Salt question

[Jscwerve]

So, I got a bunch of substrate for a great deal from a guy that had been out of the hobby for quite a while. I bought a whole boatload of used substrate. The guy also had a 160 gallon bucket of Instant Ocean he threw into the deal.

The bucket of salt is solid.

No big deal to me, it cost pretty much nothing. The question is, can I use it?

I'm not going to be using it to do water changes, I am setting up my 125 this weekend and going to be starting the cycle. 125 gallon tank+ another 30 in the sump will take pretty much the whole bucket.

Since I'll be doing several water changes throughout the cycle, will it even matter if the calcium and other chemicals are a little off in the beginning due to the hardened salt? Things should normalize in the next couple of months anyways with water changes, right?

I've got an old blender just WAITING to have the motor burned out of it trying to break up dry chunks of salt! :blown:

 

[ExpertMarine]

If you trust that it is not contaminated then sure. Use that sucker for the cycle...

 

[Nick92515]

Just put it into your mixing container with a powerhead and it will be dissolved in no time. Hopefully the bucket was sealed, and/or not contaminated

 

[Clownfish Chris]

It may be okay for the initial cycle but I wouldn't. Test ALL parameters after it is dissolved. You will likely have precipitated out a lot of calcium and other chemical reactions that I dont understand can occur.

Also, clean that sand. Then clean it again. Both of those steps should be taken after a couple of cleanings.

 

[Fish Keeper82]

I used my rock hard salt for my initial cycle on my 125. I had no problems with it.

 

[FishAddict87]

Take into account that you will have live rock and substrate in your tank plus equipment in the sump. That displaces the water volume so you need to be mindful of this when measuring the amount of salt used.

 

[heathlindner25]

Take into account that you will have live rock and substrate in your tank plus equipment in the sump. That displaces the water volume so you need to be mindful of this when measuring the amount of salt used.

I wouldn't put salt directly in a tank that had sand and rocks in it. I would mix it outside of the tank.

 

[Jscwerve]

Just put it into your mixing container with a powerhead and it will be dissolved in no time. Hopefully the bucket was sealed, and/or not contaminated

As far as I can tell it was sealed. No discoloration or anything of that nature.

It may be okay for the initial cycle but I wouldn't. Test ALL parameters after it is dissolved. You will likely have precipitated out a lot of calcium and other chemical reactions that I dont understand can occur.

Also, clean that sand. Then clean it again. Both of those steps should be taken after a couple of cleanings.

Of course I'll be cleaning the substrate completely with RO before it goes into the tank. I'll be checking params regularly once cycle starts and doing water changes as normal. As I stated in the initial post, I'm sure something is probably wonky, just how much is the question.

Take into account that you will have live rock and substrate in your tank plus equipment in the sump. That displaces the water volume so you need to be mindful of this when measuring the amount of salt used.

I'm not putting water in the tank and then mixing, I'll be putting proper SG water into the tank, so I won't have to worry about that.

I wouldn't put salt directly in a tank that had sand and rocks in it. I would mix it outside of the tank.

One solid 6 gallon block of salt in the middle of a 125 gallon tank slowly dissolving!!! That would be very funny to see!!:eek1::eek1::eek1::lolspin:


If it turns out all screwey chemical wise, I'll only lose a day or two and empty and fill it up again. I could however save a box of salt if it works. I am gonna give it a whirl and I'll test parameters (all that I can) and post up the results in this thread.

Thanks for the advice all!

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

NO water changes during a cycle -- you will only prolong it by dilution.

 

[heathlindner25]

As far as I can tell it was sealed. No discoloration or anything of that nature.



Of course I'll be cleaning the substrate completely with RO before it goes into the tank. I'll be checking params regularly once cycle starts and doing water changes as normal. As I stated in the initial post, I'm sure something is probably wonky, just how much is the question.



I'm not putting water in the tank and then mixing, I'll be putting proper SG water into the tank, so I won't have to worry about that.

Sounds good.


One solid 6 gallon block of salt in the middle of a 125 gallon tank slowly dissolving!!! That would be very funny to see!!:eek1::eek1::eek1::lolspin:


If it turns out all screwey chemical wise, I'll only lose a day or two and empty and fill it up again. I could however save a box of salt if it works. I am gonna give it a whirl and I'll test parameters (all that I can) and post up the results in this thread.

Thanks for the advice all!

Sounds good.

 

[billdogg]

I wouldn't hesitate to use it for your initial fill, or on a Fish only system. You will probably see undissolved stuff in the bottom of your mixing barrel. That will be calcium that has precipitated out. If you were to test the freshly made water, I would expect both the Calcium and Alkalinity to be very low, but once again, no real worries at this point.

 

[Jscwerve]

I wouldn't hesitate to use it for your initial fill, or on a Fish only system. You will probably see undissolved stuff in the bottom of your mixing barrel. That will be calcium that has precipitated out. If you were to test the freshly made water, I would expect both the Calcium and Alkalinity to be very low, but once again, no real worries at this point.

That's what I kind of figured, that not everything is going to dissolve as it should. My RO system is supposed to be delivered today so I'm going to start making/mixing water and I'll take pictures and update. I'll even take some calcium and alk measurements just to have a record of it.

I figure even if it is a complete failure, documenting the findings will help someone else out down the road by having it in a thread.