure salinity with the high precision hydrometer to 1.026.

 

[Peace River]

What size tank do you have and how much saltwater do you plan to mix at a time?

 

[Homebrewer]

It doesn’t say what salinity to check for do I have to heat the water and check it as I mix

If it is saying 1/2 cup per 1gal, that usually is a starting point for a 1.026 SG. So you can mix and check the SG to see if it matches your target, and adjust accordingly. As far as heat, yes, to the extent that you should try and match your tank temperature.

 

[FrostyWriter021]

What size tank do you have and how much saltwater do you plan to mix at a time?

I have the fluval evo 13.5 gallon and I change 2 gallons every week

 

[Peace River]

I have the fluval evo 13.5 gallon and I change 2 gallons every week

One approach is to mix the salt and RO water in a 5-gallon bucket and a small pump to 1.026 specific gravity. As others have suggested, the water should be a comparable temperature to the tank water when you do the water change. Additionally, make sure that you have a quality meter/device to check the salinity.

 

[ColoredRock]

use rodi...

Look at the directions for this salt mix here.

aquavitro - salinity