Quick question on salt-mixing in QT

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MarkW19

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I've been mixing some saltwater (synthetic) in my 15gal QT for 24 hours now, but my salinity isn't correct and I need to add another 400grams salt.

As I'm just about to go to bed (and my QT is in my bedroom), is it ok to stop it mixing now (ie. turn off powerhead and heater) and start it again in the morning when I add the extra salt?

And, if that's ok, how long would you give the extra salt to mix in? Ideally, if I start it mixing again tomorrow morning at 9, I'd like it to be ok to use by 2 (ie. 5 hours).

Will this be enough time for the extra salt to mix in?
 
IS the pump load or something? I owuld just let it mix all night long. If you cut it off then you should wait for it to warm back up again as cold water disolves salt less easily.

Yes that would be fine for time. Ideally you want to have a longer period but if need be the 5-6 hour timeframe will work.
 
Cheers...

I need to turn it off because it's really noisey in my room!

When I start it again in the morning (as well as adding the extra salt) you recommend I should turn my heater on first (and get it up to the correct temp) then add the new salt and turn my powerhead back on?
 
im sure if u just turn it all on at once and add the salt and give a long enough time for the salt to dissolve completely then it will be just fine basically let it run all day...that is what i do and it works fine for me
 
FYI, dissolving the salt isn't the only thing you have to take care for.

There are a ton of chemical reactions that happen when you mix salt into fresh water. It takes about 12 hours for the more violent reactions to complete. The only real problem that you have to be carefull for after that is the oxygen levels in the water. Some of the chem reactions deplete O2 levels pretty severely. If you run a bubbling powerhead through the saltwater after it is mixed, it helps speed up the oxygenation, but it takes time to get that O2 back in the water.

Usually 18 hours with a powerhead is enough to mix most commercial salts safely into fresh RO/DI. It's not so important when you don't have fish or inverts in the tank, but when you do, it can create issues to dump water in a tank that hasn't been sufficiently 'aged'.
 
Well, I've only 5 hours to dissolve my extra 400grams salt I'm putting in now.

Will that not be long enough? The rest of the salt (1.44kg) has had over 24hours.
 
I've taken your advice and I'm going to give the extra salt 12 hours to mix today. I just restarted the powerhead/heater this morning after leaving it off overnight.

Over the next 3 days (I'm getting my fish on Sunday) I'm planning to do the same - keep it mixing during the day but turn it off at night. Will this be ok?

I'll then start my filter a day or two before I get my fish.
 
What kind of powerhead is it that it's too loud to keep on at night? I leave my maxijet900 on in a bucket at the foot of my bed and it's totally silent.
 
It's a maxijet 1200. No way is it (or any of my other maxijets in my main tank!) silent.
 
Hmm that's strange.. I have 4 of them and you can't even tell they are switched on because they are so quiet.
 
i have 2 600's and a 1200 on my cpr...my 600s are totally silent but my 1200 is very loud for some reason (i think it is becaues of the air that it is taking in for the skimmer)
 
Yeah the venturi makes the swishing noise, but the pump itself should be silent.

Mark, did you mean the noise from the venturi or the pump?
 
The pump, I haven't got the venturi attached! :)

It's not a swishing noise, it's a bassy vibration.
 
That's probably because it's touching the container.. if you use the mounting attachments there shouldn't be any vibration.
 
I'll have a play with it! It's done mixing now anyway...

I'm not putting the filter in until tomorrow night, then getting my fish on sunday. Should I leave it mixing again all day tomorrow or just start it again when I start the filter?
 
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