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mixing salt.. how much mixing is enough?

LivingSeas

LivingSeas

Well I started to pull the trigger on my 300g reef.

I decided to start with the water and salt.. Since thats the foundation.

I got 3x 55 gallon plastic drums last night and ordered everything today to make a complete
RODI AWC and ATO system. I have a pump on the two salt water tanks to mix and
circulate the water in the tanks. Its similiar to the glassreef setup but bigger.

Once I get the salt good and mixed into the RODI water. do I need to continue to run the
pump to keep it mixed 24/7? or can I turn it on for a couple times a day just to get things
stirred up? I dont want to waste electricity if I dont have to.

Thanks,
Mike
 
Y

yh1185

once it's mixed, it's mixed. only thing you have to worry about while storing would be possible evaporation, which may change the sg.
 
M

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
Generally when people are mixing and storing water they run a heater and a pump or bubbler in them. This keeps the water up to temperature and aerated so when it is finally added to the tank there is little change in temp, salinity and aeration.

Generally you will mix water for a water change when you need it. So you will have your RO water ready to go which really the only worry is evap, and then when you want to do a water change, add your salt, mix and it should be ready to go pretty quickly. Then you do your water change, at most people will let it mix overnight though I have read of people letting it mix for a week but again that is an outlier.
 
adesimone1

adesimone1

When I mix saltwater I keep a pump in there 24 hours a day every day, do not let the saltwater sit for a long period of time keep it mixing.
 
Sunny

Sunny

NJRC Member
Article Contributor
It depends a lot on which salt you use. I use AquaVitro from Seachem. It mixes very quickly and I no longer wait for 24hr to do a WC.
I used Tropic Marin before and I used to wait 48 hours for it to mix. I normally would consume all the mixed salt water within a week though.
If you keep it more than 2 days, make sure to have a heater and pump running 24/7.

Sunny
 
mfisher2112

mfisher2112

If you are storing it, you definitely want to keep it moving and heated to temp. And keep it covered to stop the evap.

I usually keep mine moving with a power head just enough to keep the entire drum of water slowly circulating and aerated, and I keep the temp at the same temp the tank would be. That's not only important from the standpoint of not changing the temp between water changes, but it also affects your test readings as far as salinity, PH, etc.

So keep it covered, keep it heated, and keep it moving.
 
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