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?

[intarsiabox]

I am assuming you are using a swing arm hydrometer. They are very sensitive to micro bubbles attaching to the arm and giving you different readings. I would also wait until your water clears up as the dust suspended in the water will affect the arm as well. Maybe bring your temp up closer to 78 degrees.