sea dry salt

[nmo0ory]

hello,
i want to ask about dry salt direct from the sea
i can get some dry salt in blocks that was dry from the sea direct, is it possible to use it in the aquarium ?
how can i test if its good or not and what should i do ?
here is how its look likes

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It is possible to use it as part of a salt mix, but it does not redissolve to form seawater.

Some things precipitate on drying of seawater and they will not redissolve. importantly, these include calcium carbonate (and any elements incorporated into it).

Thus, it will have very low alkalinity and low calcium and possibly low magnesium and some low trace elements.

 

[KonradTO]

It is possible to use it as part of a salt mix, but it does not reconstitute seawater.

Some things precipitate on drying of seawater and they will not redissolve. importantly, these include calcium carbonate (and any elements incorporated into it).

Thus, it will have very low alkalinity and low calcium and possibly low magnesium and some low trace elements.

CaCo3 inlcuded I suppose.

 

[miltonkl]

I think this is, in general, what Red Sea salt is so you probably COULD but I wouldn't. They probably test for impurities and mix large batches of the salt together to get a consistent mix. who knows what other contaminants may be in this salt from the water it was pulled from.

Heavy metals/other chemicals aside, I'd be a bit worried using pure direct salt like this could be very inconsistent and you may be hard pressed to get a consistent salinity since you'd have to break off chunks. Probably worth a few bucks to just buy the salt if only for the convenience of being able to measure X amount of loose salt and mix it rather than having to break up and dissolve these chunks and trying to get the right amount to hit your desired salinity and then testing to see what might be out of whack.

 

[nmo0ory]

It is possible to use it as part of a salt mix, but it does not redissolve to form seawater.

Some things precipitate on drying of seawater and they will not redissolve. importantly, these include calcium carbonate (and any elements incorporated into it).

Thus, it will have very low alkalinity and low calcium and possibly low magnesium and some low trace elements.

ok so mixing it with another salt its a good idea ?
because i would like to run a very large system and i am trying to get the best out of it, using this salt will save me ton of money
even if i want to start to do large QT tank with daily water change

 

[nmo0ory]

I think this is, in general, what Red Sea salt is so you probably COULD but I wouldn't. They probably test for impurities and mix large batches of the salt together to get a consistent mix. who knows what other contaminants may be in this salt from the water it was pulled from.

Heavy metals/other chemicals aside, I'd be a bit worried using pure direct salt like this could be very inconsistent and you may be hard pressed to get a consistent salinity since you'd have to break off chunks. Probably worth a few bucks to just buy the salt if only for the convenience of being able to measure X amount of loose salt and mix it rather than having to break up and dissolve these chunks and trying to get the right amount to hit your desired salinity and then testing to see what might be out of whack.

for the price around 110lbs is for 4$ only
the salt is from the red sea
there is block or bag as well both is without adding anything to it
i might mix like 1000g a time and store it

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I think this is, in general, what Red Sea salt is so you probably COULD but I wouldn't. They probably test for impurities and mix large batches of the salt together to get a consistent mix. who knows what other contaminants may be in this salt from the water it was pulled from.

Heavy metals/other chemicals aside, I'd be a bit worried using pure direct salt like this could be very inconsistent and you may be hard pressed to get a consistent salinity since you'd have to break off chunks. Probably worth a few bucks to just buy the salt if only for the convenience of being able to measure X amount of loose salt and mix it rather than having to break up and dissolve these chunks and trying to get the right amount to hit your desired salinity and then testing to see what might be out of whack.

They may lead you to think this is what they do, but they cannot. At best, they use dried seawater for a bunch of the ingredients.

 

[nmo0ory]

is there any test i can do to the water in a laboratory to know what it has exactly and what i am looking for ?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

for the price around 110lbs is for 4$ only
the salt is from the red sea
there is block or bag as well both is without adding anything to it
i might mix like 1000g a time and store it

After it is clear and settled from the liquid, measure alkalinity. That will show you the type of problem.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

is there any test i can do to the water in a laboratory to know what it has exactly and what i am looking for ?

Sure.

Measure alkalinity by titration and measure the other ions by ICP.

 

[nmo0ory]

Sure.

Measure alkalinity by titration and measure the other ions by ICP.

ok great
i will try to do it this week and see what i get from it

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Folks, realize that I'm not just hypothesizing this. It is well established scientific fact. There are many scientific publications that discuss this issue.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

For those interested in a lengthy discussion of what happens as you dry seawater, this is a good paper:

http://www.geol.agh.edu.pl/~buk/Geochemistry%20of%20evaporites.pdf

 

[nmo0ory]

Folks, realize that I'm not just hypothesizing this. It is well established scientific fact. There are many scientific publications that discuss this issue.

this is what readsea doing exactly
they dry the water
then add other elements
so for me that's possible but it might need lot of works and testing
do you recommend going in that road and try to make it work ?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

this is what readsea doing exactly
they dry the water
then add other elements
so for me that's possible but it might need lot of works and testing
do you recommend going in that road and try to make it work ?

Exactly what I was saying. it is not a seawater mix (it cannot be), it is a part of the ingredients.

If you like experimenting and have the funds for ICP testing, it could be a fun project. It's not money saving if you want to ensure it looks like seawater.

 

[nmo0ory]

Exactly what I was saying. it is not a seawater mix (it cannot be), it is a part of the ingredients.

If you like experimenting and have the funds for ICP testing, it could be a fun project. It's not money saving if you want to ensure it looks like seawater.

ok great
i will try to get sponsor here for icp-test maybe there might be a lab welling to help me

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

ok great
i will try to get sponsor here for icp-test maybe there might be a lab welling to help me

OK, let us know what you find.

 

[nmo0ory]

OK, let us know what you find.

for sure will keep you updated