How much salt for a 20g

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Stratoquarius

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Oct 22, 2011
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Hi all, I have been looking online for a reliable way to know how much salt to use but its all over the place and my math is really really bad.

I have 20g currently with freshwater and I am wanting to go t 1.002 salinity (using a hydrometer) how much marine salt would I have to use?

Once I know this amoutn I can continue to use that same amount to go up by .002 each time.


Is there an easier way to do it, like a particular equation based on the amount of water? cause I am turning my 225 into brackish soon enough and will also want to get that to 1.002.

Sorry to ask so many questions, want to conmvert the 20g right now, but I was also wondering if one of you math genius's out there could tell me if there is an equation, and what I would have to add to my 225 (to save me having to make this post again when I convert that)

MANY thanks
Stratoquarius
 
really? nobody can tell me how much salt to add to a 20g tank to make .002 salinity? cause I'm getting the salt tomorrow and the tanks already fully cycled.
 
I didn't know that a hydrometer wouldn't be accurate enough. It's always recomended that you go from fresh to .002 in weekly chnages to acclimate both fish and your filter media to the new conditions. so I'm wondering why theres no way of knowing how much I should use. does the salt have instructions on the packaging? if so I thought we were supposed to trust Hydrometers more than the instructions
 
So I have instant ocean salt, and a hydrometer that accurately shows within 0.001 change.
I've read 2 tablespoons per gallon which is around 40 tablespoons to get .002 SG.

I actually want to mix it right now, so I'm kinda annoyed that nobody wants to help. you say you keep puffers in fresh water and everyone comes in telling you to put salt in, now that I want to do it nobody cares
 
Stratoquarius said:
So I have instant ocean salt, and a hydrometer that accurately shows within 0.001 change.
I've read 2 tablespoons per gallon which is around 40 tablespoons to get .002 SG.

I actually want to mix it right now, so I'm kinda annoyed that nobody wants to help. you say you keep puffers in fresh water and everyone comes in telling you to put salt in, now that I want to do it nobody cares
Click to expand...
Post date aside, that amount would give you 1.006 a gallon!NOT 1.002!One teaspoon per gallon for .001 increase.There are 3 teaspoons in a tablespoon.
 
Not my work copying from the puffer forum

Things you'll need:
1) Container at least 3/4 size the total volume of your aquarium.
2) Marine salt
3) Water
4) A measuring cup, plastic or glass preferably (metal corrodes)
5) Hydrometer or Refractometer (refractometer is more expensive but well worth it)
6) Heater
7) Power head of some sort

How to:
1) Fill the container with water equaling 50% of your tank volume
2) Slowly add salt, you have to experiment with how much to add. Each salt manufacturer is different and even then, there is a difference between batches from the same manufacturer.
3) Add heater. Make sure it is one that can be submerged (don't ask how I found this out because I won't tell!)
4) Submerge power head and turn it on (again, read end note of number 3)
5) Make sure all the salt is dissolved in the container. If you see some sitting on the bottom, give it a good stir and check back in a while.
6) Once you do not see any salt in standing on the bottom of the container, let the water mix for a few hours.
7) Check SG and adjust accordingly.
Let the water mix over night to make sure all the salt has dissolved.
9) Do a 50% water change. Replace what you took out with what you mixed and viola' brackish water!

The trick is to not raise things more than .002 per week. So, based on a 50% water change, the SG of the first batch of water you mix should be 1.004. Now the question is what is the next one and how do you figure it out? I use the formula:

(a+b)/2=c.
a= your current SG
b= what you need your next mix to be
c= your target SG


This part explains the stuff above ^ and is a useful table remember based on 50% wc's!
So if your tank is at 1.002 and you want to raise to 1.004 the equation should look like this: (1.002+b)/2=1.004
I'll let you do the math.....

So, on the last post on mixing brackish water I laid out some math. I got a few questions on the math so I decided to solve it for all the salt mixes, based on 50% water changes, to raise the SG of a tank by .002. It didn't want to format correctly here and I just want to get it posted so bear with me until I get the formatting right (make it look better).
Start: Add: Desired Result:
1.000+ 1.004= 1.002
1.002+ 1.006= 1.004
1.004+ 1.008= 1.006
1.006+ 1.010= 1.008
1.008+ 1.012= 1.010
1.010+ 1.014= 1.012
1.012+ 1.016= 1.014
1.014+ 1.018= 1.016
1.016+ 1.020= 1.018
1.018+ 1.022= 1.020
1.020+ 1.024= 1.022
1.022+ 1.026= 1.024
 
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