Making Salt Water

A

anuragdamle

New member
Hi reefers,

i have a 90g reef pretty new to the hobby. Although i am making my own saltwater i wanted to make sure i am doing it correctly.

I make my saltwater in a 55g garbage bin. I use a mix of Instant Ocean Sea Salt & reef crystals from instant ocean to make my saltwater. I keep my salinity to 1.025-1.026.

I wanted to know if its ok to keep a live rock in the garbage bin where i make the salt water. Also i make my water changes biweekly. so should i keep water recirculating always for 2 weeks or is it ok to keep the salt water stagnant after making the salt water? I fear of algae other parasite growth if the water is kept stagnant
 
no reason to put live rock in the new saltwater. also have many gallons of water are you making. how much are you changing every 2 weeks
 
anthonys51 said:
no reason to put live rock in the new saltwater. also have many gallons of water are you making. how much are you changing every 2 weeks
Click to expand...

i make about 30 gallon salt water and change 20 every two weeks and keep some just in case. is the pump needed for recirculation always?
 
anthonys51 said:
and no you cant keep the water stagnate for 2 weeks. you need an air-stone or a pump to aerate the water
Click to expand...

I Disagree.... I make 50 gallons at a time sometimes 100. two tanks.. The tanks are semi sealed and I do NOT put air or current in the tanks. The water keeps just fine...

Some Brands of salt say mix for xx hours and use withing xx hours...

I use Kent Marine Reef salt and have no issues with it being stored for even a month or so... Do not heat the water until you are ready to use it...
 
it also depends on what your keeping in your tank. if you have sps, i wouldn't do what erica says. if your keeping softies and easy lps and changing less than 10 percent of your water sure do it the way she said. but keeping water with no air might cause the ph in the water to drop, might not. my tank is sps dominated. acro's don't play around with any type of change. so maybe i am just over cautious
 
You can keep plain IO without any aeration for for as long as you want. If you use any type of salt mix containing orgainics, i.e. Reef Chrystals, you run the risk of developing hydrogen sulfide if it isn't kept aerated. I wouldn't keep live rock in the container you're using to make your water.
 
Sorry IO= instant ocean

Personally with your stock listed I would use the regular instant ocean. I don't think you really need the elevated levels of calcium and alkalinity from the reef crystals. I would assume this why the LFS said to mix the two together. just my 2 cents
 
I will just add

Salt mix

Temperature

Light in the storage tank..

All the above Makes a Difference ... The Cooler the temp where the storage tank is the more stable the water will be...

My Mixed salt water Is same ph two hours two two weeks Two months after i mix it.

I would say in a Garage in the summer months would not be a good ideal...
 
anthonys51 said:
it also depends on what your keeping in your tank. if you have sps, i wouldn't do what erica says. if your keeping softies and easy lps and changing less than 10 percent of your water sure do it the way she said. but keeping water with no air might cause the ph in the water to drop, might not. my tank is sps dominated. acro's don't play around with any type of change. so maybe i am just over cautious
Click to expand...



I Totally agree there are a lot of factors . The biggest being the environment in the area you are storing the water. Even 0 TDS Water is not 100 pure water. So the water you are mixing the salt with..

Suggestion is to test you stored water and see what is happening with it. Just as i have done several times. I also test each time i get a new batch of salt in.

There is NOT A Blanket statement in This TOPIC. .
Myself when people say mixing in Garbage can makes me Cringe.. Thou many use them... My Containers SAY FDA FOOD GRADE Certified right on the side of them...

This is one of those Beaten to death topics that has NO True Method or answer other trial and Error to find what works best with your containers Salt mix and environment
 
normally why i give the simple answer to newbies. try to play it safe and easy. yes us more advanced can push things a little more. but when giving advice to a newbie, try the KISS way

this way he doesn't try storing saltwater in a garbage can in july in his garage
 
anthonys51 said:
normally why i give the simple answer to newbies. try to play it safe and easy. yes us more advanced can push things a little more. but when giving advice to a newbie, try the KISS way

this way he doesn't try storing saltwater in a garbage can in july in his garage
Click to expand...


Makes sense............. Kinda like How to build stand threads........
 
yes i could have told him some with orgainics you run the risk of developing hydrogen sulfide, but i thought it was simpler for him to understand the drop in ph. but its just my way of explaining to people. not to say my way is best way or worst way
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M
Back to this wonderfull hobbie after 10 years
Replies
4
Views
316
griss
griss
Brian60077
Red Sea Salt
Replies
3
Views
370
Uncle99
Uncle99
A
Salt water in wood
Replies
6
Views
2K
C.Eymann
C.Eymann
A
Keeping barnacles alive
Replies
4
Views
3K
SantaMonica
S
S
Tank is not cycling
2 3
Replies
44
Views
1K
wvned
wvned
Back
Top