The Puffer Forum

How many cups of salt should I add to achieve .002 salinity? I have a 29 gallon tank and im using Oceanic Natural Salt Mix.

It depends too much on the brand and even batch of salt to give a real rule of thumb. Only way to know is to check with a refractometer when it has dissolved.

So if mixing in a 2.5 gallon bucket, what should my goal be for that salinity? Because it is going to be so diluted once it goes into the 29 that mixing it to the .002 would be pointless in the 2.5.

I'm not sure.

This is exactly why I don't do it this way.

I use 3g containers for my replacement water. Right now I add 15 tablespoons to the container. So I'm at 5 tablespoons per gallon.

When I first started, I only used 1 tablespoon per 3 gallons and increased by one tablespoon every couple weeks or. Over time this got me to where I wanted to be.

I check the salinity of my tank every couple weeks to make sure it isn't out of whack. I use fresh water to top off, unless I'm trying to raise the salinity a bit, in whcih case I will use the brackish water to top off evaporation.

That's how I do it, it's easy, and it works well, and best of all, no math other than counting and remembering is required!

Haha sounds good. Well I just invested in a hydrometer, and when funds allow I will get a refractometer. I will be toying with it a little before work I guess.

Messing with calculations gets awfully confusing down the road. I tried doing that first, but I now do what Phaedrus does.

A 2.5 gallon bucket is like a 8.6% percent water change, we will just say 10% for ease of numbers and that your tank is 30g for example. I believe your sailinty of your bucket would be 0.02 in order to acheive your 0.002 raise. Dont hold me on that though.

Look on ebay for hydrometers, you can get them pretty cheap

But a 29 gallon tank really only holds 25 or so gallons, less with decor and substrate, so you have to be careful there too.

So its often more safe to just do it slow, a little at a time when raising it instead of worrying about hitting that .002 exactly. Raising it less won't hurt, but raising it more will hurt.

Once you are at your goal salinity its a lot easier.

Right on, mixed it into my bucket, and after work I added the mixture into my tank. It disolved very fast since i mixed it in warmer water. My tank is now sitting at roughly 1.002. Next week with the water change I will add the same mixture of salt, which should about double the salinity. My goal is 1.008 for now. When he grows another inch or so I will go higher. As of now my GSP is only 1.25-1.5 inches(w/o tail)