Mixing salt ?

do you have a refractometer?
I usually do about 12 cups for 30 gallons as a starting point then add salt as needed to bring it up.
 
.5 cups per gallon, is the baseline to get in the general area. So for 10g, about 5 cups. However, you definitely need a tool to measure salinity, either via Specific Gravity (like a swing arm or hydrometer) or to measure Parts Per Thousand (a refractometer is preferred) to get a reading of 35ppt.

Assuming this is a reef tank and not a fish only system. For reefs, the goal is 1.026sg or 35ppt.

And just in case, remember that any water evaporated is replaced with fresh water (usually RO or RO/DI water), not more saltwater. Otherwise the salinity will continue to rise to unhealthy levels.
 
id go with marcs half cup, thats about what i use although i have started doing it by weight. be lucky you are only doing 10 gallons, i just got done taking roughly 35 cups of salt to mix my water...ugh!
 
@bpseoe wrote:
I USE 4 CUPS OF INSTANT OCEAN FOR EVERY 5 GALLONS AND IT PUTS IT 1.025 said:
I doubt that is correct. Better verify your numbers. Or join our club ASAP so you can come to the water chemistry meeting this Saturday (follow the link about Greg Hiller in my signature line)
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Marc i thought the same thing. i thought that 4 cups into 5 gallons would of put me at 1.028 or somewhere in that range. after trying the same thing four seperate times and using a refractometer i got the same results for every single batch. as a matter of fact i did 10 gallons this morning and poured 8 cups and guess what my readings were..... YUP 1.025!
 
wow, sounds like its time to either calibrate your refractometer or give up on instant ocean, lol

and it is a refractometer not a hydrometer right?
 
If it is a refractometer, be sure to calibrate it with 35ppt solution, not RO or distilled water.

Even I have doubts from time to time. I just took some water I'd tested at home, and had Frank measure it with his refractometer just to verify. He also had some calibration solution so he verified that it was accurate at the same time.
 
well like i said before i didnt believe it either. i wasnt to convinced so i took a sample to 2 different LFS and got the same reults with their refractometers. i dont use hydrometers as they are inaccurate. maybe its just the Instant Ocean.
 
@derek4real wrote:
If you dont know already. Make sure you mix salt into water and not water into salt. said:
This may be a dumb question, but what is the reasoning behind this thought ?
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it just wont dissolve properly otherwise and you will probably see visible grains still not dissolved

also, make sure you take 15 minutes to do the basic water tests on new salt water, salt has known to be messed up before
 
If you add water on top of dry salt, the precipitation will be significant because of the super high salinity that occurs at first. Instead, add the salt to the full volume of water.
 
top off water should be RO/Di not salt. As the water evaporates it leaves most of the salt behind. You should check your tank salintity every once in awhile too just to make sure it says in the range you want.
 
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