Mixing saltwater

[Aaron88]

So I’m using RedSea coral pro and the only directions I can find say to mix at least 500 g / 12oz of salt in RO water. If I’m reading that right that 500 gallons to 12 weighted ounces of water? Please help. What’s the current ratio. I don’t want to add to much salt and have to pay a major balancing act at the end and end up with way to much water that I can’t hold.

 

[TheEngineer]

That’s grams :)

500 grams per 12 oz of water. I find it takes about one cup of salt per 5 gallons of water. I always add a little less and then test to verify.

 

[Aaron88]

That’s what I figured but added 1.1 pounds of salt to 12 fl oz of water? That seems extremely wrong.

 

[TheEngineer]

Oh my. That sounds like you’d wind up with a paste.

 

[Aaron88]

Yeah and my saltwater reader broke and can’t buy one until the LFS opens at noon my time. And this is my 1st time mixing. On top of that my QT tank ammonia alert just spiked up so I need to make a change like now.

 

[Aaron88]

Do you use RedSea Coral Pro?

 

[TheEngineer]

Yes, I do. You need a way to verify the salinity of your water. So don’t add any water until you’ve gotten a tester.

Do you have Prime? You can add some to reduce the toxicity of the ammonia.

 

[Aaron88]

I make my own RO/DI

 

[dowsetts101]

I use Red Sea salt at 38.2 grams per litre to get an SG of 1.025

Found that ratio on a forum somewhere so started with that, and seems to work for me.

 

[Tautog]

Refractors are great if calaibrated correctly. But you need back up. Buy a Hydrometer, there cheap but fragile, but they work. I have two, a small one stays in the sump, and the large, 12” long, I use for mixing. As far as mixing, get a large cup and a 5 gal bucket with R/O 3/4 full. Add a cup or 2 of salt and test salinity. Keep adding and remember how much you’re adding until the salinity is 1.026. Don’t use the salinity test kit with the floating arm, they don’t work well and aren’t consistent.
Remember ***** add salt a little at a time, if you get too salty you’ll need to add a bunch of water. Easy on the salt!

 

[Lloyd Williams]

So I’m using RedSea coral pro and the only directions I can find say to mix at least 500 g / 12oz of salt in RO water. If I’m reading that right that 500 gallons to 12 weighted ounces of water? Please help. What’s the current ratio. I don’t want to add to much salt and have to pay a major balancing act at the end and end up with way to much water that I can’t hold.

I just asked this same question on Facebook. I was told use .5 cup per gallon. Looks to be correct. 30 gallons roughly 15 cups

 

[WVNed]

I just asked this same question on Facebook. I was told use .5 cup per gallon. Looks to be correct. 30 gallons roughly 15 cups

Unfortunately every kitchen 1/2 cup is not the same. This is how I mix mine but I always have to add some at the end. It is not an exact enough measure to mix and use without some way of testing it.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

The directions are not very clear, but what they likely mean is 500 grams of salt mix when measured by weight OR 12 fluid ounces of salt mix when measured by volume. If you take a 16 oz measuring cup and fill it to the 12oz mark, you will likely discover that the salt mix weighs about 500g. There's no way the directions mean to mix 500g of salt into 12 fluid ounces of water.

For reference, I use a bag of Instant Ocean designed to make 50 gallons. The bag weighs 6.8kg. If this bag makes a full 50 gallons, the amount of salt per gallon is about 136g.