salt build up...

[decaywunz]

Im starting to get a lot of external salt build up in the mech filter and top of versa-top. is this bad??? should I just wash it off periodicly?

 

[lefty]

What you're experiencing is something most of us get to deal with: salt creep. There is a bit of a debate about what to do with the salt. My personal preference is to wipe it away. Some people put the salt back in their tank. I would just wipe it away on a regular basis.
-lefty

 

[snipe]

Ppl who say scrape it off "LEFTY " IMO are kinda right. I know the salt came from the tank and you took water "or it splashed" out of the tank and eveporated leaving behind the salt. Now if you dont place it back in the tank and you just fill it up with freshwater you are actually gonna "overtime" end up with a very low salanity. We all know that isnt very good.
Now if you have some freshwater in hand and place it back in the tank it would be just like the saltcreep was never there. If you place the water in the tank and put the salt back then the salanity "in theory" would be were it was when you started.
Now for the kinda right thing. If you place the salt back without freshwater then the salanity will rocket where you dont want it. And we all know that isnt good either.
Sorry for the long book I posted but IMO I would fill the tank back up and place the salt back in.

 

[dvs]

I have a Nano so I put mine in the back compartment that houses my thermometer. Just be careful when you put it back in though. If you have softies and a hunk of salt falls on them, it potentially could burn them!
HTH
Jen

 

[cvk531]

nice penguin. lol, off subject, but anyway, just wipe it off. i've never heard of anyone put it back in before?:notsure: :notsure: :thinking:

 

[snipe]

But the salt is "FROM" your main tank. If you dont place it back "Just place in your filter or something" then your salanity will decrease over time.

 

[mudplayerx]

I scrape it off with a razor blade and dump it into my filter compartment. That way it doesnt land on anything it will hurt, and the filter pad lets it slowly mix with the water.
ps- hey Jen, why'd you change your avatar? You get tired of nerds hitting on you? lol

 

[mbrands]

Its funny that this thread is on the board today. On my lunch hour I was reading The Conscientious Marine Aquariist (sp??) and the author said that the salt should be put back in the tank. I hadn't heard of doing that before either. As DVS said, you want to make sure no large piece(s) end up touching any inverts.

 

[snipe]

I was scarping it off but it hit me your getting read of the salt that you spent so mutch on!