Question bout saltwater

[Spanky]

I was wondering how long after you mix the saltwater for water changes do i let it sit for? i thought you should mix it an then use it but reading on net differently. so i figured i'd ask here since you guys always seem to steer me down the right path thanks.

heres my set up
5 gallon bucket full of tap water treated. which not sure needed to do surprisingly my city water when ran a test kit for salt an fresh water read 0's across the board except for ph didn't test that since always add prime anyway like was told.

added heater to water let it sit till got to 78 degrees i don't have a aeration pump yet thats my next planned purchase been stiring it by hand every 15 minutes to make sure all salt disolved.

but big question is how long can it or should i even let it sit after i know salt mixed good with just a heater in it ? thanks

 

[bskerrichard27]

I use a power head and let it sit at least over night. As long as the water is moving you can let it sit a good while, mine sits for a week or two sometimes. Get yourself a cheap power head to mix the water and salt for you,hope this helps..

 

[Phranque]

+1. If you're using a 5gal bucket, mix and then use a small heater & power head overnight...... You want some sort of constant circulation.

Don't know if you're aware, but you really shouldn't be using tap water, particularly if you plan on keeping corals. Tap contains trace amounts of some pretty bad stuff (that we don't test for) that can accumulate in your substrate & rock over a period of time, eventually becoming deadly to just about anything we keep. Fresh water critters are much more tolerant...... salties, not so much.

 

[Schism]

I was wondering how long after you mix the saltwater for water changes do i let it sit for? i thought you should mix it an then use it but reading on net differently. so i figured i'd ask here since you guys always seem to steer me down the right path thanks.

heres my set up
5 gallon bucket full of tap water treated. which not sure needed to do surprisingly my city water when ran a test kit for salt an fresh water read 0's across the board except for ph didn't test that since always add prime anyway like was told.

added heater to water let it sit till got to 78 degrees i don't have a aeration pump yet thats my next planned purchase been stiring it by hand every 15 minutes to make sure all salt disolved.

but big question is how long can it or should i even let it sit after i know salt mixed good with just a heater in it ? thanks

First off it doesnt really matter if your tap reads zero across the board. Guaranteed its not 0 TDS and thats the important number. Also city water supplies are treated with chlorine/chloramines which is why the a Prime is essential as it neutralizes the chlorine so dont stop using it becuase you think you dont have to, becuase you do.

Second to answer you original question it is best to atleast allow your water to mix overnight with a powerhead and a heater. Heating to temp first before dissolving the salt will allow the salt to dissolve better. Atleast a few hours is recommended if not overnight.

Shouldn't have any reason to use sooner than that unless its a immediate emergency. Mixing overnight will ensure the salt fully dissolves and ph stabilizes as well as becoming well oxygenated. Dont let mixed saltwater sit without circulation.

 

[Spanky]

Thanks all for the help.

 

[Ausfish]

My coral reef pro instructions say don't mix for more than 4 hours...

Also, did you test for heavy metals?
Because things like copper can kill corals on no time!

 

[Spanky]

no didn't test for metals. wasn't aware of needing to till asking this question, i was mostly letting the lfs guide me along on setting up tank till recently i realized he was trying to push me to put things in fast. lfs was where i got the idea tap water was fine to use, and also talked me into fish that will fight each other telling me they were peaceful an got along. Once i realized lfs sold me my 24 gallon jbj way over priced then found out the other fish he showed me was not the ocellaris clownfish but a different clownfish i started seeing how he was trying to set me up to fail an found this site so still learning alot from this community. the clownfish he sold me are either true percula or going to be one of the black varieties of clownfish they went from all orange an white to developing some black on the body an comparing them to few the mail order sites those are what i got them narrowed down too which is not what i was looking for. i was looking for nemo so my nephew when he visits can see his favorite fish and since never seen the movie personally i went off lfs saying that is nemo they had it listed as fancy clownfish which i'm not seeing anywhere a variety of clown called fancy. So thanks to all you guys an this lady on here thats helped me tremendously i'm now learning the correct way to do this. i only have 20 years fw experience so i'm in uncharted waters for me. i'd went to her with this question but i already asked her so many questions i don't want to keep bugging her with everything. plus what i read on internet i seen like a 50/50 split so figured best to ask community here an find out what to do. now working on getting a circulation pump an a under sink ro/di unit hopefully can find one.

 

[Schism]

no didn't test for metals. wasn't aware of needing to till asking this question, i was mostly letting the lfs guide me along on setting up tank till recently i realized he was trying to push me to put things in fast. lfs was where i got the idea tap water was fine to use, and also talked me into fish that will fight each other telling me they were peaceful an got along. Once i realized lfs sold me my 24 gallon jbj way over priced then found out the other fish he showed me was not the ocellaris clownfish but a different clownfish i started seeing how he was trying to set me up to fail an found this site so still learning alot from this community. the clownfish he sold me are either true percula or going to be one of the black varieties of clownfish they went from all orange an white to developing some black on the body an comparing them to few the mail order sites those are what i got them narrowed down too which is not what i was looking for. i was looking for nemo so my nephew when he visits can see his favorite fish and since never seen the movie personally i went off lfs saying that is nemo they had it listed as fancy clownfish which i'm not seeing anywhere a variety of clown called fancy. So thanks to all you guys an this lady on here thats helped me tremendously i'm now learning the correct way to do this. i only have 20 years fw experience so i'm in uncharted waters for me. i'd went to her with this question but i already asked her so many questions i don't want to keep bugging her with everything. plus what i read on internet i seen like a 50/50 split so figured best to ask community here an find out what to do. now working on getting a circulation pump an a under sink ro/di unit hopefully can find one.

Tap is generally not recommended becuase so many problems can occur from using it. 0 TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) RO/DI water has 0 contaminants and zero possibility of water source related issues. Most city water supplies test in the hundreds of TDS. Those contaminants can be anything from the above stated copper and basically any other mineral or element. These extra elements often cause problems with reef keeping. It really depends on the water source. There are simply things in tap that we cant even reliably test for. Starting with a baseline and constant of zero TDS will ensure no problems.