Saltwater mix shelf life?

L

labragg1

New member
Just wandered how long a freshly mixed up batch of saltwater can go before it is used.

I have a small fish closet with my water-change equipment in it.
I keep a 35gal rubbermaid with my Ro/di run to it with a float switch.
I keep two maxijets and a heater as well to keep the water movinga and at the right temperature.

I would like to just keep a constant 35gal of fresh salt mix, but I was worried about it sitting too long.

I am trying to do water changed twice a month, but sometimes it may be closer to once a month.

As long as I have the heater and powerheads going, will the water be ok for 2-3 weeks at a time?

The closet is fairly closed up, so I haven't had any problems with particals or junk getting to the water, I just didn't know if saltwater can go bad?
 
My set up is simalar. I know it is better to mix the salt water in advance. I keep it moving with a power head. I assumed it was ok indefenitly. But I'd be interested in theis reply too.

Alan
 
Im very interested as well. I buy my water from LFS and i keep it in one gallon jugs (i have a ten gallon tank) and i was wondering how long it could sit b4 it was no longer any good. I had asked the LFS owner and he said as long as it dont smell like rotten soemthing or the other its fine.

Personally i dont trust his judgement on saltwater anything...

I shake mine up and leave the caps loose on the jugs in an attempt to keep it good, i think the powerheads and heater should keep it good to go for some time tho?
 
I don't know how long it can sit but I have waited a week and half before I got around to changing the water and everything was fine.
The water in my tank has been there for a long time.
 
i've heard some say a couple weeks, but I don't see why if the temp is maintained and the water is circulated why it would ever go bad. If you keep it covered and in a clean container there's really nothing that i can see that would degrade it at all. I also once was told that you should only leave fresh RO/DI water in a container for 2 or 3 days due to it's aggressive nature, but again the number of people that store RO/DI in big tanks never use it within 1 or 2 days and never seem to have problems
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8153229#post8153229 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by newtophish
Plus I always retest my water again prior to useing it. I learned my lesson the hard way.
Click to expand...

How so? What happened?
 
Yeh--what happened?

I don't have the rubbermaid cover on it because I want to be able to peek in and see the water level when I'm filling it up with the float.
On the other hand, it's in a closet that's pretty sealed up, so there's not much chance of anything bad getting into it--like something my 19month old son would through in it--:)

I just like the idea of always having 35gal of saltwater ready to go at a moments notice.

I would think that with two powerheads and a heater--it should be ok, but then again, I'm not a scientist, so I wouldn't really know.

So far I've gone about a week and a half with no ill effects, but I'm still curious on the longevity and if it will have any long-term effects.
 
I was on a well and my water was almost perfect tds read about 10 - 12 out of the tap ph was always right on, I tested less and less I ended up doing a water change and checked nothing but salinty and ended up killing my entire reef over night. The rural water system I was on had a problen and when they replace a pipe down from my house I recieved a massive dose of copper and chlorine.
If I would have tested the water I would have seen my tds up at about 600 and would never had used it.
I buy RO water now and test before I mix after I mix and before I use it.
 
What a bummer :(
Those kinds of disasters are the one's that almost make you want to just give up--but then there's that little voice in all of us reefers' heads that keeps us trying and trying and trying.............:)
 
you should be fine premixing the water as long as you keep a filter or powerhead in there. I've been premixing for years. I keep a fluval internal filter running all the time in a 20g covered container. In regards to letting RO water sit, you're not supposed to let it sit if you're going to drink it because bacteria builds up pretty quickly in it.
 
Yeh--my main reason for posting this question was whether already mixed saltwater was ok to sit for a few weeks (with a powerhead and heater), not the RO water.
 
Come on--------------------yoda must be out their somewhere------------------------------------------------------------------------we need you yoda--------------------------------------or anyone else that may have the answer to this question----------------------------:)
 
I'd do it. In a clean container, loosely covered to keep the crud out and circulating as you mentioned, it should be fine.

Saltwater is not going to go bad unless it is contaminated somehow. Of course, double check your SG before using.
 
Salt water can last a long time. Just check the salinity if there has been evaporation. And, check for any algae growth of any kind. Fresh salt mix can be kept for months probably in an air-tight sealed container with no problems.
 
I would like to know the answer as well. I suppose it can't be any worse than ocean water, that stuff has been sitting around for what 230 million years?
 
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