salt creep

[low riderr]

just wondering what you folks do about/with salt creep?do you clean it off carefully not to get any in the system,or do you wipe it into the system. ive always been carefull to try and limit the amount of salt that falls into the display but when cleaning the sumps i am not as carefull. just curious.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

you're not supposed to let 'creep fall back into the water as it contains contaminents.

There's a salt creep eliminator that's marketed by someone (Coralife?). I've never tried it but I'd be interested in hearing reviews.

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

I've seen the chemists post that they knock the stuff back in.

 

[low riderr]

what kind of contaminents

 

[iamwrasseman]

IMO i would agree with Gary as simple things like dust will be attracted to the wetness of the salt creep and it will have a higher concentration of contaminents .

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

it makes sense that anything that CAN stick.... will stick.

Ever see those chemist's tanks?

 

[magdelan]

Ever see those chemist's tanks?

Yeah, they look like some sort of science experiment.

 

[Swolek]

I try not to knock it into the main system but if it happens I don't sweat it.

 

[tmz]

I clean it as best as I can without it falling in usually a wet rag or paper towel with some vinegar on it will dissolve it and make it easier to wipe up when it's really stuck. Mostly, I worry about a chunk falling on something and harming it but don't get too worried if a little falls into the sump though I try to avoid it.

 

[tmz]

BTW, I'm always on the Reef Chemistry forum and have been for years and don't recall any advice to knock it back in.

 

[IronMan72]

I've used it and it works well. IME, it doesn't completely eliminate the creep but reduces it significantly. While they claim it is safe if it gets in the water you want to avoid it. My skimmer goes crazy if I'm not careful and allow it to get into the water.

I try not to knock it back in on purpose but don't sweat it if it happens.

you're not supposed to let 'creep fall back into the water as it contains contaminents.

There's a salt creep eliminator that's marketed by someone (Coralife?). I've never tried it but I'd be interested in hearing reviews.

 

[votek]

I would always wipe it off and NOT knock it back in to avoid messing with the salinity

 

[lcs]

Mostly, I worry about a chunk falling on something and harming it

I just had this happen the other day. A chunk of what I'm assuming was salt fell in and right onto a head of frogspawn. It's still recovering. I hope it continues to.

That being said, I try not to let salt in the DT.

 

[Tonynlo]

I use Coralife glass polisher. It leaves a smooth, Teflon slippery, surface behind after you use it. I've also used it on acrylic light shields, wood and a lot of different types of plastics.

It really works wonderful on glass. Not only does it remove the salt, it prevents it from sticking for a few weeks. Not to mention the added bonus of your mag-float having a super slippery surface to slide against is fantastic.

Good stuff

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

LOL! I have seen pictures. About the only place I get creep is from the bottom trim on my tank which my little ones kept clean; I'm glad to again see it, and them not eating it.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1916635&highlight=salt+creep

 

[tmz]

Thanks for the link.
The only chemist there was Boomer and he noted dried out salt water is not the same in terms of ionic composition as salt mix. He admitted knocking it back in to his aquarium without issues for a long period of time but didn't recommend it.
Seems to me if nothing else contaminated it from the air by sticking to the surface ,like dust etc., much of the good stuff :calcium , carbonate, magnesium and bad stuff: impurities would precipitate as the water evaporated in the dried salt along with impurities as the ph would rise durng the drying process.

I think it's a good practice to avoid knocking it back in. It is not the same chemically as salt mix but there's nothing to suggest any chemical alteration that occurs will effect the tank in a significant way.

I get some around the sump that falls in from time to time if I'm not careful and it causes no issues when it does . Dropping it directly into the tank can harm things if it falls on them or if fish eat it.

 

[SkiFletch]

What mythical "contaminants" are found in salt creep? Dust? Airborne particulates that fall into the water anyways? It's not like the salt creep is some kind of living sponge that filters the air in your home and traps every piece of dust, skin flake, etc... Nor is it somehow manufacturing mythical pollutants of some kind. It's just dried tank water. Sure as Tom suggests, it might not be identical to seawater mix, but it's not like it's littered with plutonium or something...

I knock my salt creep that builds up in my sump area back into the sump all the time. I wouldn't reccomend knocking it into the display tank, purely because as another poster mentioned in this thread, when it hits corals, bad things happen, but knocking it back into the sump is fine. And if you think the couple teaspoons of salt creep are going to affect the salinity on anything larger than a nano, well think about how heavy that bag or bucket of salt mix is that you need to use to mix your seawater... Unless your salt creep is growing stalagmites, I wouldn't worry about salinity

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

What mythical "contaminants" are found in salt creep? Dust? Airborne particulates that fall into the water anyways?

exactly- nothing mythical here!
It's commonly estimated that greater than 90% of the contaminents entering an aquarium do so at the water's surface. Ditto with swimming pools. It's one of the reasons that surface skimming overflows are so popular on both

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

I use Coralife glass polisher. It leaves a smooth, Teflon slippery, surface behind after you use it. I've also used it on acrylic light shields, wood and a lot of different types of plastics.

It really works wonderful on glass. Not only does it remove the salt, it prevents it from sticking for a few weeks. Not to mention the added bonus of your mag-float having a super slippery surface to slide against is fantastic.

Good stuff

I use this myself and agree it's very good.
Is it the same thing as salt creep eliminator?

 

[Tonynlo]

From what I understand, the eliminator it more of a pre-spray. Spray a coating on to your equipment to prevent salt from sticking. You still need to wipe the salt off at first. Seeing as the glass polish is also reef safe, I have never tried the eliminator. I believe they have discontinued the spray though for whatever reason (according to marinedepot), which would be enough for me to toss out even an unopened bottle.