Is it OK to store premixed water?

[trainfever]

My tanks is a 45 gal and I also have another 25 gallons of water in my sump. I usually do a water change every month changing about 12 gallons of water, which would be 20%. Recently I am trying a different approach. Instead of doing a large change monthly, I will be doing smaller changes weekly. I now change about 5 gallons a week. Instead of mixing up 5 gallons at a time, I use a trash can and mix up 20 gallons at a time. I dump 5 gallons from my tank and then pump 5 gallons from the trash can. My question is, would leaving the water sit in the trash can, hurt it any? It is a new can and I thoroughly rinsed it out. Sometimes when the can is half empty, I will add fresh water and salt to mix up a larger batch, this way the water doesnt get stale. Do you think this would be OK?

 

[1journeyman]

Ya, that's great. A lot of people do it that way.
Make sure you are circulating the water with a powerhead or something.

 

[chipmaker]

Cerrtainly not a problem storing saltwater as long as its kept relatively cool or around room temp, out of direct light and circulated. Make sure your storage container is free of any debri etc so yu do not get algae or a bacterial bloom.

 

[pondy]

But just to add a little to that, make sure that you test the SG before you put the water in your aquarium because of evaporation, you dont want to add water thats SG is extremely high because water has evaporated. Just my 2 cents

 

[thegrog]

In fact, it would be better for your system in the long run.
Fill the container with water, put an airstone in it for 24 hours, then mix in the salt mix and keep the water moving with a small powerhead and airstone.
Keep it out of light and at/slightly above room temp. Put in a small heater if the room is cool and set it at 75 degrees.

 

[yimmy]

if its not being circulated no.

 

[ktsdad]

I took an old 90 gallon hex tank and made a storage tank out of it.
Hook up your RO/DI with an automatic shut off and feed directly into the tank.
I drilled a hole and installed a 1 inch bulkhead feedthru with a ball valve.
Then installed a powerhead and heater to keep it at 70degrees (all this is in the garage).
Bought sturdy workbench that would hold at least 1000lbs and away I went.
Now I have 50 gallons of mature salt water at all times!