Salt has gotten rock hard!

[lordofthereef]

I see a lot of people saying that the clumped and hardened salt is just fine however I remember reading in the chemistry forum that it will not dissolve as well, namely calcium and other trace elements and you may be left with little more than salty water.

[Chiefsurfer]

^Yes. I think it will all dissolve, but what happens is that it obviously got wet to get hard. What then happens is that calcium can go to the right, magnesium to the left, etc. What would happen is if you are using lets say 10 cups out of a 50lb container, you can get CRAZY calcium on that batch, then NOTHING on the next and so on.

Also, not sure about calcium precipitate.

I heard that if you have a few golfball sized clumps it is ok, but if the entire batch is one big clump, it's no good. I got salt like that, I had a replacement order shipped to me for free, dumped the solid mass. Not going to mess with something that might end REAL bad.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Check the alkalinity in hardened salt mix. If it is OK, then the mix is likely OK. If it is too low, then either supplement it and also check calcium, or toss the mix.

[mdt5050]

I have had salt get hard like rock but just add it to the water with a power head and it should desolve nicely.

[miserkris]

Ok guys, If I were to buy an RODI unit for my 55g fowlr, can I get used? If so where can I get good deals ,best model and what capacity I need/ specs? I know nothing abt RODIs.

Is it safe to drink water from RODI for a toddler? If so we can drink and also use for fish tank . Pls advice on RO/DI!

Thanks
Kris

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The concern with RO/DI water for drinking is bacterial contamination. Unless the system is designed for human drinking (which often incorporates a UV to kill bacteria that may exit the system), I would not do it.

[jtrasap]

Originally Posted by miserkris

Ok guys, If I were to buy an RODI unit for my 55g fowlr, can I get used?

I think you'll find that the largest cost in an RO/DI unit is the filters themselves. Even if you find a good deal on a used unit, you'll most likely need to replace the filters which will put your price tag right back up there and end you with a used unit. I would just pay the money and purchase a new one.

Originally Posted by Randy Holmes-Farley

The concern with RO/DI water for drinking is bacterial contamination. Unless the system is designed for human drinking (which often incorporates a UV to kill bacteria that may exit the system), I would not do it.

Randy, most of the studies that I've found concerning bacterial growth involved just an RO system and not an RO/DI. Would the deionization have any affect on the bacteria in concern?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yes, I agree. The concern is that bacteria can grow in the water upstream of the Di, and then when individual bacteria or small globs are released from a bed of them, they may easily pass through the Di bed as it is not designed to catch fine particles like living bacteria.