Best Way to Mix Salt?

[NaH2O]

What is the best way you've found to mix your artificial salt water? Currently, I use a pump and circulate it until the saltmix is dissolved, and check the salinity, etc. Then I let it circulate until the next day, heat it up, recheck parameters, and perform my water change.

What has me stumped a bit, is I was always taught to mix the water for at least 24 hours (whether a powerhead, pump, etc). This is to ensure proper mixing, and incase the salt has ammonia present?

Here is a quote from one of Randy's articles on: Water Changes in Reef Aquaria

If there is substantial ammonia in the new water, as there may be in artificial salt water or possibly in natural seawater that has been stored for a while, that can also be stressful.

Then, on the other hand, there is this article discussing: How to Mix a Batch of Synthetic Seawater in Under Five Minutes

I asked a number of people how they mix synthetic seawater. Most of them add it gradually to a vat, bucket or other container, and mix it with an airstone or powerhead. Some people extend this process over several hours. Some people pour the salt in all at once and hang a powerhead in the vat by the cord — allowing it to swing around in the vat. Some mix it with a paddle, spoon or their hands.

While in some cases it is a good idea to aerate seawater before use, using an airstone to mix it is probably the most inefficient way other than throwing it in a container of water and allowing it to diffuse. Adding the dry salt mix slowly and dispersing it with a powerhead can give good results, but it takes a lot of time. So what is a better way?

So is ammonia a concern with salt mix? Perhaps it depends on how large the new batch is, and how much you plan on using. A small amount of ammonia in a small amount of water, may be processed quickly in the tank, once introduced. However, a larger amount may cause issues. If ammonia is not of a concern, maybe we should be using one of those fancy propeller things in the second article.

So the question is...what is the best way to mix, and why should we a long period of time, if the water appears to be "clear" of any solids?

 

[Krish]

I personally put my IO in a 5 gal bucket, add my ro/di water to it, mix it up with a wooden paddle, and then run an air stone while I siphon out the water from my tank and do whatever cleaning needs to be done, and then about 1 hour later I toss the water in after the bucket of my mixed batch is clear and everything is dissolved. Never had a problem doing it this way, but maybe it's because I only change 10 gals on my 75 gal.

 

[wrightme43]

I do water changes for money. So
A. it cant hurt the fish.
B. it has to be quick.
C. I dont have time to hang out.
I use the propeler thing with a cordless drill.
Works fine.

 

[jlehigh]

I personally fill a 160gal Tank with RODI and dump a bucket of I/O in it with 2 heaters and a mag9. I perform 40-60gal water changes and 1 tank lasts me about 2 months. I have never measured for amonia and I'll do that out of curiosity, however the benefits to the tank are really something so regardless it's working really well for me.

 

[spongebob lover]

well before .. i used to just dump 2 cups of IO in my 3 gals bucket and then i'd mix it and then next day i'd just dump it .

Nowdays, i make my 10 gals of RO/DI water i dump the salt and i use a powerhead to mix it until the next day, then i just put a heater and wait until is at the right temperature.
Now making my water is another story... right Krish .

 

[Krish]

Now making my water is another story... right Krish

ROFL...If I didn't know any better I'd think you were a "blonde"

 

[fishermann]

I change 5 gals twice a week in the 230. Just put the salt in a 5 gal bucket stir it up with a paddle until desolved and pwrhd it for a few hrs., which I have bypassed before when in a hurry and have never had an issue. I don't preheat any water, what with the little changes I do often it isn't enough to change any temps. I think little ones help keep the trace elements more even.

 

[Krish]

John...How much do you figure you top off per day on that size tank?

 

[fishermann]

roughly 3 1/2 gals, have always had the ro/di plumbed in to the sump so am not sure, but I think that is what it used to take for the first week when I set it up. My 75 when I put MH's on went through about 1 1/2 gals a day

 

[Krish]

roughly 3 1/2 gals, have always had the ro/di plumbed in to the sump so am not sure, but I think that is what it used to take for the first week when I set it up. My 75 when I put MH's on went through about 1 1/2 gals a day

That's cool...Thanks

 

[Curtswearing]

I had a Brute trash can with a heater and a pump. I usually had a full trashcan full of waterchange water at all times. I almost always mixed for a full day before using the water and often up to 2 weeks before using it.

