How do you mix your salt?
- Thread starter hihikeke
- Start date
happyhourh
Member
I have a heater and a powerhead in a rubbermaid tub. I fill it with the desired amount of water and then pour in salt. I let it mix and mature for 48 hours before adding to display. I keep it at the same temp as my display tank: 79 degrees.
sly
Active Member
Hot water from the tap is extremely high in dissolved metals. VERY bad for a tank. Dissolved metals, especially copper KILLS invertebrates and is very hard to get out of the tank. Everything in the tank including the silicone seal absorbs metals, making its removal almost impossible.
I have a clean 30 gallon trash can that I fill with RO water. I put in a heater set at 80 degrees and an air pump. Then I pour in some "Oceanic" salt mix and let it sit at least overnight. Oceanic dissolves extremely well. No need to use hot water.
It is very important to oxygenate your water before you put it in your tank!! Water out of the tap (bad) or out of any filter is extremely low in oxygen. This creates two problems.
1. You can not properly mix in your salt because low oxygen water has a lower specific gravity than does high oxygen water. If you mix your salt with water that has not been oxygenated first, you will suddenly see SG readings get too high as the oxygen finally dissolves in the mix.
2. Low oxygen water can actually suffocate your fish. They could drown (or at least become stressed out which makes them more succeptable to diseases).
I have a clean 30 gallon trash can that I fill with RO water. I put in a heater set at 80 degrees and an air pump. Then I pour in some "Oceanic" salt mix and let it sit at least overnight. Oceanic dissolves extremely well. No need to use hot water.
It is very important to oxygenate your water before you put it in your tank!! Water out of the tap (bad) or out of any filter is extremely low in oxygen. This creates two problems.
1. You can not properly mix in your salt because low oxygen water has a lower specific gravity than does high oxygen water. If you mix your salt with water that has not been oxygenated first, you will suddenly see SG readings get too high as the oxygen finally dissolves in the mix.
2. Low oxygen water can actually suffocate your fish. They could drown (or at least become stressed out which makes them more succeptable to diseases).
bang guy
Moderator
Step 1 - Use a bucket of purified water (RO/DI if available) as cool as possible. Hot water precipitates trace elements and should never ever be used to mix salt. The colder the better.
Step 2 - Vigerously stir the water while slowly adding the salt mix. This is the most critical time.
Step 3 - Let the water mix for at least 12 hours using an airstone or a powerhead for circulation.
Step 4 - Warm the water to the tank temperature and test Salinity.
Step 5 - If Salinity is low add more salt. If Salinity is high add more water.
Step 6 - Perform the water change.
Step 2 - Vigerously stir the water while slowly adding the salt mix. This is the most critical time.
Step 3 - Let the water mix for at least 12 hours using an airstone or a powerhead for circulation.
Step 4 - Warm the water to the tank temperature and test Salinity.
Step 5 - If Salinity is low add more salt. If Salinity is high add more water.
Step 6 - Perform the water change.
saltn00b
Active Member
i just pour the 5g ro /di in 5g buckets, sometimes a few at a time, and mix the salt as it is spinning and churnging for about 5 minutes, and the salt is dissolved, and the sal. is about right. and then pour it in. thats it. granted, the RO water often sits in my garage , in florida for days at a time prior to making salt mix, and the temp there is about tank temp. why does everyone mix it for 1 -2 days? i dont really get that ??
if you are pouring the water into the buckets, and churning them arent you oxygenating it alot , at that point? it seems like over kill to me, is all. also, if the water you are adding to your system has slightly less o2 (which you cant even measure, unless im wrong on that ) and you are pouring it in to your tank with not more then a 25% water change, then it is mixing with 75% of your good water anyway, dispersing, and becoming enriched shortly after?
maybe im way off base, would someone care to chime in?
if you are pouring the water into the buckets, and churning them arent you oxygenating it alot , at that point? it seems like over kill to me, is all. also, if the water you are adding to your system has slightly less o2 (which you cant even measure, unless im wrong on that ) and you are pouring it in to your tank with not more then a 25% water change, then it is mixing with 75% of your good water anyway, dispersing, and becoming enriched shortly after?
maybe im way off base, would someone care to chime in?
agent707
Member
Originally Posted by happyhourh
I have a heater and a powerhead in a rubbermaid tub. I fill it with the desired amount of water and then pour in salt. I let it mix and mature for 48 hours before adding to display. I keep it at the same temp as my display tank: 79 degrees.
