Red Sea salt mix

Mike628 · Mar 10, 2016

So I just ordered Red Sea salt mix, and it got here. I didnt do a water change last week because I ran out of salt. Red Sea measures in ppt instead of ppm. I was wondering how much salt needs to be mixed to get my water to 1.025 ppm. Thank you in advance for the help!!!

zwulfke · Mar 10, 2016

its a 1/2 cup to 1 gallon to get 1.022 i usually do that and add slowly like a 1/4 cup to my 5 gall until i hit it

Mike628 · Mar 10, 2016

zwulfke said:
its a 1/2 cup to 1 gallon to get 1.022 i usually do that and add slowly like a 1/4 cup to my 5 gall until i hit it

I mix in 5 gallon buckets from home depot. So a little under 2 1/2 cups should get 1.025?

zwulfke · Mar 10, 2016

should be good i drew a line to fill too and for me 2 1/2 then i have to add like 1/4 cup or so to reach .25

dbl · Mar 10, 2016

I use the Red Sea Pro salt and actually weigh the salt with a kitchen scale. 1.65 lbs/5 gallons of water gets you 1.026.

Mike628 · Mar 10, 2016

dbl said:
I use the Red Sea Pro salt and actually weigh the salt with a kitchen scale. 1.65 lbs/5 gallons of water gets you 1.026.

Thats what I have is the pro salt. I should have been more specific. I dont have a kitchen scale. How many cups is that?

dbl · Mar 10, 2016

Mike628 said:
Thats what I have is the pro salt. I should have been more specific. I dont have a kitchen scale. How many cups is that?

I wish I could tell you, but I honestly don't know exactly how many cups it is. I have always weighed it. We happen to have a kitchen scale so I just started doing it that way.

EDIT: I will check this evening and get back to you.

Mike628 · Mar 10, 2016

dbl said:
I wish I could tell you, but I honestly don't know exactly how many cups it is. I have always weighed it. We happen to have a kitchen scale so I just started doing it that way.

Thank you man. I will just have to experiment and see what happens

jsker · Mar 10, 2016

Mike628 said:
I mix in 5 gallon buckets from home depot. So a little under 2 1/2 cups should get 1.025?

I was using 5 cups to get to 1.025.

Oh sorry, I am glad you questioned the amounts. 5 half cups or 2.5 cups

Mike628 · Mar 10, 2016

jsker said:
I was using 5 cups to get to 1.025.

Are you using a hydrometer or refractometer? Thats a lot of salt. With instant ocean I mixed about 2 1/2 cups to get 1.025. I know they are different salts but 5 cups is a lot

dbl · Mar 10, 2016

This is 1.65 lbs. Looks like 2 1/2 cups to me. This amount for each 5 gallons should yield 1.026.

Mike628 · Mar 10, 2016

dbl said:
This is 1.65 lbs. Looks like 2 1/2 cups to me. This amount for each 5 gallons should yield 1.026.

Well I mix 4 gallons. 5 gallons would spill over, so maybe 2 1/4?

dbl · Mar 10, 2016

jsker said:
I was using 5 cups to get to 1.025.

Mike628 said:
...Thats a lot of salt...I know they are different salts but 5 cups is a lot

I would have to agree here. Something doesn't sound right, unless of course you're making 10 gallons of water with that 5 cups.

dbl · Mar 10, 2016

Mike628 said:
Well I mix 4 gallons. 5 gallons would spill over, so maybe 2 1/4?

2 cups should get you there. 2.5 cups divided by 5 gives you a half cup per gallon. So 4 gallons would be 2 cups.

At least that's how I figure it!

Mike628 · Mar 10, 2016

dbl said:
2 cups should get you there. 2.5 cups divided by 5 gives you a half cup per gallon. So 4 gallons would be 2 cups.

At least that's how I figure it!

I agree. I will mix it and if its not 1.025 I will add just a tad bit more.

Reduck · Mar 10, 2016

Yup, half a cup per gallon usually gets me to 1.025 then a sprinkle more to 1.026.
Mix the RSCP dry salt well prior to using it. Contents may settle and you may see unnormal spikes. Just loosen the bag up and roll it around a bit.

Mike628 · Mar 10, 2016

Reduck said:
Yup, half a cup per gallon usually gets me to 1.025 then a sprinkle more to 1.026.
Mix the RSCP dry salt well prior to using it. Contents may settle and you may see unnormal spikes. Just loosen the bag up and roll it around a bit.

Will do. Someone else told me to do the same thing.

jsker · Mar 10, 2016

Mike628 said:
Are you using a hydrometer or refractometer? Thats a lot of salt. With instant ocean I mixed about 2 1/2 cups to get 1.025. I know they are different salts but 5 cups is a lot

My mistake 2.5 cups not 5 cups

Mike628 · Mar 10, 2016

jsker said:
My mistake 2.5 cups not 5 cups

Cool man thank you. I mixed 2 1/2 cups and got 1.025.

jsker · Mar 10, 2016

Mike628 said:
Cool man thank you. I mixed 2 1/2 cups and got 1.025.

Again sorry about that. On another note I am messing with a different salt right now and it is 3 cups. So do not base salinity on measure or weight, always test. It would be great if the different companies that produce aquarium salts would provide measuring cups with there brands. It would make it so much easier