Old Salt

[chem368]

After putting the hobby on hold for a couple years while I went back to school I had a bunch of salt sitting in my garage...

There is about 400gal worth that I would like to use now that I am getting back in, but was wondering if people know if there is a "shelf life" for salt (especially in the heat of PHX). The salt is in the sealed 50 gal. bags (instant Ocean), it is hard to the tough, but breaks up if i "work it".

Any one know if salt can "go bad" in a sealed bag? I'd hate to throw it away, but also don't want to fill my tank with crappy water.

 

[schristi69]

Mix some up and use your test kit. From what I can find, as long as you keep it from moisture, there is no expiration date. I have never had an issue with any I have had for a long time.

 

[chem368]

Well I gave that a try and got the following...
Mg 1800ppm
Cal 400 mg/l
Alk 10+

Mg and Alk seemed oddly high. I wouldn't think these would go up is Salt sat around, I would think the opposite. Now I need to verify my test kits...

 

[Weyrman]

Test kits have expiration dates... so, yeah, I'd check them out too.

 

[briankmarsh1980]

It is fine but it will clump up so you need to take that into consideration

 

[dream54ing]

I do not recommend using it....why take a risk to save pennies compare to what your putting into this hobby maybe use it cure live rock.