Good try Greg ~ Plz let us know what you'll find out. I mix salt in RO/DI water and aerate it overnight. I always figured the buffer in the salt mix will be able to keep the pH at 8.2 - 8.3. I must also say, pH in my tank has always been pretty stable, whereas I have much more problems with the KH.
Tammy,
If you cannot get RO/DI water from you LFS, I would recommend preparing saltwater mixes and let it stand for more than three days. If you move the water (with either a powerhead or airpump), the chlorine will disappear "automatically". However, some cities have chloramine in their tapwater. This does not automatically disappear (so I heard) and you do need to add a remover.
It was okay to use tapwater when you did the initial setup of your tank (no fish, no critters). However, now, by using tap water you introduce phosphatres (and nitrates perhaps) that diatomes love. Brown algae will be the result. You can add PhosGuard to remove the phosphates but, again, RO/DI is really the way to go. I have a water volume of ~65 gl and I change 5 gl every two weeks. It cost me $2 per month for the water.... This is not the main cost factor in our hobby!
Also, for now, I would top-off (and change water) with a little higher salinity mix (1024). I would prefer a salinity of 1023-1024. Many on this board go even higher. Once you have reached this level, use freshwater for the top-of and saltwater for the regular (biweekly) water changes (I do the latter always, even while my parameters have been good all the time).
Good luck!
