Mixing saltwater

[Jilly92]

In December I had 2 tanks crash because of ostreopsis Dinos after a 3 day blackout, my fish were dying and I had to do a massive water change quick. I have an rodi unit in my shower that fills up a 16 gallon container in about 3 hours. Normally I would mix water in a barrel and let it sit overnight, with a pump, powerhead, and heater. I was getting behind on water changes having that schedule and a wild 2 year old that is on my hip 24/7. When I had the tank crash I learned that you don't actually have to mix for 24 hours with this method. Since December I have had only positive experiences as I am keeping up with water changes now. Do any of you mix water this way? This video was made for instant ocean reef Crystals only as I have no experience with any other salt.

 

[MaxTremors]

In December I had 2 tanks crash because of ostreopsis Dinos after a 3 day blackout, my fish were dying and I had to do a massive water change quick. I have an rodi unit in my shower that fills up a 16 gallon container in about 3 hours. Normally I would mix water in a barrel and let it sit overnight, with a pump, powerhead, and heater. I was getting behind on water changes having that schedule and a wild 2 year old that is on my hip 24/7. When I had the tank crash I learned that you don't actually have to mix for 24 hours with this method. Since December I have had only positive experiences as I am keeping up with water changes now. Do any of you mix water this way? This video was made for instant ocean reef Crystals only as I have no experience with any other salt.

I try to let it sit and aerate for 24 hours, but if I’m pressed for time or its an emergency, I will mix salt water and use it as soon as its clear, and at the right salinity and temperature. I pump it into my tank against the inside of the glass and it gets pretty oxygenated as it goes into the tank. I’ve done this literally hundreds of times over the years and never had any issues. None of my corals retract or look upset, fish don’t seem to mind. Again, it’s preferable to let it aerate for 24 hours, but I don’t think you’ll have any problems not waiting unless your tank is already oxygen poor, or you don’t match the temp/salinity and make sure it’s fully dissolved.

 

[Jilly92]

I try to let it sit and aerate for 24 hours, but if I’m pressed for time or its an emergency, I will mix salt water and use it as soon as its clear, and at the right salinity and temperature. I pump it into my tank against the inside of the glass and it gets pretty oxygenated as it goes into the tank. I’ve done this literally hundreds of times over the years and never had any issues. None of my corals retract or look upset, fish don’t seem to mind. Again, it’s preferable to let it aerate for 24 hours, but I don’t think you’ll have any problems not waiting unless your tank is already oxygen poor, or you don’t match the temp/salinity and make sure it’s fully dissolved.

Ya I do have the steps down pretty well in the video. Just seeing if anyone does it this exact way. No heater or powerheads.

 

[MaxTremors]

Smh. Ok. You are right. If you mix saltwater for 45mins it will nuke your tank.

No, it won’t. I’ve mixed saltwater for 5 minutes more times than I can count with no ill effects. I wouldn’t recommend people do that, and most of the time I let mine aerate/age for 24 hours (at least), but so long as the salt mix is fully dissolved and the temp and salinity are matched, it’s really not a big deal.

 

[Snookin]

When I had to do a water change as quickly as possible I didn't have time to bring the water to temp by a heater. Boiling water saved me alot of time to get the temp the same as my tank, before mixing the salt.

Boiling water is 212F. It would probably take the same time to cool it down to 78F as it would to heat it up from ambient temp with a standard aquarium heater. Also, if the water is too hot and you add salt it will precipitate. In the reef hobby there is no reason to boil water

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

No ive never boiled.water. ill just add more heater. Lol.
No i dont whisk. I use a pump.
No i dont weight my salt. I simply.add.salt till the waters cloudy. Let it.mix. test. Add water or.salt accordingly.n
I try to keep my arms out of my water.

Over.time you get to know about how much salt to add to the water or you have a good idea of the mix needed.

Jillybilly my tanks been running for 2-3 month with no water changes. Wc.method is becoming.old school imo.
D

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Can u make a video of no time pressure wc? This would be more helpful to someone new imo...
D

 

[blasterman]

The main problem with not mixing salt water for a lengthy time is stored water often has low O2 and high CO2. The salt mix isn't the issue.

The trick is to use the venturi on a mixing powerhead to blast it with air. Or aim the mixing pump at the surface to really slosh it around.

Prefer to heat my water up to 100F or so to speed up dissolving , and it usually takes a few hours to cool down to tank temp. Done. Never had an issue doing water changes this way. Its making sure the water is aerated that's important.

 

[Jilly92]

No ive never boiled.water. ill just add more heater. Lol.
No i dont whisk. I use a pump.
No i dont weight my salt. I simply.add.salt till the waters cloudy. Let it.mix. test. Add water or.salt accordingly.n
I try to keep my arms out of my water.

Over.time you get to know about how much salt to add to the water or you have a good idea of the mix needed.

Jillybilly my tanks been running for 2-3 month with no water changes. Wc.method is becoming.old school imo.
D

This was primarily targeted for newbies who either don't know how to mix water or for someone who wants to do quick water changes. This was the fastest way for me and I just wanted to share it, maybe it can help someone. Everyone has their own way though. Yall must have better heaters than me, mine take forever to heat up water that is 65 degrees lol

 

[Jilly92]

The main problem with not mixing salt water for a lengthy time is stored water often has low O2 and high CO2. The salt mix isn't the issue.

The trick is to use the venturi on a mixing powerhead to blast it with air. Or aim the mixing pump at the surface to really slosh it around.

Prefer to heat my water up to 100F or so to speed up dissolving , and it usually takes a few hours to cool down to tank temp. Done. Never had an issue doing water changes this way. Its making sure the water is aerated that's important.

I'm using a bubbler in there..

 

[Jilly92]

Can u make a video of no time pressure wc? This would be more helpful to someone new imo...
D

I mean if you don't do a water change it gets more complicated because you have to dose. This is more straightforward.

 

[TxReefer21]

“There is no benefit to letting it sit any longer than an hour or so. Any good salt will dissolve almost immediately and the pH will stabilize right away. FutureDoc did several studies a few years ago with many different salts and RO/DI water using very expensive instruments and data loggers and found this to be true. The old days of mixing overnight or whatever are long gone” Just what I’ve seen said a lot on this forum

 

[Jilly92]

“There is no benefit to letting it sit any longer than an hour or so. Any good salt will dissolve almost immediately and the pH will stabilize right away. FutureDoc did several studies a few years ago with many different salts and RO/DI water using very expensive instruments and data loggers and found this to be true. The old days of mixing overnight or whatever are long gone” Just what I’ve seen said a lot on this forum

That's great info. I still see people everyday recommending it, and on this website too plenty.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

That's great info. I still see people everyday recommending it, and on this website too plenty.

And maybe they are right.

How exactly to dissolve and aerate salt varies a lot, both with the salt mix used, the equipment used, and the highest priority concerns of the aquarist.

Do you know that you are fully aerating a batch of seawater in less than 1 h? How do you know?

Do you know that they pH has stabilized to a value you are happy with?

 

[Jilly92]

And maybe they are right.

How exactly to dissolve and aerate salt varies a lot, both with the salt mix used, the equipment used, and the highest priority concerns of the aquarist.

Do you know that you are fully aerating a batch of seawater in less than 1 h? How do you know?

Do you know that they pH has stabilized to a value you are happy with?

With the instant ocean I'm guessing the chemists have found a way to do this, as they advertise it can be used immediately after mixing. Something extra they add in I suppose.