Mixing salt in the sump

[Aggie1978]

Having heard all the pros & cons I've decided to go ahead and mix my salt in the sump for the initial fill. Which compartment in the sump would be best? What about slowly pouring into the sock filters? Or right below the overflow compartment? I was thinking not a good idea to pour directly into the return pump compartment. Or does it really matter where - just anywhere in the sump? (Yes, I'm probably overthinking everything)!

 

[Ashish Patel]

LOL. Def overthinking it really doesnt matter

 

[Softhammer]

For an initial fill, no livestock, anywhere is fine except for pump chamber. Undissolved salt can ruin a pump, it’s like sand until dissolved.

 

[GaryE]

I put it in the refugium area. Nice open spot so that I could get in and mix when it settled out until getting completely mixed.. worked well.

 

[Bpb]

Shoot. I’d fill the entire system with Rodi, get it running, All pumps and powerheads doing their thing, then just dump the salt in the display and let it circulate. Add rock and sand when salinity and temp are appropriate if using live rock and sand. If using dry rock and sand id put that in before adding salt

 

[Gzfrank]

Shoot. I’d fill the entire system with Rodi, get it running, All pumps and powerheads doing their thing, then just dump the salt in the display and let it circulate. Add rock and sand when salinity and temp are appropriate if using live rock and sand. If using dry rock and sand id put that in before adding salt

I second this as the easiest solution.

 

[windemerejack]

Shoot. I’d fill the entire system with Rodi, get it running, All pumps and powerheads doing their thing, then just dump the salt in the display and let it circulate. Add rock and sand when salinity and temp are appropriate if using live rock and sand. If using dry rock and sand id put that in before adding salt

Thats exactly what i did when i first set up my tank, put everything in place, turned everything on, filled with ro/di water, worked out how much salt i needed and just added a bit less than i needed and let the powerheads and pumps mix it, then just add a last bit to get the right salinity.
If you have no livestock then it really doesnt matter where or how you do it, just not directly in the return chamber.

 

[Bpb]

Thats exactly what i did when i first set up my tank, put everything in place, turned everything on, filled with ro/di water, worked out how much salt i needed and just added a bit less than i needed and let the powerheads and pumps mix it, then just add a last bit to get the right salinity.
If you have no livestock then it really doesnt matter where or how you do it, just not directly in the return chamber.

I’ll be doing that with my next tank just to have the experience of dumping an entire bucket of salt in the tank at once lol

 

[GuppyHJD]

Hello,
I have a bit of puzzle.
I put my dry rock in trash cans and have been cycling it while I collected hardware for my aquarium. I have setup the aquarium hardware and partially filled it with RODI. Today, I rinsed and put the sand in the tank. I was planning to add salt to the tank and run a powerhead to mix it - BUT I am wondering, - how will I know when the salt is properly mixed since any sediment will not be visible on the sand ? I do not want to move the rock into the tank until the proper temp and salt.
Can salt be mixed in 5 gallon buckets of water at a higher concentration and then poured into the tank of water to dilute down to the proper mix?

 

[Darren in Tacoma]

If you fill the entire system with water and add salt it will overflow when you put in the sand and rock. If you add the sand and rock first, you have no real way to accurately determine how much water the sand and rock will displace so you have no way to accurately measure how much salt to put in. Not a big deal unless you overshoot and then you have to remove salt water and add rodi to get it right. Thus, easier to mix salt to correct concentration in separate container.

 

[Cell]

Where ever the most flow is. Probably the display.