Anybody mix their salt in a 5 gallon bucket

thelawnwrangler

thelawnwrangler

New member
looking for economical power head to help churn water, but not make my house look like the first 5 rows of Sea Worlds Shamu's enclosure.

Suggestions?
 
I use a orange home depot 5 gallon bucket and a maxijet 1200 pump. works great and mixes quickly and cheap. I then use the maxijet to pump the water right into the tank during a water change. 2.5 cups of reef crystals added gives 1.026 salinity. nice and easy.
 
thanks for replies good ideas

might be time for me to have a pump to mix and then pump into display. I pour into a smaller bucket to pour into aquarium, but I generally at least on 1 pour disturb sand bed.

I bought a $7 tetra heater for 5 gallon tank and oddly I am not getting the water heated up quickly lol. I might go a bigger heater or just plan to do it longer.
 
Depending on the ambient temp that might be an issue. It's cold enough where I mix I had to insulate my 5g bucket to allow it to get warm enough.
 
In a 5 gallon I just use one of the freshwater undergravel filter powerheads I have laying around. They are like 12 bucks and do the trick.
 
I do this for water changes on a 120 gal tank but have to use a 35 gal brute to get enough mixed for an all at once 25% change
 
I agree with the Brute. When I was running my 29gal, I mixed 30gal at a time then stored it in 5gal blue water bottles. I only mixed water every 2 months.

3/4 nylon hose from home depot will be fine for this pump.
 
power boat jim said:
I use an old salt bucket and a piece of pvc pipe to stir it up. Then, let it set for an hour or so. Cost is $0.00.
Click to expand...

Likewise. When done, set it on a chair and siphon it in to the sump.

It worked for my smaller set up, anyway. Going to the 75DT means I have ~135 gallons in the system so I might build a short stand for a 20H. Still see no reason why I can't run a siphon to drain it, though.
 
power boat jim said:
I use an old salt bucket and a piece of pvc pipe to stir it up. Then, let it set for an hour or so. Cost is $0.00.
Click to expand...

The problem with this is that there are buffering agents in salts that take time to fully dissolve. Most manufacturers require there salt to mix for 24hrs before adding to the display. When this is not done, the additives in the salt will either precipitate out or not fully establish. I do not know the ins and outs of the chemistry behind this but I have had a much easier time keeping parameters stable once I started doing this.
 
Clownfish Chris said:
The problem with this is that there are buffering agents in salts that take time to fully dissolve. Most manufacturers require there salt to mix for 24hrs before adding to the display. When this is not done, the additives in the salt will either precipitate out or not fully establish. I do not know the ins and outs of the chemistry behind this but I have had a much easier time keeping parameters stable once I started doing this.
Click to expand...

It's my understanding to do so to allow for proper aeration, which includes CO2 balance with the ambient atmosphere.

I'm not aware of any salt in our mixes that should take 24 hours to fully dissolve.
 
Clownfish Chris said:
The problem with this is that there are buffering agents in salts that take time to fully dissolve. Most manufacturers require there salt to mix for 24hrs before adding to the display. When this is not done, the additives in the salt will either precipitate out or not fully establish. I do not know the ins and outs of the chemistry behind this but I have had a much easier time keeping parameters stable once I started doing this.
Click to expand...

When I see to the bottom of the bucket clearly I believe everything has dissolved. Dont see any reason to wait much longer. Do what works for you though. It has seemed the longer you wait to use the water the more good stuff that precipatates out onto the sides and bottom of the bucket.
 
toothybugs said:
It's my understanding to do so to allow for proper aeration, which includes CO2 balance with the ambient atmosphere.

I'm not aware of any salt in our mixes that should take 24 hours to fully dissolve.
Click to expand...

I dont know why a proper balance with atmospheric Co2 levels matter or if its a factor if you use RO water that has been sitting in a container for several days in the same room with the sump.
 
Last edited:
I use a 7 gallon aquatainer and a eheim compact 300. I use dd-h2ocean salt mix and I mix for about 6 -7 hours in 70 degrees F temp (constant temp in my basement). I have found this to be the sweet spot for me. Any cooler temp or shorter time and I will have white undissolved solids at the bottom of the container. Any hotter temp and I'll need to mix less than 4 hours or I'll have brown precipitation in the water and on my pump.
 
I mix the day before and have 2 el cheapo nano korralias in my bucket to aerate and mix, next morning before work I throw in a heater. When I get home its perfectly mixed up and at the right temp. Then I use a maxijet 1200 to pump it into the tank.

Its super simple, and exactly 2 1/2C of RC mixes to exactly 1.025. :thumbsup:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

E
Setting up new 60 gallon tank. Mixing initial water question
Replies
7
Views
246
Elmareefer
E
Kona26
Aerate instant ocean reef crystals salt mix..?
Replies
3
Views
850
griss
griss
T
I'm confused...
Replies
12
Views
532
wvned
wvned
Anemone
Power Outages
Replies
3
Views
1K
alton
alton
F
Re-using salt (crazy idea)
Replies
14
Views
2K
DjPhato
DjPhato
Back
Top