mixing saltwater

[SRT80]

When mixing salt water, how long should you let it mix in a tank with a powerhead? a few hours? 24 hours?

Thanks,
Steve

 

[loyalty]

FWIW i let mine bubble 24hrs before i do a water change

 

[Angela Short]

I have seen people recomend 2-3 days. Longer the better they say. But if you have a way of mixing it with a lot of surface aggitation like pointing the PHead up the PH stabelizes faster. The reason they say not to mix and dump in fresh mixed SW is it takes awhile for the PH to regulate as well as the other parameters but getting O2 mixed in faster regulates it faster. If its a big water change I do at least 24 HRs with PHead pointing up. If I just need a few gallons I mix and dump.

 

[KAiNE]

I try for 48 hrs but sometime its less. I use a fairly strong pump pointed up in the bottom of a 44gallon can creating decent surface agitation.
In emergency situations where i need water fast i use a paint stirrer, I got a few plastic ones from lowes that attach to a drill. I also use this to mix up 2-part as well.

 

[SRT80]

I'm only dealing with 4 gal. I do a 4 gal. water change every 2 weeks on my 20 gallon. Thanks for the replies.

Steve

 

[gflat65]

That'd be a little more than 20% of your water volume, so you would likely benefit from letting it sit. My needs are a little more than yours, but I have three 37 gallon tubs. One sits in the spare bathroom tub for RO/DI water. One is used to mix water (and it sometimes mixes for weeks with a Rio 2500 and heater-though I shouldn't need the heater with a pump that big). The third is for water changes. I used to do the mix and change and would always wonder why it took a little while for my corals to open back up. Cold water makes them shrink up. Go figure. If you have the space to do it, I'd recommend letting it sit and mix.

 

[billr]

Overnight for me.

 

[doodoobrown]

thats funny gary. im glad im not the only one with a tub in the spare bathroom for ro/di water.

 

[Pickupman66]

My wife would kill me if I suggested I do that... Wow.. I dont even want that conversation...

 

[DMBillies]

I used to let my water sit and mix for days... because I always heard that longer was better. I have a freshwater can and a saltwater can. However, after a few months of letting it staying mixing like that, my saltwater can developed this brown looking film on the inside of it. I know my freshwater is clean (i.e., all the typical measures are 0) and I've never had the brown stuff grow there with the same set-up, so I assumed there was something in the salt that was promoting the growth of this "stuff." So, now I only mix water a day or two before I am going to use it. Has anyone else had a similar problem? Should I not worry about it? I liked having the extra salt water mixed up all of the time in case I needed to acclimate something or whatever and needed to take some water out of a tank.

 

[gflat65]

I get the brown algae in both (FW and SW), so every couple of weeks or so, I break out the vinegar and water and give them a rub down to clean it all out.