how long do you airate your salt mix ?

[newfishliny]

I mix my salt in five gal buckets / hang on 802
power head, how long should I do it for and do you adjust
the temperture also before putting it in the tank.
thanks

 

[almarktool]

i use a slightly larger bucket a 35 this way i put in 25 gallons of water and 1 25 gal pack of salt mix comes out perfect every time,
i also have a heater and power head in there i let it airate 1 day and come up to temp, then add the salt let it run for 2 days 48 hours then i use it from there

 

[rockster]

Hi, I bought a bucket of Coralife salt yesterday and got a free T-shirt inside. I happened on a Newsletter inside the bucket. In it is an article by Bob Fenner concerning the danger of using freshly mixed saltwater with high concentration of dissolved oxygen. He said that high O2 content of the water may actually harm the fishes, causing gas-bubble emphysematosis. This is manifested by an acute bulging of both eyes (acute bilateral pop-eye). While there are other causes of pop-eye, this condition differs in that the time of onset is rapid, both eyes are affected and more than one fish are affected usually a few hours after a water changes. In extreme cases, gas bubbles may be seen stuck on fishes' scales. He added (and I agree) that if only one eye, one fish, and it occurs over a period of several days to weeks, other causes should be sought such as parasites, bacterial infections, or nutritional defficiency.
I just want to share this info in connection to aerating water. In essence, letting it stand for a day or two to let dissolved oxygen diffuse to the surrounding air. Happy reefing everyone.

 

[fshhub]

Imo, you only have to worry about the oxyben bubbles in the tank, not in your premix bucket.
YOu will add even more air when adding the water to the tank, while it has already left the bucket, so the aerated bubbles are nto an issue, JMO
to answer the question 24 to 48 hrs(12 minimum in a hurry)

 

[broomer5]

I aerate the RO/DI freshwater for 24 hours.
Mix salt
Aerate the saltwater for 24 hours.
Do the exchange.

 

[rockster]

You don't need to see bubbles to believe. The article talks about DISSOLVED oxygen. Besides not all bubbles in your tank is oxygen even if you use an air pump. Atmospheric oxygen is only 21%, most of it is nitrogen. You don't seem to understand the point.

 

[broomer5]

Allowing saltwater to aerate not only insures that solids ( even the ones you can't see ) are fully dissolved, it also allows ALL gasses in the room to reach equalibrium or the same levels.
The room you mix the salt/water has gasses in it.
The room the tank's in has gasses in it.
The water out of the RO unit or tap or bottled RO - has gasses in it.
Letting the saltwater aerate overnight let's ALL these gasses to reach a balance - or equalibrium.
It's important for lot's of reasons.

 

[rockster]

Broomer, I agree that equilibrium has to be achieved that's why we need to let water sit before adding to the tank (although the article did not touch on dissolving solids in the salt). That's the point of the article. That there is a danger of high O2 content in it that we don't see as BUBBLES as fshhub stated.
While the article gives an insight of dangers of too high O2 concentration, in practice this hardly is seen because partial water changes do not necessarily drastically alter the whole tank. This, in essence, is "nice to know" kind of thing. But bubbles in a saltwater tank is totally irrelevant in this thread.

 

[broomer5]

Yep
We're not going to see oxygen in solution with our eyeballs
It's the dissolved gasses that play a big part in the water chemistry and the biology of the tank.
Animals that live the tank will be affected for sure.
I think fshub was talking noticible bubbles, while you were meaning unseen dissolved O2. I may be wrong though. Guessing.
Nice to know is good to know

 

[rockster]

Same wavelength, broomer. I'm afraid.

 

[broomer5]

Be afraid ........... be very afraid LOL
Good thread

 

[rockster]

May I suggest, easy on steroids (in reference to your pic).

 

[broomer5]

LOL - Yes I will take that into consideration.

 

[newfishliny]

thanks for all those answers but the main reason is that the power head helps desolves the salt , is that the main reason as oppose to stiring the mix.

 

[richard rendos]

I use a power head and a heater in my mixing containers. Power head circulates and aerates, and heater gets temp. right. To aerate water you do not need an air pump. If you aim your power head at the surface if the water, it breaks the surface of the water allowing for aeration. I let my salt water mix for 24 hours before doing any water changes. I also let my RO/DI mix for 24 hours before using it for top off.

 

[wamp]

Me... I mix my salt, as soon as it disolves, it goes in the tnak. I never let it sit for a specific amount of time but, theres nthing wrong with that eithier.

 

[10k]

I'm afraid that the article is refering to a supersaturation of o2, which is not achievable with an airstone, powerhead, or any other form of pumping or stirring device. The article is really warning against adding salt directly into water immediatly out of the tap, which the majority of us need not worry about. Some water municipalities have stations inline, before your house, used to supersaturate the water with o2. This process kills off bacteria, and eliminates most DOC's. This is kind of like using ozone in our tanks, to rid it of DOC's. You need not worry about problem the article is addressing, unless you use tap water, and add it to the tank too soon, not allowing it to rest, and therefore eliminating the excess O2. Sorry, just felt the need to elaborate too much.