<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11605240#post11605240 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Stuart60611
I have a 34 gallon tank, and I have been using Catalina Real Sea Water sold by Petco for over 1 year. This is real sea water which is filtered and then sold. It is used by many public aquariums. Since I switched to this water, my tank has been much cleaner and have noticed a significant improvment in my corals. It costs $12 for 5 gallons. With your small tank, I would suggest you consider this option b/c it will not cost you much to do water changes. Also, there is the obvious cost savings with not having to buy salt, and the convenience of not having to mix salt water. Moreover, there is the additional benefit of your water parameters being maintained at a much more constant level because whenever we mix our own water it is inevitable that the new water varies in some degree from the old water (i.e, salinity, PH, etc). These variances can be much more problematic in a small system b/c when you do a water change on a small water volume the new water will have a greater impact on water parameters.