Best way to measure salt for new water?

[gobytron]

for sure.

Which about the volume of water in a brimming 5 gallon pail.

the "rim" on the outside of a salt bucket is actually where the 5 gallon mark is, fill it up to the top, it's closer to 6.

if you put 2.5 cups in a brimming 5 gallon, it gets you around 1.22 ppm.

3 cups get's you 1.24-1.25.

Not all buckets are the same, so should say I use IO or Seachem buckets.

Quite a few salt companies use the same bucket manufacturer though.