mixing very heigh salt content for new tank.

[Devaji]

OK SO I have the rock and sand in to new tank. I was going to mix the Salt before adding the sand but spaced out as this build is taking months to get wet.

so I have about 20gal of RODI and very high concentrate of salt mixing in a brute. i used 2 bags of a 200 gal box for the 20 gal. the water is so slaty it 's white. looks like milk...haha

anyway I was about to add it to the DT with power heads on any problems with this?

I know the "best" way it to fill up tank 3/4 of the way and then mix before the sand but I did not.
I dont really see any problems if I pre mix it for 12+ hrs then add to DT do you guys?

 

[Rubberfrog]

Are there fish and corals in the tank?

 

[Devaji]

Are there fish and corals in the tank?

oh God no, brand new tank. I know better than that.

 

[dedragon]

I dont think I would pre mix it that long though just for the pumps sake and some salts leave precipitation and build up. To avoid it I say fill the tank with a good amount of rodi and start mixing in the tank. OMG 2 200 gal bags i guess it is at least a 400 gallon tank, better be paying your RODI filter overtime lol

 

[Viva'sReef]

I think you will run into issues with that mix ratio. Such a high amount of salt with so little water will lead to precipitation. That's a guarantee

 

[Devaji]

I dont think I would pre mix it that long though just for the pumps sake and some salts leave precipitation and build up. To avoid it I say fill the tank with a good amount of rodi and start mixing in the tank. OMG 2 200 gal bags i guess it is at least a 400 gallon tank, better be paying your RODI filter overtime lol

no no one box of 200 gal mix come sin 4 boxes so that is about 100 gal. of salt mix. my bad for not explaining it better. its I.O RC so I know it take normally 24hr to mix

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

so I have about 20gal of RODI and very high concentrate of salt mixing in a brute. i used 2 bags of a 200 gal box for the 20 gal. the water is so slaty it 's white. looks like milk...haha

Bad plan.

You may have permanently precipitated out a lot of the calcium and alkalinity by making a hypersaline solution.

That generally does not work out.

 

[Devaji]

I think you will run into issues with that mix ratio. Such a high amount of salt with so little water will lead to precipitation. That's a guarantee

my thoughts where better per mix it in a brute than the DT right? with rock sand and new system I thought it would be better that way.

tank is a RS 650P I used 100+ gal of salt mix so I know i'll need to add more.

 

[Devaji]

Bad plan.

You may have permanently precipitated out a lot of the calcium and alkalinity by making a hypersaline solution.

That generally does not work out.

oh deer.

that sucks. what you you recommend Randy?
tank is a 170 gal total volume.
new tank with dry rock and dry sand ( well now wet) but not alive anyway
salt is Instant ocean reef crystals

I thought It would be better to mix out side the tank so not to leave the the gunk in the tank?

 

[dedragon]

If i was you I would use it asap and mix with rodi in tank slowly, mostly because I am really cheap. But after just make sure your salinity alkalinity magnesium and calcium are good just in case, there will be precipitation though, but i dont think it would affect the tank long term if levels werent all over the place. Randy is the expert so lets see what he feels and its IO so at least not too expensive

 

[Devaji]

Some pics:
I just thought it was not mixed well.

 

[Viva'sReef]

no no one box of 200 gal mix come sin 4 boxes so that is about 100 gal. of salt mix. my bad for not explaining it better. its I.O RC so I know it take normally 24hr to mix

Even if it's only 100g worth of salt mixed into 20g of water, it will precipitate

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You may be able to recover it by letting it settle until it is totally clear with no flow, and measuring to see how much alk and calcium is needed. the uncertainty is how much of what else got taken down with the precipitate (trace and minor elements, for example).

 

[dedragon]

Never pour water into the salt. Always add the salt last

 

[Viva'sReef]

I know ppl here like stating that you should always add the salt TO the water to avoid precipitation its worth noting that it should also be added to the correct amount of water.

 

[Tamberav]

a 50g bag of instant ocean is 12-13 bucks on chewy. I would toss it and start over.

If you really want to save it, add RODI to a second brute and then start adding some of the super salty water to mix up. Then test alk/ca/mg and manually fix but it's possible you loss trace elements.

 

[Devaji]

Bad plan.

You may have permanently precipitated out a lot of the calcium and alkalinity by making a hypersaline solution.

That generally does not work out.

a 50g bag of instant ocean is 12-13 bucks on chewy. I would toss it and start over.

If you really want to save it, add RODI to a second brute and then start adding some of the super salty water to mix up. Then test alk/ca/mg and manually fix but it's possible you loss trace elements.

that is what I was thinking. I have 3 new buckets so its not a total loss.

 

[ATB USA]

OK SO I have the rock and sand in to new tank. I was going to mix the Salt before adding the sand but spaced out as this build is taking months to get wet.

so I have about 20gal of RODI and very high concentrate of salt mixing in a brute. i used 2 bags of a 200 gal box for the 20 gal. the water is so slaty it 's white. looks like milk...haha

anyway I was about to add it to the DT with power heads on any problems with this?

I know the "best" way it to fill up tank 3/4 of the way and then mix before the sand but I did not.
I dont really see any problems if I pre mix it for 12+ hrs then add to DT do you guys?

Powerhead works great, but get it mixed to the right level first

 

[Rubberfrog]

If this is just initial cycling water, it's not as important. You can do a big water change later to get the nutrients back.

 

[Viva'sReef]

Some pics:
I just thought it was not mixed well.

From what I can gather from this picture, you put the bag of salt in the brute can and let the RO/DI fill it up slowly.

Just to be sure, next time fill up the brute with water first, then measure the correct amount of salt and add it to the water. When mixing that much at a time I usually mix 1 cup less than what the directions say and adjust from there.