Basically because if you just add salt, it's very concentrated and dissolves into the water, and that water becomes very concentrated with salt, and that's not good. If you dilute it, it's much less concentrated, and it's more safe.
so if u apply the right amount of salt for ur tank without diluting it wouldnt it be the same thing as diluting the right amount of salt into water before adding it into ur tank??im confused on how it would matter if it was the right amount i mean does it matter where it dissolves?
For my tanks in the initial set up I just dump the salt in, but there are no fish in the water. during water changes I dilute the salt in a cpl of buckets of water. I just feel better if the salt is be dissolved. Just my .02.
the salt dissolves in a matter of minutes so it's not a big deal. i don't dilute it cause adding water to the tank (with dissolved salt) also calls for conditioning that water. just throw the salt in. if you're really paranoid, just try not to throw a pile of it onto a sleeping fish.
I stopped using salt about a year ago but when I did I dumped it directly in the tank. When I put it in I usually aimed for a fish to dump the salt on. I did that for about three years and never had a problem.