how much salt per gallon do you put in water for saltwater tank?

Question

I have a 20 gallon tank need to know how much salt

Answer 1

this will depend on the type of artifical salt that you are using all of the manufactors will have a grid that will state how much you will need. Please tell me that you are not using table salt. You will need to get the specific gravity of the water to 1.021. any further questions can be directed to [e-mail]

Answer 2

It's not that simple! Go to "About.com" and follow their links to setting up and maintaining a saltwater (marine) aquarium. You need to use special marine salt and test salinity daily. A good dollar figure for a marine start up is around $500. That includes tank, special lighting, filter, protein skimmer, etc.

BTW, a 20 gallon tank is way too small for a "beginner" to try to maintain as a saltwater tank. Water quality goes bad really quickly in a small marine tank.

If you are just starting out, you need to get at least a 55 gallon tank. That way, things take a little time to go bad and kill all your fish. Like a day or two instead of hours....

Answer 3

You need to do some research before you even fill the tank with water. Start up costs for a saltwater tank really vary depending on whether you are going to use live rock, or set up a reef tank. It can run anywhere from $500 to $5000 or more. Saltwater tanks are awesome to have, but you have to be much more vigilant in the beginning with them. Once they are well established they are fairly easy to care for. www.reefcentral.com is a great place to do research for your tank.

Good Luck.

Answer 4

If you get a hydrometer, most saltwater is at a specific gravity of 1.024. Freshwater is 1.000. Adding 2 tablespoons of salt per 5 gallons didn't even move the needle for me. I had to add a load of salt to even get it to move. To make saltwater, you basically have to dump in a whole bag of salt.

I had to put in 2.5 cups to get my 10-gallon brackish tank to 1.013 (about 50% saltwater), so SuperMolly could live out her golden years in semi-health.

If you add a puny amount of salt like that, you certainly don't have anywhere near saltwater in your tank. That's not even close to a brackish tank, much less saltwater. It is good for livebearers that aren't brackish, though.

Answer 5

You need to get a saltwater measurer and depending on what you are going to put in it - you should maintain it at a certain level - just ask the guy at a pet store who knows something about saltwater tanks...

Whatever you are looking to buy, save yourself a ton of money and order from these 2 sites - I have ordered from both myself and recommend them highly

www.aquacon.com - great customer service, good deals.
www.saltwaterfish.com - not so great - but incredible deals.

for supplies go to www.bigalsonline.com it doesn't get much cheaper on high quality goods!

Answer 6

ok as i was researching this to help you out, i found a very neat website all about setting up saltwater aquariums, and as an added bonus it plays some relaxing aquarium music as you scroll through please check it out!

http://user.aol.com/cebrezzie/aquarium/page10aa.htm

As i was reading this i found a link about setting up a coral reef aquarium, now i want to do that!!!!!