Poll: What do you do with your old saltwater?

[Forsaken77]

After vacuuming my sand, the 20 gallon Brute can I fill up with dirty water is absolutely DISGUSTING! If I use that concentrated crap for another tank, everything would be dead in a day.

 

[NanoCrazed]

I recycle mine a lot but in the end it ends up outside or down the drain.

I change about 12 gallons a week on my main display the first 2-3 gallons is detritus removal so that water goes outside so I'm not pouring shells and starfish down the drain. The remaining water is then used as a larger weekly water change in my frag tank (50 gallons), I then use the frag tank water for my sexy shrimp softy nano reef - this is a higher nutrient 10g so doing 40-50% water changes weekly when I feel like it works out fine. If I really want to get crazy I then reuse that water for my owlr (it's a fishless fowlr just sitting for now but eventually I'll get some fish in there).

So 12 gallons of water can cycle through up to 4 different systems. I should point out there is nothing "wrong" with the display tank water. I just like doing a weekly water change to remove some detritus and replace trace elements and just so I have a day once a week where I am examining the tank with no flow from above and other views I don't normally have. The frag tank doesn't get regular dosing just adjustments so the larger water change works to maintain ca/alk and the nano reef is just a softy only tank that is fed frequently. This sounds like a lot of work but really it doesn't take very long. The fact that I reuse the water is why I still haul a couple of 5g buckets. I could easily automate my main display water changes but prefer a more hands on approach.

I do similar across my tanks... most water goes into my 100G shroom tank...can't get enough nitrates in there

 

[CAMAKAZY]

Anyone have problems with there pipes after dumping sw in them. Old house using cast iron pipes here so i dont dump sw in them.

+1 for dump on weeds

 

[van7271]

Down the drain swish

 

[Greybeard]

If, like me, you're on a septic system, I highly advise you to NOT dump large quantities of salt water down the drain. Salt is corrosive, so all of the hardware related to the septic system will corrode, and it kills off the natural bacteria present that assist in breaking down the waste.

I've got a 15' x 6' semi-circle in front of the carport, enclosed with a plastic retaining strip, covered with pea gravel. Keep a cedar bench there. I dump my salt water there. Kills the weeds that tend to grow through the gravel bed. It did, eventually, kill the two wild rose bushes that were there... this was a good thing, IMHO. Wild roses are near impossible to kill :)

So far, in about 2.5 years worth of having done so, the grass surrounding the gravel still looks fine. Well... not right now, of course, but there isn't much green anywhere at the moment. August in Missouri.

 

[mikejrice]

I save my used water for my cats to drink. Their kidneys can handle the salt and the extra nutrients give their coat a nice shine.

 

[alex.mccann99]

I bathe in it, smell like the ocean now. Mmmm.

 

[CC13]

After vacuuming my sand, the 20 gallon Brute can I fill up with dirty water is absolutely DISGUSTING! If I use that concentrated crap for another tank, everything would be dead in a day.

+1

Actually did this tonight and the water was disgusting. Still surprises me how dirty the sand can be in a couple weeks.

 

[Nick30G]

Oh i definitely dump it. It is really nasty and smelly after vacuuming sandbed. Would never reuse it, lol!!

 

[chaoticreefer]

I am on city sewer so it goes into a 20g brute on a dolly, rolled into my restroom and pumped into the toilet.

 

[squampton]

I dump the water into the bath tub and down the drain it goes. The water itself will end up in the ocean since that is where the waste water is dumped after being processed through the treatment facility.

 

[Marie7]

Want to get rid of weeds and crap grass? Dump it all over, it works great!

 

[ca1ore]

I reuse OSW as much as possible in my QT tanks, but ultimately it gets discarded.

 

[Gareth elliott]

Voted dump. I use my freshwater tank wc to water an outdoor herb garden.

 

[Gerald Garcia]

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.

Run it through several filters and a strainer. Then i bring it to a near boil... let cool n reuse

 

[Gerald Garcia]

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.

Test before you reuse it

 

[tcarter1936]

Piped to the ditch

 

[AMBER NICHOLS]

Thanks for this poll. I am working on my basement build now. I was thinking the water would be corrosive to my ejector pump in the basement. The absolute last thing I want is for that to fail. This now creates a problem for me....how to get that much water up and out of the house? All of the basement drains are plumbed to the ejector pit.

 

[FinnyGyrrl]

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.

Mine kills weeds. Better than Round-Up! Pretty natural! Right now, working on a walkway. Makes a great "edging" effect on sidewalks and drives; low-cost; and great for seeping into seams to tackle "hard-to-kill" greenery between pavers.

 

[Gustav22]

Ive been pouring mine on this ugly Bush in my backyard hoping it'll kill it. But so far it looks stronger then ever.

Dude saltwater as weed killer works incredibly well! I dunno about a bush though haha