Beginner to saltwater but not the hobby

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Your grocery store probably has three types in gallon jugs - spring water, drinking water, and distilled water. The one labeled "drinking water" is RO. I would also keep an eye on Bulk Reef Supply on Black Friday, you should be able to pick up one of their basic RO systems for a good discount. I personally have never used grocery store or lfs water, but have been using an RO system from the start. It has been well worth it and didn't take long to pay for itself.
 
bmpauley said:
Looks like my first 10 gallon salt tank looks good!! :)


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Thanks man! I thought this would be way way harder to even think about trying.i mean it is going to be a challenge but not as horrible of a challenge as I once thought. :D

Riley S said:
Your grocery store probably has three types in gallon jugs - spring water, drinking water, and distilled water. The one labeled "drinking water" is RO. I would also keep an eye on Bulk Reef Supply on Black Friday, you should be able to pick up one of their basic RO systems for a good discount. I personally have never used grocery store or lfs water, but have been using an RO system from the start. It has been well worth it and didn't take long to pay for itself.
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Thanks I would have never known about using that water ! :D


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Is my salt too high??

uploadfromtaptalk1414894680175.jpg
It was higher but I've added in the RO water to lower it to what the pic shows

Here is the water I'm using is it safe?
uploadfromtaptalk1414894731336.jpg

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Thekid12 said:
What is the salinity out of the box?


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The cheap petco water didn't say anywhere on the box the salinity. It just said real ocean water. I did myself a favor and just got a box of instant ocean. I plan to add in the water shown above for top offs and a mix of that water shown above and instant ocean for water changes. Since the tank is not established how long should I wait to do the first WC just a week still? I plan to do a 20% once a week once the tank is established and has been running a while.

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that_fish_Guy said:
The cheap petco water didn't say anywhere on the box the salinity. It just said real ocean water. I did myself a favor and just got a box of instant ocean. I plan to add in the water shown above for top offs and a mix of that water shown above and instant ocean for water changes. Since the tank is not established how long should I wait to do the first WC just a week still? I plan to do a 20% once a week once the tank is established and has been running a while.

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I think I waited 2-3 weeks for the first tanks I did, but it's been a while.

I would be careful with the IO salt. It clumps pretty bad if exposed to moisture.


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Never used a salt mix that didn't clump with moisture!

I don't recomend the water changes while you are cycling the tank. Once ammonia gets back to zero, start changes, and 10% a week should be fine.

Make sure you rinse that hydrometer out with fresh water really well after use, they are notorious for getting dried salt making them stick and give you a bad reading.

I would highly recommend saving for a RODI unit so you know what is going into your tank. I have seen some pretty high TDS water sold form LFS around here.
 
muttley000 said:
Never used a salt mix that didn't clump with moisture!

I don't recomend the water changes while you are cycling the tank. Once ammonia gets back to zero, start changes, and 10% a week should be fine.

Make sure you rinse that hydrometer out with fresh water really well after use, they are notorious for getting dried salt making them stick and give you a bad reading.

I would highly recommend saving for a RODI unit so you know what is going into your tank. I have seen some pretty high TDS water sold form LFS around here.
Click to expand...

It is worse then others.

I am going to add this as well from reef central- Clumped salt has lost its buffering capacity and may cause alkalinity/stability problems in your alk/cal/magnesium relationship. Don't use it in a reef, particularly.

Salt mixes vary in purpose. Oceanic, for instance, is a good reef salt, with a higher calcium level.



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