How many cups of salt?

[newreef06]

How much of salt do I add for a 55 gallon tank. Im going to mix the salt right in the tank.

Scott

 

[examiner]

As a rule, 1/2 cup per gallon...so you are looking at 28 or so cups. But you are going to put some rock in there I assume? That'll lessen your total gallons.

That'll give you a SG in the .021 - .023 range, if you are running a reef you may want to bump that up to 1.025.

Start w/ 1/2 cup per gallon, bring it to temperature, test, and adjust as necessary. Don't even try this hobby without some means of measuring your SG, preferably a refractometer.

 

[collective21]

I use oceanic salt it uses 21/2 cups per 5 gallons so for a 55 gallon you would use 27.5 cups. Unless of course you have a sump. I can't speak for any other salt so its best to read directions.

 

[newreef06]

Is that a regular meassuring cup. That you would use baking or is it a drinking cup. I know these questions might spund dumb. But Im brand new to the hobby

Scott

 

[collective21]

It is a regular pyrex measuring cup that is used for baking. Make it easy and get yourself a bigger one that measures 4 cups.

 

[newreef06]

Thanks. Thats a great idea collective 21. You guys have been a real help in the forums. I jus signed up yesterday

 

[Bathel]

Re: How many cups of salt?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6943709#post6943709 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by newreef06
How much of salt do I add for a 55 gallon tank. Im going to mix the salt right in the tank.

Scott

As stated above .... make sure you subtract gallons of water your tank will hold due to your sand bed and live rock and how full you fill your tank.

You can start adding salt and then check the levels as you get close.

 

[Evergreen]

Also be careful- the tank is called a 40gallon or a 50 gallon etc. "nominally"-- meaning it is not an exact numnber of gallons. It is roughtly rounded up or down for convenience's sake. it does not necasarily hold the same amount of water as the gallon # that the tank is called. So you might want to measure not only the amount of salt going in, but the water too!

 

[Sk8r]

Mix 'short,', ie, with less salt than you will need. This is better than having too much salt at first. You can always add. Taking the level down is harder.
Also---dump your salt into a bowl first, an ordinary mixing bowl. There's nothing worse than being at cup number 19 in a sequence of 22 and a half and forgetting what number you just added. If it's in a bowl, you can refigure it. [Which is why I like to mix it 5 gal at a time]. Good luck to you.

 

[Subrafta]

As Sk8r said, start low. I go with 1/2 cup per gallon (i.e. 2 cups for a 4 gallon batch in a 5 gallon white bucket) and then adjust up to the specific gravity I want (I use 1.025) about 1/4 cup or less at a time. Give teh salt time to mix and disolve before you measure (I use a spare powerhead).

A refractometer will be of great help, and much easier to use than a hydrometer, when you're doing this testing. Here's one from Premium Aquatics http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...duct_Code=REFRACT-HD&Category_Code=Hydrometer

Premium Aquatics, Marine Depot, and Drs Foster & Smith have refractometers in the $40-60 range, sometimes with one on sale for $35. I have the $45 "blue" one from PA.

John

 

[piranhaking]

if you mix your water in buckets, bowls, etc. before you add it to the tank you wont have to worry about adjusting for the ammount displaced by rock, or differences from actual tank size compared to advertised volume.