RedSea Pro - mixed wrong -Cloudy - 2 days

[Coffeeinbed]

Hi all,


I read the directions after I made the water cloudy:uhoh3:. Mixed it in a new 20 gallon with cold water, turned on pump, added heater.....Crystal clear then milky white.

2 days on and it's still looks like soapy water. How long will this last?

I read/watched the videos too late. I'm use to mixing Instant Ocean.


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Tank - fish and live rock only and live rock/sand is well cured -

20 gallon long, 1.022 SG, 78 deg

Thanks...

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Are you stirring it still? I'd just let it sit and settle, then use it.

 

[Coffeeinbed]

Thanks for the reply Randy.

It looks like it's finally setttling. I have an RO (5 stage) unit but I'm not setting it up - I'm using city tap water.

Long story...but I've decided not to dive headlong into a large reef

I don't have the time or budget right now but I've bought most of the start-up things...testors,salt etc.


Anyway...


How do I mix CoralPro with tap water for use in FOWLR tank?. I have a 150 gallon bucket of CoralPro salt.

 

[mindi]

I mixed mine ( same salt mix) and started up two days ago and it is still very dirty... hoping it just needs more time, Last time I used it I dont recall it taking this long to clear. Maybe a bit of patience is needed...not so good at that.

 

[dburt520]

I've been using red sea pro and I only let it mix for 2-3 hours max. Generally I start the salt mixing before I do my other tank maintance, by the time I am ready to siphon/refill the water has come up tp temp, ph closely matches, sal is always spot on and it is crystal clear (about an hour usually).

I did read somewhere when I was looking at salt choices and reviews (I hate saying this without posting the link) that the longer you mix red sea pro salt, the precipitate will cause milky water.

 

[disc1]

It looks like it's finally setttling. I have an RO (5 stage) unit but I'm not setting it up - I'm using city tap water.

That could potentially be a cause for your problem or making it worse if your city tap is hard water.

Why wouldn't you hook up the RODI if you have it?

 

[Steveb]

I've been using red sea pro and I only let it mix for 2-3 hours max. Generally I start the salt mixing before I do my other tank maintance, by the time I am ready to siphon/refill the water has come up tp temp, ph closely matches, sal is always spot on and it is crystal clear (about an hour usually).

I did read somewhere when I was looking at salt choices and reviews (I hate saying this without posting the link) that the longer you mix red sea pro salt, the precipitate will cause milky water.

I've never experienced that. What I have experienced is alk/ca precipitating out if I continue to mix over 24 or 48 hours, but the water is clear.

 

[Coffeeinbed]

dburt520

that the longer you mix red sea pro salt, the precipitate will cause milky water.

It said this in a RedSea video. It said just use RO, mix it briefly and "it's ready to use". If you over mix it - it gets cloudy. I can attest to that!!!! :uhoh2:

I mixed some up in a 2.5 gallon bucket, just till clear (less than a minute stirring gently with my hand) it worked okay I guess.

I bought into the whole idea from BRS. I'm in the wrong though, I used the product in a way it was not intended to be used.



disc1

Why wouldn't you hook up the RODI if you have it?

A mixture of laziness, hassle and one more thing to be maintained. I know it may cause a world of hurt by using city water but....I'd have invent a way to mount the RO unit over the sink without sinking bolts into the 70 year old cinder block -and being a renter - of an old townhouse with plaster walls.If something goes wrong ....or....or...or..

I have the double carbon 5 stage RO/DI unit with TDS meters in/out and pressure meters from BRS.....

-----------------------------------


I've got a fair amount of gear, most I should sell - phosphate meter, Salinity meter, Digital Aquatics Plus, Supplements....on and on....

All I'm going to use is the GFO and Carbon .....:hmm6:

 

[dburt520]

What I don't understand, and a guest speaker we had from Red Sea at a local fish club meeting could not answer....

What is the different between mixing the salt in a bucket for 24 hours, or letting your tank run 24/7/365. Why does the tank not cloud over time but in a bucket it does?

If the cloudiness is indeed caused by the precipitate, then why does water in the tank stay crystal clear between weekly water changes.

I am guessing it has something to do with the biological system, however it even stumped the red sea rep... so maybe it is not that easy?

 

[Coffeeinbed]

dburt520

If the cloudiness is indeed caused by the precipitate, then why does water in the tank stay crystal clear between weekly water changes.

Had a similar question about "mix it up for a few seconds and now it's ready to use"....Seems to fly in the face of proper gas exchange of newly mixed synthetic salt....


It's beyond my knowlege of chemistry which is very basic anyway. I'm sure it's a design advantage for Red Sea chemists to use a known quantity - deionized water. If you use perfect standard A (DI water) and mix with our perfect blend - saltmix-> B, the result is a constant AB mixture that is known and predictable. That's my guess anyway

But if you throw in an unknown A - city water - then you get a milky funk.

 

[mindi]

Mixing

Mixing

Well confession time...I didn't read the instructions. I mixed the salt the way I have done it before. 920gms dry into a 25litre food grade bin, 24 litres of RO on top ...tilt the container a few times, run a little Whale circ pump in the container for maybe 2 mins, pump straight into tank.
I can now see the back of the tank (600l/2ft) after 4 days and it is clearing up... but I certainly didn't overmix, and may have even unintentionally done it the correct way....only at startup of course so no temp concern

 

[Gorgok]

920gms dry into a 25litre food grade bin, 24 litres of RO on top

Aren't you always supposed to add salts to water, not water to salts?

 

[disc1]

Aren't you always supposed to add salts to water, not water to salts?

Correct.

 

[mindi]

Mixing

Mixing

Other than being easier to mix adding salt to water why would it matter..? it is not as though it is an exothermic reaction like water and acid where adding water to acid can be very dangerous...don't think the way salts and water meet is significant other than perhaps mixing a bit quicker.
Happy for a chemist to point out if that is wrong..?

 

[disc1]

Other than being easier to mix adding salt to water why would it matter..? it is not as though it is an exothermic reaction like water and acid where adding water to acid can be very dangerous...don't think the way salts and water meet is significant other than perhaps mixing a bit quicker.
Happy for a chemist to point out if that is wrong..?

The problem is that when you add water to salt you have right in the beginning a situation where you have a lot of salt and not much water so the concentrations of everything dissolving are really high. The salt mix has calcium in it and it also has carbonate in it. When those two get together at too high of a concentration they get together to make calcium carbonate. Calcium carbonate will not redissolve, once it falls out it is forever. You have to dissolve it in acid. So now the mix will be cloudy and will have lower calcium and alkalinity numbers.

 

[mindi]

aha...thanks for that.

aha...thanks for that.

live and learn.

my TA wasn't too bad at completion at 3.7 meq/l but Ca was surprisingly low at 360...that would explain it.

 

[mindi]

outcome

outcome

cleared up beautifully in the end, water looks great. Gave it a little encouragement towards the end with a shot of Seachem Clarity which I have never used before but now have the clearest water I have ever had...
it works pretty well.