# mixing salt for tank start up



## mike87 (Jan 28, 2012)

looking for the easyist way to fill my new marine tank do i

fill tank up 3/4 with ro water bring up to temp 25 then add salt and mix in tank 

or 

keep filling 5 gallon jugs and add slowly(dont fancy this option)

any advice welcome my ears are open for any info of this fantastic hobbie

i have been keeping fw tanks for many years and feel it time to make the leap into sw. so the new part for me is mixing salt which seems pretty easy


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

For your first time, you can fill the tank and mix it all at once, no problem there. But after that, you'll need a container to do it, as the salt mix should set for 24hrs before using.


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## mike87 (Jan 28, 2012)

Reefing Madness said:


> For your first time, you can fill the tank and mix it all at once, no problem there. But after that, you'll need a container to do it, as the salt mix should set for 24hrs before
> 
> yeah well that ul make it easyer for me. i already have an bucket for the mixes for weekly water changes


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## lkfishy (May 13, 2012)

So if I need to top off the water in my tank, I should mix the water and let it sit for 24 hours before adding it to the tank?


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

lkfishy said:


> So if I need to top off the water in my tank, I should mix the water and let it sit for 24 hours before adding it to the tank?


No. You do not add salt to top offs. When water evaporates it does not carry salt with it, it leaves everything behind. If you were to add salt to your top offs, it would not take long for your salinity to go through the roof.


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## lkfishy (May 13, 2012)

Ok, I should have explained... the guy at my lfs said that raising the salinity a little in my tank would not be a bad idea, because the specific gravity was at 1.019. So if I wanted to raise it a little by topping off my tank (there is room for 1-2 inches of water) Do I mix the water to a slightly higher specific gravity, let it sit, then slowly add it?


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Yes, thats the way it should be done.


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