Salinity increase and decrease

[KimNotKardashian]

Hi yal!! Newbie idiot at your service.

I have a couple of questions that have come about while I am mixing up my very first batch of water using the Red Sea salt.

After mixing for a few hours and bringing the temperature up believe my first scale that I used to measure out my salt to mix up my first batch of 25 gallons was wrong. I checked the salinity and it was lower than my target. RIP to that scale and I bought a new one.

Obviously I need more salt but is there a more scientific way to do this? I’m tempted to free sprinkle salt in like I’m seasoning food but have the feeling there must be a better way of measuring out additional salt. Also, what if the opposite happens and I need more water? Any way of calculating the extra amount needed?

Next idiot question that I just wondered for my own sake. How much does temperature affect the salinity? My refractometer has the temperature on it so it leads me to believe it is important. I was making sure to measure my salinity at 77 like the box said.

Almost ready to fill this bad boy up after months of planning and am super stoked!!

 

[Uncle99]

I never heat the water, assuming your doing 10%-20% water change that’s not going to affect temp much, for me, it drops maybe 1 degree. I use Red Sea as well.

I sprinkle salt in like you said to raise and put rodi in to lower.
You’ll get really good at that.

So I have learned that for the same water volume, I need 8 cups (my cup not an exact cup) to make 20 ish gallons, then I just tweak it as above.

You are not an idiot. These are valid questions.
Season that water girl, all that counts is your on target.
Had to LOL the seasoning thing, exactly what I do for the last 30 years or so.

 

[Poseidon03]

I always gestimate and then use this to adjust. I always have to add more salt than what the salt says to add. I mix in 60 gal batches.

Direct Salt Addition Calculator

Aquarium calculator; Estimate the amount of solid salt required to raise salinity to a target level.

www.hamzasreef.com

 

[jda]

You can just dump more in there by the cup, sprinkle, quart or whatever. I wait overnight to check the specific gravity again. Temperature does matter, but not that much... don't worry about this.

Measure salt by volume, not weight. Salt exposed to air can get heavier.

Salt does mix better with cold water, so I always wait to heat the water.

I hope that that you are measuring with a refractometer or other rock-solid device. Some hydrometers and other things are not all that accurate.