lid left off salt bucket

[dwd5813]

so, i screwed up today. i made some saltwater before class this morning and when i got home several hours later i noticed that i had left the lid off of the bucket. the top layer of salt was clumped together, which i mixed back into the rest of the salt. now i'm wondering if i should have done that or not. what do you think? how bad did i just screw up my bucket of salt?

 

[KyleO]

I would say that it all depends on the environment that the open salt was left in. If you are just worried about the clumping and moisture that got into the salt..........I wouldn't worry about that. The only thing I would worry about is contaminants.

 

[badonkadonk]

It'll be fine, you'll just need to add ever so slightly more salt from that bucket to compensate for the weight of water adsorbed.

 

[toaster77]

it'll be ok, just more of a pain to scoop out (it will cake)

 

[flyyyguy]

your calcium and alk levels among other things that arent so easily measured will be skewed and low somewhat due to preciptiation . How much depends on how wet it was, how much caked, and how much mixing it worsened and spread the issue

its trash imo and only good for cooking or cycling rock. not suitable for a display loaded with coral. If you do use it, make sure to measure the crucial parameters to make sure a water change wont drop things out of range

This is why a 50 gallon drum of salt would be a really bad idea for me. i can handle screwing up every so often and toasting a half bucket or so of salt and shrug it off...............a drum would really tick me off

I currently have 3 partial buckets of salt in my garage right now that i have doen the same thing with and I wont use them. I do keep them around though as it is good for some things.......just not my diisplays

 

[shred5]

I have found with salt that ends up clumping some of the elements in the salt no longer disolve right. After mixing there is always whites stuff on the bottom of the pail or the water looks kind of cloudy. Same thing with really old salt. I have always tossed salt this has happened too...

might want to mix up some in a clear/glass container and see what happens first.


Dave

 

[dwd5813]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12537405#post12537405 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by shred5
I have found with salt that ends up clumping some of the elements in the salt no longer disolve right. After mixing there is always whites stuff on the bottom of the pail or the water looks kind of cloudy. Same thing with really old salt. I have always tossed salt this has happened too...

might want to mix up some in a clear/glass container and see what happens first.


Dave

i'm mixing in a new tank and there does seem to be a little bit of residue on the bottom, but it's less than was there yesterday. i guess i'll just give it some extra time to dissolve, and see where i'm at in a day or two.

 

[useskaforevil]

test the water for calcium, if its low thats probably it. i had the same problem and the only thing that tested lower than what it shouldve been was Ca. could of couse be Ca plus other things

 

[down and outman]

Did the same thing recently. :blown:
Saying all kind of bad things out loud as I was trying to break it up. LOL. It'll be fine, just a nusiance to measure and use.

 

[vanmo92]

If it was less than a day it will be alright.

 

[dwd5813]

it was probably 12 hours or so
also, i don't have my tests yet, i'll be picking them up tomorrow. the only thing i have atm is the refractometer.