Mixing Salt in Tank

[calli]

if you are mixing salt in a tank.. say 30 or 40 gallon tank.. preparing for a water change... I have heard that you should not dump all the needed salt in at one.. (NOTE: I don't do that)

this is just for curiosity... they say your tank can CRACK.. can someone explain this..

I hear the salt and the water have some sort of a chemical reaction that produces heat???

 

[Hop]

I've never heard of a tank cracking due to mixing salt, unless perhaps your using an electric mixer

It has to do with the fact that the salt can't dissolve fast enough and you are left with chunks of salt and may have precipitate issues as well. it is also really hard to mix it to the right salinity when you dump it in all at once

 

[reefworm]

I find it easy to mix the prescribed amount of salt mix in 5 gal. buckets, using a powerhead to stir overnight. You can test SG in the bucket and add salt or water as needed to reach 1.026. Then just pour in the same amount of water you removed.

 

[calli]

5 gallon buckets is nice for a guy with a 29 gallon tank lol .. I need 4 of those buckets .. jokes..

 

[MinnFish]

You should not mix salt in DT (unless its a new start-up with no LR or LS). Water should always be mixed outside of the DT overnite if possible.

 

[reefworm]

calli,
I hear you Try this:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-11/nftt/index.php

 

[snorvich]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13016364#post13016364 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by calli
5 gallon buckets is nice for a guy with a 29 gallon tank lol .. I need 4 of those buckets .. jokes..

I mix my salt in a 250 gallon vat. Oh for the days of 5 gallon buckets.

:bum:

 

[calli]

ReefWorm.. thank you for that link ... nice.. but really my question is....

Can the Salt and the Water mix cause the tank to crack? This is what was told to me from the LFS... I was just wondering if this is a myth or if someone has actually heard of this.

 

[crsswift70]

never heard of such

 

[MinnFish]

No, its a myth.

 

[Duff Man]

Mixing calcium chloride produces a lot of heat

 

[reefergeorge]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13016974#post13016974 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by calli

Can the Salt and the Water mix cause the tank to crack? This is what was told to me from the LFS... I was just wondering if this is a myth or if someone has actually heard of this.

When I filled my tank I dumped three 50 gallon bags into my tank one at a time without problems.

 

[reefworm]

I think it's been handled, no? Mix outside the tank.

 

[calli]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13017342#post13017342 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefworm
I think it's been handled, no? Mix outside the tank.

Well I know that.. I would forsure mix outside.. but this was not really a question of what to do but more of if that was a true statment...

 

[alextheromanian]

im no expert...BUT approaching this from a chemestry point of view and BARE with me i wasnt paying attention a whole lot...


when you BREAK bonds...you release energy....in the form of heat...light etc.

the stronger a bond is the more violent reaction you get when you break it (explosions)


i see no reason for the glass to crack...due to heat...youre not breaking bonds really...youre diluting a salt mix...if anything youre CREATING bonds


on the other hand...if you came close to your fish tank with a big microwave emitter and turned it on...your salt water tank would burn since youre breaking the bonds between salt and water.



THERE! a SCIENTIFIC ( PROB NOT CORRECT) answer....

anyone dare to challange MOI???

 

[reefworm]

right - by now I'd lost sight of the original question No jibe intended, but I can see how my post may have come across as a bit "short." sorry.

 

[alextheromanian]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13017444#post13017444 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefworm
right - by now I'd lost sight of the original question No jibe intended, but I can see how my post may have come across as a bit "short." sorry.

:/

 

[reefworm]

sorry alex, I was responding to Calli

 

[calli]

oh no.. lol.. haha no worries... thats cool I was reading my orig. post and I should have worded it a bit different..

 

[alextheromanian]

THIS IS WHAT I DID.

when i first filled my 75...i dumped all the salt in at once...

5 bags.

this was about the ammount of 3/4 of a bucket...


i mixed it with my hand a bit (made my skin like sandpaper) and then set power heads in


no heat...no scratches no cracks