Too much salt?

W

westies

AC Members
Mar 5, 2006
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Hi,

I've kept a freshwater tank for several years, but recently made the switch to marine. I got my tank yesterday, and set it up today, but I think I must have added too much salt, as the water is still cloudy (very!) and is not appearing to dissipate (it's been 7 hours or so since I added the salt). Anyways...I added 1.4 lb/5 gallons (I have a 20 gallon, so 4 times that), which is what was recommended on the back of the bag of salt, so I don't really know what could be wrong.

I know now, based on what I've read on the internet, that I should have mixed the salt with the water AND then added it, but I did add the salt in stages (1.4 lb per every 5 gallon I put in) so I don't really see the problem.

Any help/info./advice would be very much appreciated!!!
Thanks.

Kate
 
5.6 lbs of salt?! umm.... I think Instant Ocean is like a cup for every 5gl. what kind of salt are you useing?
 
Get a hydrometer or better, a refractometer. I hope you don't have anything in there yet. If you're mixing salt with the tank water, you'll burn their gills.

Kim
 
HI,

Thanks for replying. I have Red Sea Salt. It says 1.4 lb per 5 US gallon. or 1 kg/30 L.

No, I certainly don't have any fish in the tank (or anything alive). I'm hoping to get them for next weekend, however, so I would like to clear this up (literally). Re: the hydrometer--I do have one, but as the water is murky, I don't honestly know if it will tell me anything I don't already know.
 
The aquarium store told me it would be ready in a week...it's only a 20 gallon so I really did not think I would have to wait so long...does it really take 4-6 weeks for salt to dissolve???
 
You're not waiting for the salt to dissolve, you're waiting for the tank to enter a nitrogen cycle.

Fish waste (excess food, poop) quickly turns to ammonia in an aquarium - ammonia is highly toxic and even 0.25 ppm is enough to kill many fish.

Lucky fact #1, common bacteria in live rock, sand, and filters will turn that ammonia to nitrite - still toxic, but slightly less toxic than ammonia (0.5 ppm is still cause for concern).

Lucky fact #2: a second bacteria will turn that nitrite into nitrate, which is much less toxic - many fish can live at 20-30ppm. The nitrates will build up in the tank, and are great at encouraging things like algae growth. People remove nitrates with water changes and refugiums (encouraging the growth of good algae outside of the main tank, it eats nitrates and helps helpful animals grow).

The process of breaking down waste from waste -> ammonia -> nitrite -> nitrate is commonly referred to as the nitrogen cycle, so the process of establishing this cycle is 'cycling the tank'. Under most circumstances, it's going to take 3-4 weeks for the cycle to be established - you can add a cocktail shrimp (dead) to introduce the first waste, and as it breaks down the bacteria colonies will be built. Some cycles can be jumpstarted by adding well established live sand from running tanks, but this depends heavily on the bacteria colonies in the specific sand taken.

If you don't establish the cycle before adding fish, the first fish will suffer through a small cycle each time you add them (you add a fish, its waste turns to ammonia that the tank can not yet handle, which burns the fish for 1-2 weeks while the colonies in the tank build).
 
try a 1/2 of a cup of salt to every gallon...have the red sea salt and had to figure this out on my one too. this should bring the sg to about 1.022. then you can adjust to your prefrence. i go about 1.023.
 
Hi,

Thanks for your replies. I phoned Red Sea, and they said they would look in to it--they advised 1 cup per 3 3/4 gallons which is A LOT less than 1.4 lb/5 gallon. Thanks, horner, I will try the 1/2 cup per gallon. Somehow I don't trust Red Sea anymore...

I did a water change, and the salinity is now a little low, but I should be able to increase it over the week. The ammonia is 0 ppm, the nitrate is also 0 ppm, the nitrite is, again, 0 ppm, but the pH is a little low--at 7.8. Anyways...thanks for all your help. I really hope Red Sea fixes that error, though--the bag I have is intended for beginners, and it really screwed up my tank for a couple of days...
 
with red sea it says add a kilo of salt for 30 litres so every litre add 33.3 grams of salt.
You really do need a hydrometer / refractometer

I tend to find red sea salt usually gives me algae blooms i much prefer tropic marine
 
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