stupid ? about water

[samantha68]

i have been premixing my buckets of water like the store said to with my water conditioner and salt........i was told by someone today that they don't premix they just mix it as they need it ....good or bad idea???
i have buckets everywhere is it true that i don't need to ?

 

[fishphreak]

In my opinion you don't need to. I don't because I don't have room to store it mixed. But a lot of people do mix and let it sit. As far as I know there really isn't too much advantage to it other than it doesn't make the water as cloudy.

 

[nas19320]

Pre-mixing the salt water is definetly the right thing to do. You avoid undissolved salt getting into the tank which can burn the inhabitants and also make the Salinity rise before you notice. It also allows the water chemistry to stablize. Its much safer to Pre-mix.

 

[samantha68]

ok i see i got 1 and 1 lmao.......i have been premixing but when i was told it sounded so much easier do to space.....how long would you say that the water has to sit before using..i have been premixing a week ahead

 

[nas19320]

The best way to pre-mix is get a container for the SW, I use a 32 gallon rubbermaid trash can. Put a powerhead and a heater in the container and mix the SW for a minimum of 24 hrs before use. Check your salinity and temp before adding it to the tank.

 

[fishphreak]

I fill my gallon jugs tap water and water conditioner and let it sit over night. Then I mix the salt in and let it sit for about an hour (making it is stirred up well). THen add it to my tank. I have never had a problem, it is pretty much dissolved(visually) by then. And my salinity has never risen. But then again that may not be the norm. Bottom line, if you don't feel safe not premixing the salt then don't do it. DO what you are comfortable with.

 

[fishphreak]

I was told at the pet store that distilled water is not the best choice because it doesn't contain the natural trace elements. Meaning that most likely I would have to add trace elements, calcium, etc. if I chose to use distilled water.
Grated I am doing a lot of thing that would be considered "wrong" according to the books, but everything is working for me. Everything is perfect. I think most of what is written is just precautionary.

 

[nas19320]

The trace elements are replaced in a water change by the salt mix and when doing freshwater top-offs the only thing that is evaporating is H2O.

 

[daniel411]

Originally posted by Nas19320
The trace elements are replaced in a water change by the salt mix and when doing freshwater top-offs the only thing that is evaporating is H2O.
:yes:
Another great thing with pre-mixing is that you can heat the water up to an identical temp, verify tests like ph are in line, as well as oxygenate the water with a power head before adding it to your display.

 

[fishphreak]

do you need to heat and oxygenate the water before adding it the tank if you are just doing a 10 to 20% water change....the pet store never mentioned any of this to me.
I'm still learning, this is my first tank, it will 2 months old saturday.
Does the brand of salt matter? if so what is a good choice?
I am currently using Crystal Sea Marine Mix.
I apologize if I gave any wrong info...I was just passing along the info that I was told.

 

[pacopetty]

All of us are on the right forum to learn. This post will benefit you way more than any LFS. I can't tell you the bad info I got from several LFS before I found SWF.

 

[samantha68]

i know my bucket/salt mix combo....i was just wondering if what i heard was right ..If i could mix it in the bucket give it a really good stir up then pour it in then do the next bucket

 

[samantha68]

well i have been doing 10% every week ,heard that was the best way just when i heard that i thought damn i could get rid of all these buckets all over the place....so basically no premix and leave it that way right

 

[birdy]

I am a bit confused as to what you are asking on your last post.
But:
You do NOT want to just dissolve the salt and add it to your tank. It takes hours for all the salt to fully dissolve, most recommend 24hrs in a bucket with heater and powerhead for it to be fully mixed. Now once I do the 24mix I will add a little bit of salt if it is not quite right then I let it mix a couple more hours then use it.
I hope that answered your question.

 

[samantha68]

ok thank you..like i said i premix a week before i need it and test it then......like i said earlier i was just asking because i was told by someone today that they mix it that day as they need it was that bad or good .but thanks anyway i got the answer..i was just a ? because i thought it was odd but would be great if you could

 

[samantha68]

ok thank you to all ..i have been sick and confused you all ....birdy yes you got what i was saying....i didn't say i was doing it just asked because i was told to let it sit as i do ..but was cunfused that the guy i spoke to didn't let his water sit before doing his water changes he just stirred it well and poured it in his tank...like i said mine sits a week in buckets under my tank...thanks for the idea about the garbage can but i reallyyyy don't have room for that unless it went in the basement lol....once again thank you to all i said it was a stupid ? just thought i would ask you guys because i thought it was odd aswell

 

[samantha68]

and to misscrayon .............. i didn't say the buckets were not covered ,they are covered and sealed for that matter.....so to the people above that said over night thank you even that is better then the week i have been doing it ...

 

[samantha68]

also i know that you use just water to do the top offs unless salt is low it was the water changes i was taking about .......

 

[nacl-man]

Yeah no need to do it for a week... 24 hours is good. Mine usually end up sitting around for a week though, but that is due entirely to laziness.

 

[samantha68]

thank you i guess i was not explaining my self right before ...i have been sick and didn't think clearly when trying to explain myself ....thank you ,makes it nicer because that way i don't need them sitting here all week just a day before ...because when i was told that i thought wow that would be great not having them here all week looking at buckets lol...so i will move them down stairs then just look at them for a day each time :happy: