is it better to let sw age

[morgan24]

just wondering new at the sw thing.. Would it be better if i let my top off water age for little before i add it to my tank. now i just put into a bucket with a heater once it reaches ny tank temp i add it is that ok

 

[mjvincent]

You aren't topping off with salt water are you? If you top off with saltwater you are adding to the salt content of your tank everytime. When water evaporates the salt is left behind in the tank. Use freshwater to top off...


If you are using RO water you don't need to age it... Tap water should be treated with a dechlorinator treatment and then left for about a day.

 

[markh30]

I totally agree with mjvincent. The water evaporates, not the salt. I fill a bucket with RO water and keep it in the cabinet under my tank. I've seen some designs for auto-topoffs that I wouldn't mind trying.

 

[Bearfan]

I use an autotopoff, but when I didn't I would let my RO sit overnight just to warm up to at least room temp (it's pretty cold out of the tap).

I let my SW age overnight more to stabalize the temp and make sure that my readings are acurate.

 

[Ace123]

help please! I am new and I am not figuring out how to work this site. I've been to chat but everytime I'm there I find no one there. Is there a specific time everyone chats? Or amI doing something wrong? Also, everyone is shown offline, is this common?

 

[RMPD109]

Ace 123- You post a question and people will reply as they check the boards. Most answers can be found by using the search feature or the articles section at the top of each page. The chat is for anytime but is not always active. It is normally a hit or miss type thing. Sundays at 9pm is a great time to chat.

 

[Thumper]

I keep my sw moving with ph's for at least 24-48 hours and at 80 degrees, my ro water I just warm up.

 

[lando]

help please! I am new and I am not figuring out how to work this site. I've been to chat but everytime I'm there I find no one there. Is there a specific time everyone chats? Or amI doing something wrong? Also, everyone is shown offline, is this common?

this site is more of a message board then a chat room. However, there is a chat portion that you may find a few people on every now and again. Sunday nights seem to be the big time to chat for everyone here. If you have questions you can start a new post in the appropriate category and as people log nto this site they can view it and respond if needed. Most of the time it is not in "live time".
By the way...Welcome to AquariumAdvice.come!!!

just wondering new at the sw thing.. Would it be better if i let my top off water age for little before i add it to my tank. now i just put into a bucket with a heater once it reaches ny tank temp i add it is that ok

Aging it is a good idea. As mentioned, make sure you are using FW for all top-offs. Just make sure the temp of the water is the same as the tank water.

 

[morgan24]

thanks guys

 

[douggiestyle]

ive found that aging your salt water in a new tank can cause the calcium to precipitate after about 24-36 hours. i do not know why. but when using an older tank that was used as an aquarium at one time no precipitation occurs at all duing any given time. my current mix for a water change has been aging for about 3 mths lol.

 

[Phyl]

ive found that aging your salt water in a new tank can cause the calcium to precipitate after about 24-36 hours

I don't think I understand what your saying. Could you please clarify? Do you find that when you age your saltwater and add it to your tank you're seeing calcium precipitating? I've never seen anything like that happen in my setup.

 

[douggiestyle]

when aging salt water in a new tank (the one in which you are aging in)

in other words i bought a 20 gallon tank to age saltwater in after 24-36 hours the calcium started precipitating out over and over for about a year at which time i stoped using that 20 gallon tank and switched to an old 10 gallon tank which had been used as qt. the calcium did not prcipitate.

 

[klam]

Where dosing something. I thought calcium precipitation was because there is too much calcium. I'm at a lost to how a glass tank can cause this to happen. Was this a brand new 20g?

I keep extra saltwater in a covered container with a PH. Just incase I need an emergency water change. A few days before a water change I will make more salt water in the same bucket.

 

[douggiestyle]

yep and no just salt and ro/di water. odd aint it.

 

[markh30]

That's really odd, douggiestyle. I wonder why that is?

 

[douggiestyle]

oh i know. all i can say is for someone else to try it. again the glass tank was new, never used for a thing other than mix.

i should add that i age with a powerhead with the air inducter thing and heater.

 

[malkore]

the only time I've ever had new SW that's aging precipitate the calcium was 2 weeks ago, when I had the bright idea to pre-dose the new water with calcium and alk buffer.

For the record, I don't do any heating of top off water. Consider that its often close to room temp (70 degrees) and that you're probably only adding 1-2 gallons to at least 20 gallons. you're talking about changing the temp of the tank water about .1 to .2 degrees. who cares?

now for a water change, yes age the SW, and yes bring it up to the same temp.

 

[douggiestyle]

nope not adding buffer.

were you using a new glass tank. by new i mean never used.