Undissolved salt.

[sunshinegrl]

It seems that some of the salt did not dissolve and is sitting at the bottom of my (new) tank. I put a power head in the bottom to help circulate last night, but this morning there is still salt on the bottom. Would it be ok to leave this and put the sand in or will the salt (in this form) affect any fish, snails, etc, that I put in. All advice welcome.

 

[46FiatYamaha]

I've noticed too that a not all the salt will dissolve with just a powerhead sometimes. Usually I'll just stir the bottom with my hands until it feels dissolved. Not sure if it will affect the animals though

 

[atvdave]

as long as your sg is in-line then I don't see any problems. It does help if you get the water heated before you add the salt.

 

[SteveNMegz]

when we first set up our tank, we put the salt ontop of the live sand then filled the tank up with water, salt was sitting in the sand dunes for almost a week before it fully disolved, It will probably just take time

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

I've heard that adding salt to water is better then adding water to salt. When you first start adding water, the SG is so high that precipitate forms which may not ever dissolve. If it does, it will take a long time to do so.

 

[atvdave]

Salt really needs to be mixed in a separate container before it is added into your tank.

With new tank set-up's it is OK to add the salt to the already filled tank and stir it with power heads or what ever.

However I would not recommend to add the sand, & then the dry salt, and then the water. I would think that some undissolved salt could work it's way down and get trapped under the sand and when a snail or other sand sifting fish or invert could stir it up and your salt sg may start to rise with out you knowing it.

It also helps to bring the temp of the water up to 75 to 85 degrees before you add the salt.

 

[dsn112]

You should always add salt to the water. This water should be atleast room temp. It should mix up right away. In the event it doesn't keep stirring it up with your hands and use a power head to keep it moving. It will dissolve eventually.

SteveNMegz, who told you to do it that way?? Was it an LFS? Thats probably the worst way to do it. Whoever told you to do it that way, Id stay away from there advice. Glad it is working out now for you.