Question on mixing red sea coral pro salt??

[JMetaxas]

I don't understand the directions of not mixing for 4 hours. Say what?!?!?

This makes no sense. You add it to your tank and it will continue to mix.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I don't understand the directions of not mixing for 4 hours. Say what?!?!?

This makes no sense. You add it to your tank and it will continue to mix.

The concern is that the alkalinity is very high in Coral Pros, and the tendency for abiotic precipitation of calcium carbonate is much higher in the raw salt water than in an aquarium. So people often see the alkalinity decline over time, especially if they heat it or mix it with a powerhead that is getting water (calcium carbonate is less soluble at higher temps).

Some people do not see this problem at all, and can mix Coral Pro for day or weeks without issue. Your home air CO2 levels alters the pH of the aerated salt water, and pH is a big driver of potential precipitation.

In an operating reef aquarium, organics and phosphate and possibly other things get onto growing calcium carbonate surfaces and block further precipitation. That's why you can mix it in an aquarium, but maybe notin a storage container.

FWIW, I've tested this myself in a different context, where I found that by selecting an appropriate organic compound (I chose polyacrylic acid), I could push a seawater sample to super high levels of calcium and alkalinity (way higher than any salt mix) without precipitation.

 

[jdinovo]

I'm new to the site and wanted to contribute something because of all the help I've gotten from it so here goes:

I mix my salt in 20 gal containers, but there are no reference marks to get a consistent water volume. I did make one, but it got covered over in salt residue pretty quickly. Here's what I do to get the 1.025SG that I want without having to know my water volume precisely:

1. Fill the container to about the amount that I want to change, but I don't worry about anything exact.
2. Mix 2000g of salt and check the SG (note: any initial amount of salt will work as long as you use it in all the places marked in red but use an amount that is below what you will need for the volume of water you have. I mix about 17 gallons)
3. Calculate how much more salt is needed to get to the desired SG. For example the last batch gave me an SG of 1.020 with 2000g of salt. I need to raise the SG by .005 to get to 1.025 so calculate 2000 x .005 / .020 which gives the answer of 500g additional to get to 1.025. Some of you might recognize this as a proportion problem, i.e. 2000 is to 1.020 as ??? is to .005
4. Use a couple of spare heaters to bring the mix up to tank temperature, check it, and it's tank ready.

I haven't thought of it until now, but if you have some already mixed water left over and you want to use it, go ahead and put in the additional volume of RODI you want and this method will get the combined amounts up to the SG you want.

 

[Newb73]

I over mix mine as i add the salt slowly over a few hours.

It then takes me nearly 2 wks to do a water chng.

I don't know if it helps but i only mix it to about 30ppt until i need it and i turn my mixing pump off within 30 minutes of adding the remaining 5ppt before actually using it.

 

[Justin....#JAMAS]

I don't see how their can be any trouble at all with it! I followed the instructions to a T and within an hour and a half I was doing a water change and even tested everything and was spot on just like the bucket said it would be.....human error plays alot

 

[Justin....#JAMAS]

I add the salt slowly but a little at a time in about 10-15 minutes all is added and mixed by about 35-40min with clear water