Mixing salt water

[Sevenhours]

I know this may be a dumb question but is it a viable option to fill my tank completely (including the sump) with ro water then add the salt?


Ill be using red sea coral pro if that males a difference

[shifty51008]

Yes you can mix the salt in the tank for the first time, once you add live stuff you will have to mix it in a seperate container

[Sevenhours]

Thanks Filling the tank now

[disc1]

Just remember to add salt slowly or you'll end up with a coating of fine white powder calcium carbonate all over everything.

And wait until after it is mixed to raise the temperature.

[thegrun]

Also be sure to mix the salt before you add rock or sand.

[Sevenhours]

So just add a cup at a time with the wave maker on and let it cycle through the sump before adding another?

[Redman88]

Originally Posted by thegrun

Also be sure to mix the salt before you add rock or sand.

even for base/dry rock and dry sand?

[gaberosenfield]

Maybe I'm crazy here, but I don't see why it matters whether there is rock and sand in the tank so long as it is dead/dry rock and sand. I also think there is no problem with adding salt to already heated water. Marine salt just dissolves faster in warmer water. Agree with disc1 about adding salt slowly though. A cup at a time is fine. It really doesn't matter, you just don't want a pile of salt sitting anywhere or it can cause some components to come out of solution.

[rfgonzo]

Originally Posted by Sevenhours

So just add a cup at a time with the wave maker on and let it cycle through the sump before adding another?

You can add the water to your tank then take a 5 gallon bucket or smaller fill it with the tank water and salt, then mix thoroughly. Dump the bucket slowly back into your tank, if any salt is still left in the bucket when complete just add more water from your display tank and repeat, keep doing this over and over till all the salt has dissolved.

[sleepydoc]

The alkalinity components have higher solubility in cold water.

Sand & to a lesser extent rocks will inhibit mixing of the water. The rocks will end up collecting the salt mix. A pile of salt ends up precipitating out calcium carbonate, messing up your parameters.

[silent_circle]

Originally Posted by gaberosenfield

Maybe I'm crazy here, but I don't see why it matters whether there is rock and sand in the tank so long as it is dead/dry rock and sand. I also think there is no problem with adding salt to already heated water. Marine salt just dissolves faster in warmer water. Agree with disc1 about adding salt slowly though. A cup at a time is fine. It really doesn't matter, you just don't want a pile of salt sitting anywhere or it can cause some components to come out of solution.

I don't think you had much experience with mixing red sea pro salt. There is a method to the mixing to prevent clouding and so forth.

[gaberosenfield]

Hmm, well I stand corrected then. Now that I think about it, my first tank I dumped all the salt right in and it was cloudy for a good 2 weeks. I always chocked that up to residual dust on the dry rock, but maybe it was the salt. It did clear on its own eventually though.

[thegrun]

Originally Posted by Redman88

even for base/dry rock and dry sand?

Salt crystals will get stuck in small crevasses and holes in the rock and fall down into the sand where there is little or no flow and take a very long time to dissolve (days). Since you don't know how much undissolved salt you have in your system your salinity will continue to rise over several days, sometimes to unacceptable levels.