Setting up salt water mixing station

[Kentucky13]

I'm looking to setup a mixing station in my basement and had some general questions.

1) how long can you keep saltwater in the mixing tank before using it?
2)Do you have to keep a circulation pump running while storing the water?
3) how often do people tear down the mixing tank for cleaning?

 

[Mishri]

Depends, I prefer 24 hours, but I've gone as short as 5 minutes once it's mixed well(can't see individual or clumps of salt).

I use a 37 gallon trash can. I believe you have to have a water pump going... not sure if it's good for it to go stagnant. (any cheap powerhead works) I also keep mine heated so my water is ready to go for water changes.

once a year or less. You'll get some brown stuff even in complete darkness. I usually scoop it off the top. I'll let it get low, pull out the heater and after I use the last of it I give it a wipe down and rinse and refill with ro/di.

Whenever I think I'll be doing a lot of water changes I use 2 containers 1 to hold pre-mixed saltwater and another for new ro/di the 2nd container is a big rectangular rubbermade one.

 

[Sn8kbyt]

Saltwater can last a pretty long time if you keep it circulating. I have a two 32 gallon brute trash cans one for RO/DI the other for saltwater. I do automatic water changes on my tank so always have saltwater mixed up and ready to go.

 

[SharkJP]

Don't want to hijack your thread, but I was curious as well and the salt question was answered, but how do yall have your fresh setup?

My ro feeds a brute trashcan and there's rarely a time when I let it get completely emptied. I've got a pump in there for circulation and it's usually at least a quarter full. Can that be bad to potentially allow water to sit in there for a while?

Thanks

 

[tkeracer619]

I make Instant Ocean saltwater in 200gal batches and store it until I need it. The longest has been about 6 months. If you have a small low demand system you really need to match your water parameters (alk tends to drop over time). If you are doing a change on a high demand system the amount of supplement in the water is minimal so storing the water longer isn't an issue at all.

1) a long time depending on salt (stuff with vitamins won't store)
2) Yes, a Reeflo Dart.
3) Unless there is a problem I don't break it down. I use muriatic acid, a garden hose hose, and a python siphon to clean it.

Fill the 1st tank, add a mild solution of ma, and let it sit. I then transfer it over to the salt tank and let it run until it's clean. Once clean I pump the water out of the tanks through the hose I use to deliver water to the tanks. I use a python to quickly remove hose water and rinse down each tank thoroughly. After I am confident they are clean I run some water through the whole system, drain the system, and then air dry.

If you had a normal sized setup it would probably be easier to break it down, but then you wouldn't get the crud in the pump and tubing.

I use boxes of salt which come with four 50gal bags. If you really want to make it easy on yourself get tanks that are in 50 gal increments.

Don't want to hijack your thread, but I was curious as well and the salt question was answered, but how do yall have your fresh setup?

My ro feeds a brute trashcan and there's rarely a time when I let it get completely emptied. I've got a pump in there for circulation and it's usually at least a quarter full. Can that be bad to potentially allow water to sit in there for a while?

Thanks

It's probably overkill but I have a mixed bed DI canister running on a closed loop in my storage tank. I use an Eheim 1260 pump with plastic hardware. DI is corrosive. I refill it when it gets to 60 gallons or less.

 

[gt93pony]

I make Instant Ocean saltwater in 200gal batches and store it until I need it. The longest has been about 6 months. If you have a small low demand system you really need to match your water parameters (alk tends to drop over time). If you are doing a change on a high demand system the amount of supplement in the water is minimal so storing the water longer isn't an issue at all.

1) a long time depending on salt (stuff with vitamins won't store)
2) Yes, a Reeflo Dart.
3) Unless there is a problem I don't break it down. I use muriatic acid, a garden hose hose, and a python siphon to clean it.

Fill the 1st tank, add a mild solution of ma, and let it sit. I then transfer it over to the salt tank and let it run until it's clean. Once clean I pump the water out of the tanks through the hose I use to deliver water to the tanks. I use a python to quickly remove hose water and rinse down each tank thoroughly. After I am confident they are clean I run some water through the whole system, drain the system, and then air dry.

If you had a normal sized setup it would probably be easier to break it down, but then you wouldn't get the crud in the pump and tubing.

I use boxes of salt which come with four 50gal bags. If you really want to make it easy on yourself get tanks that are in 50 gal increments.

It's probably overkill but I have a mixed bed DI canister running on a closed loop in my storage tank. I use an Eheim 1260 pump with plastic hardware. DI is corrosive. I refill it when it gets to 60 gallons or less.

WOW...that is quite impressive.

 

[LaurieannBen]

So, I have saltwater that I have mixed and it's sitting in a new garbage can for say 4-5 weeks & it's heated, if I didn't have a pump running the entire time ,.should I start over?