salt particles still visible after 2 days

[fugu]

i wondered if anyone can help, i have recently drained my 170 gallon tank cleaned the tank and all the power heads and filtration. also i have boiled all the gravel substrate and coral decorations. i have re-filled it using r/o filtered water and then mixed in 'coral reef red sea salt' acheiving the correct specific gravity of 1.021. there are 2 power heads and a under gravel filtration system that have been active for about 48 hrs, the salt was mixed inside the aquarium and none of the decorations have yet been added. obviously there is no livestock in the tank.
there are still salt particles in the water that are very visible. would anyone have any input as to why the salt has not yet mixed and the water become clear.
thanks to anyone who can help.

 

[03]

yikes all that work and your going to put a undergravel filter in ,it is up to you but i wouldn't do it.they work good for about 1 year or less and then they crash and burn,ask around be-4 u do.as far as the salt goes it should be disolveing.put a powerhead in there to ssttiiiiirrrrrrr it up!

 

[fugu]

thanks,
i am attaching an external bucket filter tommorrow (just came in) and that should provide more filtration. i have 2 powerheads and the airpump running through the UGF system for the past 48hrs. i realize that the ugf is not the best way to go but we are pretty resticted when it comes to what you can DIY out here.
is it normal for the salt to take this long to mix?
cheers for the reply.

 

[kappadoku]

Sometimes it wont all disolve. Ive never used that brand of salt, but its probably the trace minerals that will dissolve as they are needed over time. Their probably low in actual sodium, so the spec grav wont go up as they disolve. But your potassium and calcium and other minerals will stay the same as they get used by the corals.
I personally use Kent, its usually more expensive, but worth it for reefkeepers. It disolves the 1/2 cup per gallon that puts me in the general neighborhood in about 60-90 seconds.
[ April 16, 2001: Message edited by: KappaDoku ]

 

[cactus jack]

its more than likely all the bacteria you killed in the filter by pouring fresh water on it. they come off all the areas that they have been clinging to and are pushed into the tank. that's why you always keep your bio damp when changing things and never pouring fresh water over them. why did you do what you did anyhow?

 

[fugu]

thanks,
the reason for draining the whole tank was because i had originally used well water, which i had analyzed and found to be unsuitable for human consumption (yes there are places like this that still exist!). also the existing filtration was not working. because there was nothing in the tank and i recently purchased an r/o filter (ouch) i thought it best to start from scratch with new a filter ,which i will now suplement with a wet/dry system from eheim.

 

[shel]

Good luck to you!

 

[krazzydart]

the only thing that i would have done differant was to dissolve the salt in a bucket of warm water with the powerheads,,,, and remember that it will take a long time to start over