Mixing salt question?

[joebro3333]

Do I have to leave the salt water mixing all night for my water change? Or is there an easier way to save me from buying two heaters and two powerheads :/


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[Adamski]

I bought a cheap heater and powerhead and use those, go second hand if needed. I do mine to night before so I get the salinity and temperature bang on


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[Waynage01]

My lfs said it is best to use a power head and heater and also to leave the mix 24 hours to make sure it's mixed properly. I like to get the clean water going into my tank at the same temperature as the tank water itself. Look on eBay. Think I paid around £10 for the heater I use in the newly mixed water.


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[mr_X]

If you aren't changing a large percentage, I found that heating the water is unnecessary. I change 50 gallons on a roughly 300 gallon total volume system and I don't heat the water and have seen no issues from it. The temp in the tank doesn't change.
As for mixing overnight, I suggest you do. In a pinch I have mixed water and used it immediately, but it's not totally mixed yet, and I have seen crystals blowing around and corals close up.

 

[Sniperhank]

I mix mine for a week. This is only because I make it after I do my weekly water change because my work schedule normally gets in the way.
I also do not heat my water change water. 4-5 gallon water change on a 55 w/ 20 sump isn't a lot of water. I also do the change through my ato so it is a gradual process through the day.


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[mr_X]

You said heating it isn't that important what about like 1 gallon of a 10gallon tank?

I doubt 10% will make much difference.

You need to clear your PM box or no one will be able to respond to you.

 

[Tobykourtney]

I have to disagree with mixing overnight. It strongly depends on what salt you use. I use red sea coral pro and if I leave it overnight to mix it gets really cloudy and the sides of the bucket is covered in residue. It even says on the packaging to mix for .5-4 hours.

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[Gregcoyote]

Don't sweat it. Anything left out of solution after a few hours is calcium and it won't hurt anything. I don't bother to heat it above room temperature.


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[Tmyboy]

As we all can see from the different answers and methods......I don't think there's one special rule that holds true with this question.

I, myself use tropic marin pro reef and only let it mix for about 2hrs max before testing and doing the water swap......and everything looks great. I think it really has to do with the brand of salt too. I was using reef crystals for years and if i left it ix overnight, it always had this brown residue on the buckets....it left a brown spot on the towels i used to wipe the buckets down afterwards. I was always curious what that was.

Now that i use the tropic marin pro reef....it's crystal clear after about 30 min. ...and it's never left any residue like the RC did. not to mention the corals are growing like weeds now.

Good luck!

 

[mr_X]

The brown residue is impurities. Iron maybe. Many salts have it. More than not actually....whether you mix it for an hour or 30 hours, it's in the water.

 

[Gregcoyote]

I think it's clay from being mined. RC does leave a tiny bit of residue behind but in many many years it has still been great salt for my use. I have left saltwater made for a week or more with proper agitation with no issues.


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