Mixing It Up

[Seafeather]

Hello reefers!

A question for those with experience with mixing your own saltwater for larger tanks.

We just moved and we're getting a 55 gallon tank and the intention is to make it a salt tank. The problem is: we live nowhere near any sort of LFS apart from Petco, and i used to get my saltwater from my LFS before we moved. So now im looking into either making multiple 1.5 hour long trips to fill up a 55 gallon tank OR learning to mix my own saltwater. I'm choosing the latter.

When mixing the saltwater, do I need to have a container large enough to mix up 55 gallons whole? Or can i do a concentrated 5 gallon and dump it into the tank with only 50 gallons in it?

Thank you! If I need to clarify anything let me know and any advice would be appreciated!

 

[JTP424]

If your tank is empty, you can mix the saltwater in the tank. i.e. either concentrate or straight salt!
For your water changes etc you'll want to have it premixed.

 

[Seafeather]

If your tank is empty, you can mix the saltwater in the tank. i.e. either concentrate or straight salt!
For your water changes etc you'll want to have it premixed.

Oh thats wonderful! Completely empty though right? And i can just scoop in the sand/rocks after its salinated correctly to avoid killing any beneficial bacteria?

 

[JTP424]

Yup shouldn't be any issue, when putting in sand make sure to lower it to the bottom before dumping
otherwise you end up with an even cloudier mess!