SW mixing ?'s...

saltwater_wannabe · 08-15-2006, 08:17 AM

After about 6 weeks of tank cycling and adding a few corals and inverts, I am ready for my first water change in the new tank. I filled a 5g bucket with tap water and began to add salt from my 5g bucket of IO salt last night. It took almost 4 1/2 cups of salt just to get to SG 1.021; by the recipe on the side of the bucket I should have ~9g of good SW. Is this a barometer of just how bad my tap water is? Can IO salt go bad? My 5g bucket of IO is mimicking a concrete block (I guess the top wasn't on that tight

).

I have been using RO water for my top-offs, but I didn't make any for my water change. Would that really make that much of a difference? Please help, I don't want to kill anything on my first of many water changes.

whatevva · 08-15-2006, 08:28 AM

Personally, I wouldn't be adding any tap water to my tank under any conditions. I doubt that it would effect your salinity reading all that much, though. It's all the other contaminates that I'd be concerned about.

theplatypus · 08-15-2006, 08:29 AM

Toss the tap water. I'm not sure what effect air has on salt mix.

saltwater_wannabe · 08-15-2006, 08:41 AM

That's what I figured. I haven't used a drop of tap water in the tank yet and everything is doing really well. I'll be heading home at lunch to start a new bucket of RO for a water change later tonight.

I have been banging my head trying to simplify my mixing procedure; right now it's quite a chore and it's going to get old fast if I don't find an easier way to do it (it happened with my last tank).

whatevva · 08-15-2006, 08:55 AM

Quote:

I have been banging my head trying to simplify my mixing procedure; right now it's quite a chore and it's going to get old fast if I don't find an easier way to do it (it happened with my last tank).

Can you outline your current process, right from how you make the RO/DI? Maybe someone can offer some suggestions on an easier method.

Geoff · 08-15-2006, 09:12 AM

did i not show you my water change system when you were over here.

not a good thing when the salt turns hard. the Ca will not absorb as readily when the salt is in brick form. you might want to mix a bit, than test it. when the salt is in brick form you will need to add salt very slowly to keep it from turning into this impossible to remove Ca coating on the container.

G~

Hardhead Cat · 08-15-2006, 09:26 AM

I use powerheads to mix my RO/DI with salt in buckets. It is a pain, but I honestly don't know another way to do it in my household setup. I would definitely NOT introduce anything with tap water in to my tank, especially for water changes. RO makes life so much better in the long run for the tank's health!

HHC

whatevva · 08-15-2006, 09:33 AM

Quote:

I use powerheads to mix my RO/DI with salt in buckets. It is a pain, but I honestly don't know another way to do it in my household setup.

5 gallon buckets? or a nice Brute? That's all I do is use a Brute 44 and a mag 18.

saltwater_wannabe · 08-15-2006, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whatevva

Can you outline your current process, right from how you make the RO/DI? Maybe someone can offer some suggestions on an easier method.

I've got some food-grade 5g buckets that I picked up a few years ago from a restuarant supply house, a MJ1200 powerhead and a Tronic hang-on heater set to 77deg. I fill one bucket with fresh water (RO hopefully) and throw in the heater and powerhead and slowly add salt until I get to 1.021 or so. The other bucket is for old saltwater only which I fill with a wide-mouth gravel vacuum. The process itself is really messy and tends to take longet than it should because of the setup and clean up of everything; I got lazy with water changes for my last tank for that very reason.

I think I'm going to invest in some 20g tanks and build a stand in the garage for mixing and RO storage. The problem is that the garage is ~40ft from the tank and I can't figure out the easiest way to get RO water or new SW to the tank with out toting it across the house.

saltwater_wannabe · 08-15-2006, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geoff

did i not show you my water change system when you were over here.

You did, but I couldn't quite understand it that day (I had new-tank-on-the-brain

). I have since tried to sketch out a system that will work the easiest; i.e. even my wife could do it if I'm out of town.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geoff

not a good thing when the salt turns hard. the Ca will not absorb as readily when the salt is in brick form. you might want to mix a bit, than test it. when the salt is in brick form you will need to add salt very slowly to keep it from turning into this impossible to remove Ca coating on the container.

G~

That's what I was afraid of. I thought the bucket was sealed, but the lid was too easy to take off when I opened it last night. I'm hoping that there's only a 'crust layer' of salt that I can break up and get to the dryer salt. We'll see when I get home at lunch.

whatevva · 08-15-2006, 10:05 AM

Quote:

The problem is that the garage is ~40ft from the tank and I can't figure out the easiest way to get RO water or new SW to the tank with out toting it across the house

I go 25' and up a flight of stairs with a hose and the mag 18.

tashier · 08-15-2006, 11:19 AM

powerheads to mix it up

abigtroutt · 08-15-2006, 12:15 PM

I use a new 5 gal bucket from home depot. I fill 5 gallons of RO/DI water and salt. I then mix with a RIO 800 pump. I also have another empty 5 gal. I have a hose that fits on the end of my RIO pump.

First I empty 5 gal from my tank into my empty bucket using the same hose that fits on my pump. Then I hook the hose up to my pump in the new saltwater and the pump fills it up......easy and no back breaking work

seaham358 · 08-15-2006, 03:40 PM

I mix salt in the 32 gal brute garbage can. You should mix salt for around 24 hours before using and bring up to temp before dumping in the tank.
I have a ph and heater in the can.
Pass on tap water if possible......

partobe · 08-15-2006, 04:50 PM

tap water is not your friend