water change water salinity.....and chem.......picture

[nobody]

ok so i have 6 gallons in a rubbermaid bin right now with an air stone..........i put 3 cups of salt in ...........an i am low on salinity............now i do not have a heater in it ..........because i only have one..........but i thought the deep six hydrometer does not need to be at a specific temp............i was planning on taking the heater out of my sump before i put the new water in because it should only take like what 5 min to heat up 6 gallons with a 250watt heater...........also does any add chem...........like buffer with the water...........i was always under the impression the all you need is in the salt........oh and yes i have a lid

[fchidsey]

how many degree diff? I can't imagine a great change in salinity for a 5 degree temp change?

[xaoss23]

http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_...ter.asp?CartId=

[fchidsey]

OK but does up to 5 degrees change salinity that much? I kind of find it hard to belive.

[jenajet]

I use oceanic which is also supposed to use 3 cups salt to 6 gallons and my salinity runs about 1.022 so I began adding 1 more cup of salt and salinity checks at between 1.024 and 1.025. I even had the lfs recheck both water mixes and came up with same measures so I just started adding the extra cup of salt.

[whatevva]

With Oceanic salt, I'd be looking at the Alkalinity also. You'll probably need to raise it before you add it(the water) to the tank.

[skeety]

Null issue, I think.

You're doing the water change out of your sump, right?

Isn't that where you have the heater?

AFter you put the new water in the sump...just let it sit in there for 15 minutes before turning back on your return pump. The heater will heat it up in the sump.

As far as adding anything to the SW...depends on the mix you use.

it's early on now...forget how many critters (if any) you have in the tank. But for THIS water change, you could probably get away with adding nothing.

But one thing you'd need to add to your to-do list, is to mix up some SW, wait a day, and then test it for various things (pH, Ca, Alk, Mg). Find out which values aren't quite where you're gonna want them in your tank, and add bufffer/suppliments to get them where you want them. (Make sure you keep track of how much stuff you added, and to what volume of water).

First time's a pain...but after that, you just use math to determine how much of each you'd add next time around. Then take plastic cups, measure out that amount, and using a perm marker, mark the outside of the cup. Next time, you just fill to the line, and dump it in!