Im so lost

[slider9969]

i kep reading and reading and watching videos that are a bit helpfull but dont tell you the details . Hell im still trying to get my salinity right lol . Thanks to a local store that said yeh put the whole bucket into the tank. I have a 20 gallon tank with nothing but water so far but hope i figure this out soon,

[gregzz4]

So, do you have a question ... ?
You're in the right place for the answers

[FishyFishy!]

Well what are your current issue's?

What do you need to know?

[Snappy]

The salinity can be tricky at first due to variables like salt brand, water temp, etc. There are two values to be concerned with - Salinity & Specific Gravity (SG). Since I keep stony corals I keep my SG at 1.026 & SG is the most common value mentioned by hobbyists but often mistakenly referred to as salinity. If the SG is close to natural SW your salinity should be fine as well.

[slider9969]

i was sold salt nd told to put in the entire container that said "yeilds 20 gallons" so it did as im super noob and WOW that was way too much

[intarsiabox]

So just remove some of the salt water in the tank and replace with fresh water until you reach the right salinity. Also make sure your water is at the temperature you want when measuring. What are you using to measure salinity btw?

[slider9969]

Im just using a hydrometer untill i get everything stable then ill spend the money to get a better one . and i have been slowly removing water and adding new water but its really frustrating now because the hydrometer is reading extremely different levels almost everytime i test . te water is heated to about 72 degrees and the filter and power head are running . i made the mistake of putting in the sand while i do this so it looks like crap right now

[slider9969]

i wish the store was still open id just empty the entire thing and start over

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by slider9969

Im just using a hydrometer untill i get everything stable then ill spend the money to get a better one . and i have been slowly removing water and adding new water but its really frustrating now because the hydrometer is reading extremely different levels almost everytime i test . te water is heated to about 72 degrees and the filter and power head are running . i made the mistake of putting in the sand while i do this so it looks like crap right now

Did you put the sand in, then water and then salt?

[Myka]

Guys, it wasn't a whole bucket, it was a either a box or a bag since he said the container yields 20 gallons.

Originally Posted by slider9969

i was sold salt nd told to put in the entire container that said "yeilds 20 gallons" so it did as im super noob and WOW that was way too much

I'd take the empty salt bag back and get them to give you a new one. When you make salt super saturated like that then a whole whack of calcium and carbonate ions (and many other ions too) will bind and fall out of the solution. So you'll end up with saltwater that is really deficient in various ions. Read the instructions on the bag next time.

Originally Posted by slider9969

i wish the store was still open id just empty the entire thing and start over

I think this is a good idea, but they gave you poor advice, and they should give you a new container of salt.

With the sand, was it dry or did it come in a sealed bag with some water? If it was dry sand then you need to rinse it many, many times to get all the dust out. It can take a week to clear up if you don't rinse well enough.