water ???

[the budman]

how long can i keep fresh made salt water in a bucket that is air tight with no heat or current

 

[laskopyre]

without the current, the water and salt would eventually seperate. I saw this happen in my tank when the power was out for 2 hours once. It doesn't take very long. The heat isn't the big deal.

 

[johndawg]

Isn't saltwater a solution? I thought with solutions the only time you got precipitate, was when the solution was saturated, i.e., has too much salt in it? Or if you added something for it to adhere to, like making sugar crystals?

 

[DaveOSU]

Sorry, I disagree with most of the prior post.... I'm sure they could have a precipitation event in their tank associated with a power outage. As for freshly made salt water it should store fine. The only difference I have ever noticed is a very fine film of scum on bucket surfaces that I believe is biological.

 

[DaveOSU]

by prior post I meant Laskopyre's...... Johndawg snuck in there.

 

[serpentman]

Impurities in the salt mix would really be the only thing that could settle out. By definition, saltwater is a solution and doesn't settle out until enough water evaporates that the maximum concentration is reached and the water can hold no more (i.e. salt creep, etc). For a tank to go that low, it would literally have to evaporate most of its content. Furthermore, even with no flow, on a molecular level, there is enough kinetic energy to keep molecules bouncing around, so technically water is never perfectly still.

Referencing Budman's question, you can store water in that fashion. However, you will want to uncover and stir it up vigorously before use. Stagnant water will be low in 02 and high in CO2 (and low pH) which, if introduced directly to the tank, can have some negative impacts.

 

[MeVsTheWorld]

I always "BOX" my water that has been sitting around. (Painters term)Box = pouring one 5g bucket into an empty one, back and forth, maybe 4-5 times.