"Do not overmix salt" - Why?

mjszos · Feb 28, 2025

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Once mixed, stirring does nothing useful (except perhaps spread the heat around) unless it is a mix that contains organic matter that bacteria may consume, lowering O2. :)

I can’t speak to the salt as I never keep it around long enough, but I’ve found that keeping a small power head providing surface agitation/gas exchange with my RODI helps keep the “musty” smell away.

It could be a waste of power, but I’ve got a sensitive nose - not sure if it’s bacteria or what, but after a month or so in a brute the RODI smells a little cave-y.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 28, 2025

mjszos said:
I can’t speak to the salt as I never keep it around long enough, but I’ve found that keeping a small power head providing surface agitation/gas exchange with my RODI helps keep the “musty” smell away.

It could be a waste of power, but I’ve got a sensitive nose - not sure if it’s bacteria or what, but after a month or so in a brute the RODI smells a little cave-y.

I’m not sure how stirring ro/di would prevent such smells, but if it helps your situation, there’s never anything wrong with stirring it. :)

Mac8128 · Apr 7, 2026

OK, not sure that I have followed everything in this thread but I guess I have to ask: Is my normal process faulty in some manner?

I run a nano tank and do my best to do 1g water changes every week. So, when I finish a water change and the bucket is empty, I run 2g of RODI water into the cleaned white bucket, add the required amount of Reef Crystal salt and then drop in a powerhead with an air line attached to the top of the bucket to mix in air. I loosely place the top on the bucket.

A few hours later, I verify the salinity and then pretty much leave it run in a temp controlled garage (77 degrees) for a week. After a week, I verify salinity again and then do a 1g water change, keep running the powerhead in it and then use the second gallon a week later. Should I change this? Remove the air line? Stop running the powerhead? Last question to ask, after all the different threads about salt mixes, is there a clear favorite, especially for a nano LPS/Softy tanks?