 

[steve-s]

The biggest concerns will be chemistry (pH really) and temp. The biggest factor in all this really comes down to how much water you are chnaging in one go. Small water changes (% wise) will yield little or no dramatic changes to these two important parameters. It's only when needing to change large amounts of water that it will/can become an issue.

The larger the water change, the more need to be concerned about the "possible" mishaps that can occur and/or stress they may cause in relation to the inhabitants kept.

Personally speaking, I always keep about 15 gallons of premixed SW on hand at all times. All I need to do is verify pH, alk, salinity and temp and it's good to go.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Scooterman]

& what do you do in emergency? When I do Wc's It seemed when I changed a lot all at once the fish corals perked up rather quick but I always seem to get an algae bloom afterwards also. Now when doing small changes I don't see any difference but that is just observations no science, does that mean anything I don't know.

 

[rudeanduncouth]

I am probably one of the worst when I do water changings. I know all the ways you are supposed but I am a bit lazy and water changes while usually done weekly are some what sporadic. I fill a bucket with tap water, temperature is adjusted by the finger test, add 5.5 cups of salt (fairly large bucket and 5.5 cups = 1.026ish), vigorously mix it with a big spoon. Let it stop spinning and do it again till it is all dissolved, then add it to the tank. I change about 15 gals week in my 160 (tank + sump). Never had any ill effects so perhaps I am just lucky.

 

[NaH2O]

& what do you do in emergency? When I do Wc's It seemed when I changed a lot all at once the fish corals perked up rather quick but I always seem to get an algae bloom afterwards also. Now when doing small changes I don't see any difference but that is just observations no science, does that mean anything I don't know.

Out of curiousity - was the new mix water allowed to circulate for an extended period, or parameters checked prior to the water change? There could have been a large enough difference in the parameters, that a small die off occured, which fueled the bloom?

wrightme43 - do you think the propeller thing works a lot better than the powerhead, or it works about the same?

 

[wrightme43]

A hundred million times better.
It looks like cappachino froth.
The ph goes to 8.3 in just a few minutes. No solids visable at all. Its like a giant skimmer body.

 

[jsmkmavity]

i mix 50 gal in a rubbermaid can on wheels. i use an all plastic float valve for an animal trough hooked up to my rodi and add the salt when its full. i use a mag 24 to mix for a minute or 2 and thel let the heater and small powerhead mix for at least a day. my understanding of the waiting period is some of the ingredients dont fully disolve immediately after mixing and this can burn the fishes gills on contact and maybe other things too. also the tests will change slightly with 12-24 hours of mixing compared to 1 hour which adds credibility to the "not fully disolved theory" IMO.

 

[gbr]

I use a 44 gallon brute filled to the top with ro/di using a float switch. Then add the salt. I let that go overnight with a power head and check salinity with a pinpoint meter the next day and adjust salinity. At that time, because the IO is fairly consistant in regards to alk, ca, and mg (from random testing I have done) I then suppliment Ca and Mg using Peladow (actually the prestone product) and Epsom. Alk is high enough (hight 10s) that I don't need to suppliment that. That is left again for about a day before I start doing and changes with it. I rarely heat the water above the 60 degree ambient temp...only when I know I am going to do a large change (more that 10 gallons on a 180) because the usual 10 gallon changes I do are not enough to change temp by more than .5 degrees. The brute is kept sealed for up to 3 weeks at a time and I have never had a problem (when using IO) with ammonia. (luckily my desk is made of wood)

 

[DonW]

Nikki,

I dont think the tiny amount of ammonia found in salt mix is really a issue unless your doing really large water changes.
I quit doing the whole mixing bit two months ago, with no change what so ever. I shut down the return pump, drain my sump and refill with rodi, add IO, let the skimmer, chiller and heaters do there thing for however long it takes me to eat dinner. Then turn the return back on and add a calcium chloride and fresh carbon to the sump.
Ive seen no change for the good or bad since I got lazy and started this process.

Don

 

[CarlaW]

I do 2 20 gallon changes a week on my system. I mix the water and salt for at least 24 hours with a mag 12, so I don't really worry to much about heaters. I do check the SG tho, just for grins.
I use one of those food safe Brute garbage cans for mixing, makes life pretty easy.