Mixing pump

[Rjukan]

Well I just used an old long plastic spoon since I didn't want to incur the wrath of my wife by taking a baking spatula, and it wasn't too bad. Was kind of fun/satisfying to see how fast and deep I could make the whirlpool go without going up and over the edge of the bucket lol.

But I'm like you @mfinn I would normally run the pump overnight before doing a WC. I'll see how long it takes to get clear doing it this way today, maybe this will be my new norm.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

What should I do, get a Koralia or just use a paddle/spatula? Since I don't have any working pumps for now, I'm going to give the spatula a try but any input is appreciated.

The only way I would mix saltwater by hand is if someone was pointing a gun at me and telling me they'll shoot if I didn't get to stirring. I have no idea what mcarrol was talking about with pumps not working, or that manually mixing with a spatula works as well or better than a pump. I only mixed saltwater by stirring once before I wised up and bought a cheap Petco pump to do the mixing. I've never had any problems with the pumps mixing saltwater.

 

[K7BMG]

I have a bigger system and even if I did not I would not mix by hand.
Mixing 5-10-20g or more by hand works perfectly.
But I don't care do do that.

I have a 300 gallon Norwesco tank plumbed with 1 inch PVC to a Little Giant pump. Sucks it from the bottom and dumps it back in the top.
The pump will run as long as needed to mix. From that point forward it runns twice a day for 15 minutes and this keeps it fresh.
This tank will also serve as my auto water change system when I get that connected.
I also have a 300g Norwesco for my RO/DI water and auto top off.
The Little Giant pump is plumbed into this as well so I can transfer RO/DI to the mixing tank.

Fortunatly for me I have the space and the knowhow to have this setup and it makes dealing with water simple.

I also like knowing if a catastrophe occured I will normally have enough saltwater and or RO/DI water on hand, to replace all that may be lost.

 

[HockeyRooster]

I picked a pump out of the clearance bin at lfs. Works great to mix and pump into the dt. And I got a big one so if my dt return pump dies it will work in the interim.

 

[mfinn]

I buy cheap jeboas specifically for mixing my saltwater. They crap out about 1 every year, so I buy another one.

 

[Conovan]

I use a cheap aqueon 2300 pump. I use it for mixing and water changes. it also has a bonus of being able to be used as a return pump in a pinch

cheap and I can use it