Pretty much exactly what this person does. Except I only let it churn for about 1 day.
I can assume you are boiling your RO water (hope it's RO anyways) just for the purposes of desolving the salt?
Salt desolves and mixes FINE using room temp water. No need at all in using HOT.. in fact, like most people say, its probably a bad idea.
I have a heater and a powerhead in a rubbermaid tub. I fill it with the desired amount of water and then pour in salt. I let it mix and mature for 48 hours before adding to display. I keep it at the same temp as my display tank: 79 degrees.
Pretty much exactly what this person does. Except I only let it churn for about 1 day.
I can assume you are boiling your RO water (hope it's RO anyways) just for the purposes of desolving the salt?
Salt desolves and mixes FINE using room temp water. No need at all in using HOT.. in fact, like most people say, its probably a bad idea.
nm reef
Active Member
First....the quality of the water used does make a difference. I use RO water from a local source that measures zero detectable phosphates. To mix my salt I use a dedicated 12 gal container and mix 10 gal at a time. I have a couple of powerheads for circulation and a heater to bring the temp up to the display temp. Normally I'll circulate the water for 24-48 hours before using it. Each time I open a new salt container I'll check calcium/alkalinity/PH readings of the new batch....before adding water to my display I insure salinity and temp match the display.
saltwater8
Member
Ok....so:
Put the RO water into the CLEAN bucket.
Turn on the heater and the power head.
Add the salt and stir.
Test the SG, CA, ALK, PH, and temp.
Let it circulate for 1 day.
Test the SG, CA, ALK PH, and temp.
Add it to the tank.
:happyfish
Put the RO water into the CLEAN bucket.
Turn on the heater and the power head.
Add the salt and stir.
Test the SG, CA, ALK, PH, and temp.
Let it circulate for 1 day.
Test the SG, CA, ALK PH, and temp.
Add it to the tank.
:happyfish
fishhunter
Member
wow you guys go hard core........
i just mix tapwater and salt extreamly well till there is no salt left in the botom of the bucket. i put in some declorinators and stuff like that in and let it sit for like an hour then i do the same thing (shake the hell out of it) then I dump in to the tank.
I have never had a problem.
ttyal
FH
i just mix tapwater and salt extreamly well till there is no salt left in the botom of the bucket. i put in some declorinators and stuff like that in and let it sit for like an hour then i do the same thing (shake the hell out of it) then I dump in to the tank.
I have never had a problem.
ttyal
FH
bang guy
Moderator
Originally Posted by saltn00b
and again, someone please explain why circulating the water for one day is important?
It takes about 12 hours for all of the chemical reactions from the salt mix to take place. If you add it to your display tank before that you run the risk of these reactions happening in the tank or not happening at all.
In addition the gas exchange doesn't happen all that quick either. It's easy to get CO2 into the water but it's not as easy to get excess CO2 out of the water. O2 is even more of a problem.
and again, someone please explain why circulating the water for one day is important?
It takes about 12 hours for all of the chemical reactions from the salt mix to take place. If you add it to your display tank before that you run the risk of these reactions happening in the tank or not happening at all.
In addition the gas exchange doesn't happen all that quick either. It's easy to get CO2 into the water but it's not as easy to get excess CO2 out of the water. O2 is even more of a problem.
turningtim
Active Member
Originally Posted by saltn00b
if you always add the same salt mix to RO, how will the CA, Alk and Ph be different? and if it is different, do you then dose the water??
and again, someone please explain why circulating the water for one day is important?
The reason you ALWAYS check mix water is that there have been know bad batches of salt put out on the market and rather then finding out when everything in your tank is dead its better to find before you put it in there.
if you always add the same salt mix to RO, how will the CA, Alk and Ph be different? and if it is different, do you then dose the water??
and again, someone please explain why circulating the water for one day is important?
The reason you ALWAYS check mix water is that there have been know bad batches of salt put out on the market and rather then finding out when everything in your tank is dead its better to find before you put it in there.