Making Saltwater

[+KimP]

I finally bought salt and an RO/DI system and got it all hooked up and ready to go. For some reason I just can't get it together and actually make some darn saltwater. Most of my problem is I'm getting nervous because of the recent mentions of having something go wrong in the stored water, not letting it sit long enough, mix well enough, sitting too long, etc. I need some ideas so I don't screw this up

Does anyone make their saltwater in the 5 gal jugs, or does everyone use a trashcan or similar? If I were to make room for a trashcan where the rodi is, how would it be best to get the water out of the trashcan into my tank or into the jugs? The rodi and tank are quite a distance apart. I have 4 of the 5gal jugs already, but I'm not sure how to get it adequately mixed in there. If I got a trashcan, is just rinsing it before use enough to get any residue from manufacturing off?

Thanks for any help brainstorming on this! I wasn't able to find much on this in the archives.

[Ryan]

Hey, i don't have a rodi system, i get it from the store just down the street, they have a huge rodi system and it's only 35 cents a gallon... as far as mixing the salt, i've always heard you're supposed to mix it and let it sit for 24 hours, but i mix mine and make sure that all the salt has dissolved and then immediately add it to my sump... probably not best, but it works very well, i've never had anything go wrong, but i'm kinda lazy as long as my tank is somewhere between 24 and 27 i'm happy (i keep it a little higher for the inverts)

[+Hydro]

You are over thinking it

Rinse out a trash can with tap water, put your ro/di water in it. Use a small submersible pump in the bottom to circulate the water, add salt. If you point the pump straight up it will oxygenate the water for you. Just mix it up in the morning and use it that evening. You can throw an airstone in it, won't hurt a thing. If you are going to store it and where you are storing gets warm (like a garage) don't mix the salt until just a few hours before you use it. This way the salt will kill any bacteria that would grow in the freshwater.

[Robb in Austin]

I mix mine in a 24g Rubbermaid tub. It has some holes that my tubing fits perfectly in the handle area. I route the tubing up through the holes and into the tub, put the lid on to hold it in place.

I bought a 25ft length of tubing to run from the RODI output to the tub which I keep by the display tank when I mix. I use a MJ1200 to mix with.

When I do the actual change, I drain the display as normal, then I use a piece of tubing on the output of the MJ1200 to push the water from the tub to the display tank. Nice and easy, takes about 5-8mins to refill my tank, I just have to hold the tube.

A quick rinse of the tub and MJ1200 and let it air dry overnight and back into the garage it goes.

[Bry]

I'm right there with you. Up until this week I was making salt in a 5 gallon jug. I'd RO/DI the water in there, toss in about 1/2 cup of salt per gallong (used Red Sea) and then drop in a very small water pump. Been doing it long enough I knew how much salt to put in. [back when I used the ozarka style water jugs I'd to go out every once in a while and shake the jug to stir it up - not great but had no problems from it.] Always wait a minimum of 3 hours after mixing, prefer 12-24 hours. Also not great, I didn't test the salinity to match the tank... I just slowly poured into the sump. All worked out.

Just this week I got a 55 gallon barrel (was actually cheaper than the 32 gallon I had planned) and started making salt in there. The plan is to drop a Maxi Jet 1200 in with a tube on it to pump the water up into my 5 gallon jugs for the transport to the display tank. From there I'll use the Aqua-Lifter to pull water out of the 5 gallon into the sump. (I don't quite have the Aqua Lifter so I'll just pour it in again slowly.)

Keep in mind I don't have fragile animals or corals yet so I knew I'd be ok with the pour-in. Sometimes I'd even turn off the return pump and let the water roll around even longer in the sump before going up to the DT. When I get the aqua lifter I'll make that system smoother/safer.

I'm betting mine isn't the best but I don't have a situation where all the extra equipment can be by my DT. Pouring the salt in quickly isn't what some would advise but I knew my hardy animals and Xenia, mushrooms and Zoas would be fine. Hope that helps. Don't be nervous.

[+o0zarkawater]

I use 5gal jugs. I buy my water from RCA and use Coral Pro salt. I prefer to mix by weight, rather than volume and use 715g of salt per 5gal jug.

I pour in the salt and shake the jugs for a few minutes, let it sit, then shake for a while longer until I don't see any remaining at the bottom. I have a SMALL pump from one of those tabletop rock fountains that fits down in the jug, and a small airstone that I put in the jug overnight. Shake once more before pouring in tank, BAM!

[offroadodge]

I guess that my water change process is about the same, I keep 20G of RO/DI water on hand at all times, and 25G stored in a garbage can in garage. The morning im gonna do a water change i bring in my BRUTE trashcan and pour 20Gs into it, then i put 1.5lbs per 5 gallons of water into it. I drop in a RIO1500 and let mix till its crystal clear, if there is a temp problem i drop in a heater to warm it up. I then syphone out the DT (20Gs) and then plug the hose onto the end of the RIO1500 and pump the new water back into the DT. Also when i do my WCs i turn off the tank and pumps during the drain and fill process. Usually this pocess only take me about 30-45mins for a complete water change.

[+Jakedoza]

I keep a55 gal drum full of ro/di in the garage with a mag 5 pump on it at all times for water circulation. I keep a heater in it for the winter, but the garage is isulated so for the summer I'm ok. A few hours before a water change I'll mix salt a measure with a hydrometer and a spectrometer. I have the luxury of my garage being behind the wall where my tank sits, so I put a tube through the wall, hook up to the mag 5 and into my sump filter to fill the tank. Just make sure to measure your salinty and temp and you should be fine.

Sent from my Android using Tapatalk

[Gonzobob]

As many have said, I make my salt water at least a day in advance. I use a 16 gal rubbermaid vat with a powerhead and heater (if needed), I test the temp and salinity in the morning and make any adjustments, I'm usually ready before noon and use a MJ1200 to move salt water to 5 gallon jugs. I set the jugs next to the ATO vat, move the ATO pump to the vat of fresh salt water. I drain old water (while scraping glass, blowing debris off of live rock or performing any other cleaning actions) and as it drains the ATO simply replaces the old water with fresh water.

[bluefish84]

I now test for PO4 before adding salt to fresh water and after salt is mixed, you know what I mean.

[+brian.srock]

I use a 38g trashcan that has wheels that I picked up from Lowes for $10. It should be on my build thread. Along with a k2 and heater. That way I can mix up to 10 gallons at once so I'm good for 2 weeks.

[+KimP]

Thanks for all the great ideas. I'm going to try and make room for a trashcan in the laundry room and see how that goes. I'll make the rodi water the day before and mix the salt in the next morning and test salinity. I have an extra power head I need to get tubing for to get the water out. That night or next morning I'll test salinity, pH, and temp. If all's well I'll do the w/c. Sound like a good plan? I also need to check out this aqua lifter thing. Sounds handy.