I Cant Seem To Figure This Salt Thing Out! 1.018!!!!!

[lil.guppy]

Ok so I set my 46g
I have a 3 gallon bucket. I put 2 gallons in the bucket at a time and measured the salt in those 2 gallons with my hydrometer. Then I poured it into the tank. Well my tank is reading 1.018 but my problem is that there is no more room for water in the tank. Its at its max.
Soooo what do I do to raise the level of salt in the tank?
Any hints or tricks?

 

[rotarymagic]

use a good refractometer with autocorrection..

you could always take water out of the tank and add salt to it... then put it back in... or top off with salt water for a week or so till it hits the SG you want.

 

[ophiura]

So...is this a new tank with nothing in it? Or is it established?
If there is nothing in it, you can add salt directly. You can mix saltwater at higher salinity and take other water out...or just leave it, as noted, over the course of a week and top off with saltwater instead of fresh.