Spare (Salt) Water Maintenance Methods

[droidus]

I have two buckets (5 gallons each) for a 32 gallon tank: one for ro/di water and one for salt water. Do I need to have a blower (just salt bucket) to mix the salt water, and a heater (both buckets) in them when I dump water from them into the tank? I am thinking that a water change won't be replacing too much water, so the room temperature won't drastically affect the tank. And I could just easily hand stir my salt water bucket.

 

[WV Reefer]

I have two buckets (5 gallons each) for a 32 gallon tank: one for ro/di water and one for salt water. Do I need to have a blower (just salt bucket) to mix the salt water, and a heater (both buckets) in them when I dump water from them into the tank? I am thinking that a water change won't be replacing too much water, so the room temperature won't drastically affect the tank. And I could just easily hand stir my salt water bucket.

I make my rodi water in the bucket and then I add the salt along with a heater and a powerhead to mix it overnight.

I also have jugs of rodi that I use for top offs throughout the week.

 

[Waters]

I have two buckets (5 gallons each) for a 32 gallon tank: one for ro/di water and one for salt water. Do I need to have a blower (just salt bucket) to mix the salt water, and a heater (both buckets) in them when I dump water from them into the tank? I am thinking that a water change won't be replacing too much water, so the room temperature won't drastically affect the tank. And I could just easily hand stir my salt water bucket.

As long as you are changing small quantities the room temperature water shouldn't matter too much. I heat my replacement water but I am changing 15 gallons at a time. Different salts mixe differently.....some require more stirring than others. I use a powerhead and just let it sit overnight.

 

[Pntbll687]

I used to use a powerhead to mix the salt, but have switched to a mag drive 250 that I had laying around. I get much better mixing with it than the powerhead. It seemed as though the powerhead would have dead spots next to it, but the pressure coming off the mag drive stops that.

As for the heater, it depends. If you're changing only 4-5g at a time, room temp should be ok. I mix my salt in the garage and rioom temp is more than enough for 6 months of the year. Even if you're mixing inside, be conscious of what "room temp" is. My house is 72, but my friends house is 64, and my in laws is 80.

What salt are you using? Because hand stirring may take a while. I use IO reef crystals, and it takes a good 30-40min for the salt to completely dissolve.