Having a difficult time disolving salt

[canadian_eh]

I'm having problems with either getting all the salt disolve or with something precipitating out of my water when mixing sw, not sure which.

I'm using IO salt with RO water from a commercial water company. I'm only mixing 3 gal at a time but I've always got white "stuff" left at the bottom. I'm using a PH, airstone and heater heating the water to 81 deg in a HomeDepot container with a lid.

The particle size on this "stuff" is more like sand than salt

I'm worried that I may not be getting all the trace elements in the water. I've tested the following:
ph 8.2
alk good
ca 400ppm

Should I try a different water supplier or get more test kits or just not worry about it?

Thanks
-Ron

 

[blorkiemom]

Ron, I use IO and have the same stuff for about the first hour while I'm mixing with a powerhead, or for a lot longer when I tried an airstone to see if it would work. I think it's just undissolved salt. How long are you mixing? At that temperature with a powerhead for 24 hrs I would wonder if there was something wrong with the salt mix--old, maybe?

 

[lando]

Sounds like you are mixing it up right. How long do you let t mix? Do you use the same container to syphin water from your tank? Could just be sand from water changes.

 

[Toirtis]

What brand of salt ae you using? I prefer Instant Ocean, as it dissolves readily, but some brands (Forty Fathoms comes to mind), are really hard to dissolve fully.

 

[RocketSeason]

try using a long handled scraper or something to violently mix the water for about 3 minutes before turning on the power head. Works for me.

 

[canadian_eh]

Thanks for the comments. Here are the answers to your questions:

The water I have right now has been mixing for 5 days.
It's a dedicated mixing vessel but that's an interesting thought. I'll be conscious of getting any sand in next time.
IO salt.

I just tried to heat some water to the boiling point to see if this stuff would dissolve but it didn't. I can kinda squish it so I'll try the violent stirring. I also notice that there is a find white dusting on everything in the mixing vessel. Maybe I just need a stronger ph?

 

[darb2]

I mix my water in an old 20 gal tank. I fill it with ro/di water and turn on a heater and ph. Afew hours later I add salt. Mixing with my turkey baster ( man I love that thing). I have only had a problem before I added the heater.
I don't know if this helps, but it works for me

 

[Hara]

IMO, instant ocean is a bear to get to dissolve. I switched to oceanic salt quite a few months back and the difference is like night and day.

 

[klam]

IO will leave that white residue. I just sucked up the un-dissolved stuff and discarded it.

I started to slowly switch from IO to Oceanic salt a month ago. Oceanic does dissolve a lot faster but you should still let the salt mix for at least 24hrs for proper aeration

 

[HoopsGuru]

IMO, instant ocean is a bear to get to dissolve. I switched to oceanic salt quite a few months back and the difference is like night and day.

Agree 100%. I mix it in 5g jugs and after I add the scoops it barely even hits the bottom. One quick shake of the jug and it is pretty much clear, I then just have to aerate it.

The white residue could also likely be calcium carbonate that precipitates out of the solution and will not dissolve again.

Finally, and not to induce a panic or badmouth IO. But a few months ago I had a bucket that really wouldn't dissolve. As it turns out, the mixture was way off and my mix water was reading a dKH of over 50 8O . There is obviously many more buckets out there. I noticed it wasn't right because the water stayed hazy. They replaced the bucket though, mistakes have to happen sometime.

 

[Hara]

There is obviously many more buckets out there. I noticed it wasn't right because the water stayed hazy. They replaced the bucket though, mistakes have to happen sometime.

Yes, that is the theory behind how I lost the entire contents of my 175 within 30 minutes of doing a water change.

 

[canadian_eh]

Well once I'm done this bag of IO maybe I'll try some Oceanic if my LFS has it. To change salts do you just use the new stuff for water changes? Nothing else to worry about?

 

[darb2]

no worries, as long as you don't use a different salt every week. I wouldn't switch more than once in 2-3 months.

 

[blorkiemom]

Just as a reference, I mixed up 6 gallons of IO with a maxijet 1200 yesterday, and it was completely dissolved when I checked after an hour. So whatever's going on with your salt, something ain't right!