Poll: What do you do with your old saltwater?

What do you do with your old saltwater after a water change?

  • Dump it

    Votes: 636 91.1%
  • Use it to kick start another tank

    Votes: 28 4.0%
  • Use it to kick start a QT tank

    Votes: 41 5.9%
  • Use it to cure rocks

    Votes: 23 3.3%
  • Use it to store live rocks not currently being used

    Votes: 20 2.9%
  • Other - discuss in thread

    Votes: 31 4.4%

  • Total voters
    698

Dom

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I use the old water to clean. For example, I will rinse out all of my sponges in old tank water and then reinstall in the tank.
 

Dom

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Dump it, Right now I have 5g setting outside with some live rock im trying to kill off.

Its sitting in over 100+ degree direct sunlight weather.. lol Good ol south florida

Edit: Would it be smart to use my old saltwater to start a new 65g setup?

Yes... I often use live rock, old filter media and some water from another tank to seed a new setup.
 

Robink

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I dump it unless I have a qt set up, in that case I would use it for wc's on the qt tank.
 

Pntbll687

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I dump mine probably 75% of the time.

If I have some live rock curing, I'll change the water once a month or so with water from changing the display.
 

sfin52

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I have used mine to start new tank and a qt tank . Most of the time down the drain.
 

Chiefmaster30

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I dump mine down the tub drain! Have noticed some corrosion around the metal piece and drain but no other issues so far.
 

Dom

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I Dump it on my lawn, in my rose
Garden and my vegetable garden,
I also do the same with the skimmer cup.

And the old salt water has no ill effect on you plants?
 

RocketBunny

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Curious what folks do with their old saltwater after a water change? I'm sure most just dump it and get rid of it. Are there other uses for it? At one point a long time ago, I offered it to local reefers who might be wanting to cure some rocks, start up a tank, whatever. Only once did someone take some to cure some rocks. I rarely do water changes anymore, but now it's just dumped out.

Anyone have any suggestions to reuse old saltwater? Let's here them.
I have a couple young coconut trees, and my water is rich in nutrients. The water is mostly from gravel vacuuming... so the detritus and all the stuff in the sand provides nutrients (kinda like manure). So I give them a good 5 gallons every 2 weeks, and the rest goes into the drain... or kick starts a tank when needed.

Yesterday I added some, and the color enhanced... I've been doing this for the past 3 and a half weeks... they've grown quite a LOT!
2018-08-09-12-41-22-764.jpg
The middle one sprouted once I started adding the water... he was dead before :)
2018-08-09-12-41-47-229.jpg

got some very rich color flowing there xD
 

lapin

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I dump the 60 gallons on the gravel road to my house to keep the dust down.
 

DonTavo27

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And the old salt water has no ill effect on you plants?

I’m no chemist, but I believe the synthetic salt we use for our aquariums is rich in Mag, which I find is usually a good plant fertilizer, or most fertilizers have some amount of it in them. Not to mention the added nutrients, which works as a fertilizer as well. I’ve been doing this for a long time, my tomatoes and roses love the skimmate. But don’t hold me to it.

2567FBEF-22B4-438B-A456-BF38578C9545.jpeg
 

mtfish

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My house is on septic system so I do not dump it down main drain. When they installed the septic I had them dig a 4 ft x 4 ft hole on the other side of the house. I put a perforated drain pipe in there and back filled with pea gravel, then covered with top soil. I have a dedicated drain line in my fish room that goes into this underground gravel pit. So, I guess I am building a salt dome down there. My wife has a garden on top of this and does not seem to bother any of her plants.
 

Dr. Dendrostein

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Curious what folks do with their old saltwater after a water change? I'm sure most just dump it and get rid of it. Are there other uses for it? At one point a long time ago, I offered it to local reefers who might be wanting to cure some rocks, start up a tank, whatever. Only once did someone take some to cure some rocks. I rarely do water changes anymore, but now it's just dumped out.

Anyone have any suggestions to reuse old saltwater? Let's here them.
Have outside a 40 gallon refugium separate from DT. Dump there, let macroalgae remove any disolved organics . Reuse.
 

When to mix up fish meal: When was the last time you tried a different brand of food for your reef?

  • I regularly change the food that I feed to the tank.

    Votes: 36 24.5%
  • I occasionally change the food that I feed to the tank.

    Votes: 50 34.0%
  • I rarely change the food that I feed to the tank.

    Votes: 43 29.3%
  • I never change the food that I feed to the tank.

    Votes: 14 9.5%
  • Other.

    Votes: 4 2.7%
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